Lesson 2/Learning Event 1
Carrier. The components of the M18A2 kit are contained in an olive-green canvas webbing.
Components of the kit are held in place by fabric pockets and loops sewn into the carrier. The front
of the carrier is a flap which may be let down to make all items in the kit easily accessible. The flap
is pulled up and snap fastened to the sides of the carrier when closing the kit. The cover is then
pulled down over the contents of the kit and fastened to the flap by another snap fastener. The kit
weighs about 2 1/2 pounds.
Pencil A small pencil is attached to the carrier by a lanyard, or cord.
Booklet of M8 Chemical Agent Detector Paper. A booklet of M8 paper is held in a pocket at the
back of the carrier. The M8 paper is used to detect the liquid agents (V), (G), and (H).
Inspection Date Record. The Inspection Date Record is held in an envelope in the pocket at the
back of the carrier. The record is used to note inspections of the kit. The card is kept in the kit at all
times.
Report cards. There are five report cards. Each is contained in a moisture-resistant envelope. The
cards are filled out when a sample of an unknown agent has been taken. The agent sample is
contained in white-band sampling tubes. These are enclosed in the envelope with the report. The
tubes and the report are then sent for analysis to the chemical laboratory designated in the unit's
SOP.
Detector tubes and sampling tubes. There are four different types of detector tubes in the M18A2
kit. Each tube is glass, three inches long, and sealed at both ends. A small quantity of chemical-
impregnated silica gel is held in the middle of the tube by fabric plugs. The impregnate is a
different chemical reagent for each of the four types of detector tubes (blue-band, green-band, red-
band, and yellow-band). The tube is lightly scored about five-eighths of an inch from each end to
permit the ends to be broken off easily. The tube is marked at one end with two colored bands: one
on each side of the score mark. Twenty-five detector tubes are contained in a fiberboard card. Each
detector tube clip is marked with a discard date. The white-band sampling tube is identical to a
detector tube, except that the silica gel it contains is not impregnated with reagents. Sampling tubes
are used to take samples of unknown chemical agents and are marked in the same manner as
detector tubes with two white bands. They are packaged 25 in a fiberboard card.
Detector tickets. Each detector ticket is a thin plastic holder, approximately two inches long by one
inch wide, round at one end and square at the other. A fiberglass disk is mounted in a circular hole
in the square end; a second fiberglass disk is mounted in a circular depression in the round end.
Forty detector tickets are contained in a strip of individually sealed plastic envelopes.
29
Previous Page
