History, Development, and Use of the Training Kit for Chemical Weapons and Decontamination Solutions

 

This section will cover the history, development, and use of the OB/DDDV Training Kit. In this section you will find information about when it was designed, where it has been used, its capabilities and limitations, and how it functions.

Operational History Equipment Use and Description Deployment Chronology Sources Cited

Brief Operational History

The OB/DDDV training kit is a visual training aid that was designed in the 1960's to enable Soviet chemical troops to be able to familiarize them with the physical properties and appearance of the types of chemical agent that they would encounter in the field.  It is one of a long line of Soviet chemical training aids that date at least as far back at the Second World War.  As with its predecessors, this particular model provided a way to store the samples in a manner that would protect them from damage and be easy to store.  Each of the two sample cards contained in the kit are removable so that they may be passed around a classroom or set up as a station in a laboratory environment.

As with so many pieces of technical/instructional Soviet military equipment, it is difficult to reconstruct its history.  It is known that the device was not made before 1946, as a US Army manual shows a clearly different training aid in used at the time.  From the dates on the related publications it can be surmised that the device was in use as early as 1969.  The date stamped on the exterior of the kit itself shows 1972.  This enables one to reasonably infer that the OB/DDDV training kit was used during the late 1960's and early 1970's.  Absent further information, it is impossible to state with certainty when the OB/DDDV chemical training kit came into service or how long it was used for.

Equipment Use and Description

As stated previously, the OB/DDDV training kit is a visual aid designed to help soldiers identify different chemical compounds commonly used in military situations.  Three small pamphlets were included with the kit to assist in this purpose.  The first is titled "краткое описание остовных свойств дезактивирующих. дегазирующих и дезинфицирующих веществ и растворов" meaning "a brief description of the core properties of decontamination. degassing and disinfectant solutions, and solutions."  It was published in 1969 and is designed to be used with the samples on the left hand side of the display kit.  The second booklet is entitled "краткое описание боевых свойств отравляющих веществ иностранных армий" meaning "A brief description of the properties poisonous substances foreign army."   This booklet is designed to be used with the simulated agents on the right hand side of the training kit.  The third book describes the overall kit and how it should be used in training.

Deployment Chronology

Here you can see what weapons the OB/DDDV Training Kit replaced and what training devices eventually replaced it.