The United States Army Gas School was established during World War I at Camp A.A. Humphreys in Virginia. The first courses began in May 1918 and the school was designed to instruct commissioned and noncommissioned officers in chemical warfare

Chemical warfare

Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...

.

History

In late October 1917 the War College

U.S. Army War College

The United States Army War College is a United States Army school located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500 acre campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks...

 was badly underprepared for large-scale chemical warfare

Chemical warfare

Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...

 in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. With many U.S. soldiers operating in a chemical environment with no knowledge of chemical warfare the War College requested a British gas officers and NCOs, the requests were granted. The British experts arrived and were directed and coordinated by Major S.J.M. Auld. Auld was tasked with composing a "working textbook on gas" for the U.S. Army.

Among Auld's recommendations was an idea the General Staff had already been considering, the establishment of a central Army Gas School. As a result of Auld's suggestion the Army Gas School was established at Camp A.A. Humphreys, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. The school, beginning in May 1918, offered two initial courses. One course was a four day class on general information about gas warfare and was offered to commissioned and noncommissioned officers. The second course was a 12 day affair for Chief Gas Officers which went into greater detail about chemical warfare.

Upon its establishment, Ross A. Baker was given charge of training for Chief Gas Officers at the Army Gas School. Baker was the Chief Gas Officer at Camp Pike in Arkansas and a professor of chemistry at the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 before taking the post at Camp Humphreys. Later in the month of October 1917 the entire Army Gas School operation was transferred to Camp Kendrick.

Further reading

• "Army Starts a Gas School", The New York Times
  The New York Times
  The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
  
  , May 30, 1918, accessed October 19, 2008.