The CWC Archive now includes over 90 recently de-classified government documents. These documents can be found listed chronologically as well as in the Historical Documents sections of the CWC Archive by subject and by type. They primarily contain information regarding chemical agents and munitions as well as government projects in the chemical weapons field from 1945 – 1975.

These documents related to the U.S. development and production of nerve agents were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by Jonathan B. Tucker during the research for his book, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al Qaeda (Anchor Paperback 2007), and kindly donated to FAS so that they could be made publicly available.

To provide an example of the types of documents now available, we would like to highlight a June 30, 1955 report from the Chemical Corps Technical Committee as the Document of the Day.
The report discusses a number of projects including V-Agents (such as VX gas) and improvements of biological and chemical weapon test facilities. The most interesting section of the report details proposed experiments with psychochemical agents. The psychochemical agent section discusses the ‘…use of an agent causing temporary mental and/or motor incapacitation of troops or civilian populations…’ and concludes that, ‘it is desirable, but not essential, that the agents have no permanent effects.’

This document is just one of many under the Historical Document section that contain intriguing and remarkable information dating back to the 1940s.