Soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood in South Central Missouri could be headed to war with Iraq and they’ll take information from at least one member who has first-hand knowledge of the country and its chemical weapons capabilities. No one is saying officially exactly where these soldiers are being sent, but the orders for some members of the 5th Engineering Batallion have them being assigned to the US Central Command – a command operating primarily in the Middle East. Sergeant First Class Thomas Nard is the unit’s chemical defense trainer. He believes his expertise with dealing with chemical weapons will help the soldiers and his first hand knowledge of the region could prove very valuable. He was part of a United Nations team that went to Iraq and destroyed chemical weapons in 1993 and looked for weapons in 1997. Nard hopes he can pass along that confidence to his fellow soldiers.
