How Army recruits train inside a tear gas chamber in basic training

• We got an inside look at how United States Army recruits are exposed to tear gas during One Station Unit Training.
• Senior Video Correspondent Graham Flanagan spent four days at the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence located inside the Fort Benning military installation, where soldiers are trained to serve in the Infantry and Armor branches.
• Recruits are exposed to CS gas, more commonly known as tear gas. Side effects include burning on the skin and in the eyes, and profuse discharge of mucus.
• While wearing a gas mask, the recruits spend approximately five minutes inside a gas chamber where CS tablets are burned to create the gas.
• The recruits fully remove their masks to experience the painful effects of exposure.
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Following is a transcript of the video.

Narrator: These Army infantry recruits are being exposed to CS gas, more commonly known as tear gas to experience its effects and to learn how to properly use a gas mask. Here at the Maneuver Center of Excellence inside the Fort Benning military base near Columbus, Georgia, this so-called gas chamber is used to train recruits in CBRN defense, which stands for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear.

Drill sergeant: Let's make it happen.

Narrator: It's a part of basic combat training that these recruits are lucky enough to get out of the way early. This particular group of recruits was in week one of training. Recruits wear this M50 pro mask, which can protect soldiers from lethal chemicals.

Rocco Candela: This is the M50 gas mask right here. This is the newer version. This is much lighter, better. You have your drinking tube. So, you're gonna put this into your canteen. There's a smoked visor for flash-bangs. So it'll pretty much prevent you from being blinded with a flash-bang. On the back, in the inside, you have hair cover. The old M48 gas mask didn't have this. Female soldiers, they can keep all their hair pretty much contained.

Narrator: Recruits are expected to correctly put on and clear the mask in eight seconds. We asked the sergeant to have one of the recruits demonstrate the proper way to don and clear the gas mask.

Candela: Right hand, you're gonna pull out the pro mask. You're gonna put the pro mask on your face. Your left hand, you're gonna pull that tab over your head. You're gonna tighten those two back straps. Grab both canisters and suck in, and then blow out in the middle. Boom.

Narrator: We were not allowed to film inside the gas chamber.

Drill sergeant: Come on, hurry it up!

Narrator: But Fort Benning provided this footage of a different group of infantry recruits to show what it's really like inside. The instructor burns CS tablets, which creates the gas. The recruits do some light exercises, like rolling their heads in a circular motion and running in place. Then they break the seals of their masks, raising them to the bridge of the nose.

Candela: They're gonna break their seal. Usually they sound off with their last name and their social security number, and then they're gonna reseal their pro mask.

Narrator: Then comes the hard part. They're instructed to remove their helmet. Then they fully remove their masks. With their masks off, the recruits must fully recite the Soldier's Creed. After about five minutes, the recruits run out of the gas chamber. They're told to flap their arms like birds.

Drill sergeant: Go that way. That way!

Narrator: The flapping is intended to remove excess gas from their uniforms. Effects of exposure can include intense burning in the eyes, throat, and on the skin and profuse discharge of mucus. [panting and coughing] According to a drill sergeant, the effects start to subside after about four minutes.

Recruit: Oh, yeah.

Candela: The first time is gonna hit them pretty hard. They're kinda gonna lose their bearing a little bit, 'cause your body naturally goes into survival mode. So, that's exactly what's CS is for. So this is just breaking the ice a little bit, getting their confidence up. With this training...

Drill sergeant: You're wasting my gas, hurry up!

Candela: They'll be effective under pressure and chaos.


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