ABSTRACT
This chapter develops the range of restraints on United States' use of gas at the outbreak of World War II. A distinction must be made between the planners in the War Department and the rank and file of the Army. As war approached, the Air Corps received an increasing share of Army funds. The reactions of the Navy and the Air Corps were particularly important as each was represented on the Joint Chiefs of Staff when the major military decisions of World War II were made. In spite of the statements made at the Washington Conference, the Navy believed that gas warfare was important and had every intention of preparing to employ it. Yet Navy readiness for offensive chemical warfare in the mid-thirties was certainly no better than, if equal to that of the Army which had a severe restriction against offensive preparations.
