ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (March 11, 2015) — One day, Soldiers may wear uniforms and chemical protective suits that decontaminate themselves and are cool enough to wear for extended periods.
Researchers, such as chemist David McGarvey, Ph.D, at the Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, or ECBC, on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, are part of a team led by the Natick Soldier Systems Center that is developing just those technologies.
The idea is that uniform items are pre-treated with a chemical that can render things harmless including nerve or blister agents.
“We have collaborators at the Air Force Research Laboratory that design reactive chemical components that can be placed on fabrics,” McGarvey said. “If Soldiers are in the field, they may not know they have been contaminated. They might be going through a foliage area that had been previously contaminated, something might brush off on the uniform, or they might be in a position where logistically they can’t get to a decontamination area – either because of the mission or because there isn’t a decontamination setup available. We are trying to increase Soldier survivability through that type of capability.”
