Published Articles: 2016-2020

"Fall In, Fall Out: When the U.S. Military (Almost) Brought Radiological Weapons to the Battlefield," Modern War Institute, September 2020

"Militarizing Global Health Isn't The Right Answer," War on the Rocks, May 2020

"The Military Is Not The Nation's Emergency Room Doctor," Modern War Institute, February 2020

"Tearing Down the Nuclear Firewall," War on the Rocks, October 2019

"Deterrence: I Don't Think It Means What You Think It Means," Modern War Institute, October 2019

"Concerns Reemerge About Limited Nuclear War," ARMY Magazine, August 2019

"The Rise and Fall of Counterproliferation Policy" Nonproliferation Review, April 2019

"The New US Strategy to Tackle WMD Terrorism is New Wine in Old Wineskins" War on the Rocks, December 2018

"Terrorists sometimes use chemical weapons, but the OPCW should focus on states" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November 2018

"Synthetic Biology: The Promise and Peril of a New Dual-Use Technology" War on the Rocks, August 2018

"Bugs and Gas: Celebrating the Birth of the Army Chemical Corps?" Modern War Institute, June 2018

"Improving Our CWMD Capabilities: Who Will Lead?" PRISM, May 2018

"Russia’s Chemical Romance: Don’t Call It a WMD Attack" War on the Rocks, March 2018

"Who Killed the Dugway Sheep? Why It Matters Fifty Years Later" Modern War Institute, March 2018

"[NPR] Maintaining the Course - for the Most Part" Texas National Security Review, February 2018

"Bugs and Gas: Biothreats and WMD in the New National Security Strategy" Modern War Institute, January 2018

"Nuclear Weapons Planning is Not Simplistic" Lawfire, November 2017

"Why Tactical Nuclear Weapons Are Still A Thing" DefenseOne, October 2017

"We Don't Need Another National Biodefense Strategy" Modern War Institute, August 2017

"Mattis Talks Nukes, But Is Trump Listening?" War on the Rocks, January 2017

"All Cards on the Table: First Use of Nuclear Weapons," War on the Rocks, July 2016

"Chilcot and Opening Old Wounds on WMD Intel," War on the Rocks, July 2016

"Syria Hasn't Degraded Deterrence and Nonproliferation Regimes," War on the Rocks, May 2016

"We Need to Speak Honestly about Nuclear Threats," War on the Rocks, April 2016

"A Necessary Weapon: The Nuclear Enterprise Strikes Back," War on the Rocks, April 2016

"Known Unknowns: Iraqi WMD, 13 Years Later," War on the Rocks, February 2016

Where Are The WMDs?

Where Are The WMDs? The Reality of Chem-Bio Threats on the Home Front and the Battlefront, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2006

There are many books on the Iraq war and on WMD-type issues, but this is the first to offer a historical overview of chemical-biological defense issues and a policy analysis of how the U. S. government addresses the threat of weapons of mass destruction and how ground forces deal with the problem on the battlefield. Al Mauroni looks at how the 9/11 disaster forced the Department of Defense to review its management of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) defense equipment and then make significant changes. He outlines in detail the government's decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq and search for WMDs.

The fact that no such weapons were found, the author explains, has had dramatic consequences for how U.S. military forces address the use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons in Iraq and how they support the federal response to terrorist incidents involving these weapons at home. Mauroni draws on two decades of experience in the area of chemical-biological defense policy to present this comprehensive analysis of the decision-making process within the Department of Defense and the actions of U.S. forces in the second Iraq War. Explaining that "WMD" is no longer a useful term for the threat faced by military leaders and emergency professionals, he also outlines a number of lessons learned from the conflicts in the Middle East and offers recommendations on how to improve CBRN defense for the future.

Army Chemical Review, 2007
Air and Space Power Review, 2007
Terrorism and Political Violence Review, 2008

CB Warfare - A Reference Handbook, 2d ed

Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Reference Handbook, second edition, ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, CA, 2006

A thorough handbook covering the facts, history, and controversies surrounding our most controversial and misunderstood unconventional weapons.

Short of a nuclear holocaust, no weapons are more frightening to us—or more sensationalized by the media—than chemical and biological weapons. But we can face these invisible killers and even overcome them, writes former army chemical officer Al Mauroni, if we stop moralizing and focus on understanding the facts.

Unlike most books on this topic, the expanded second edition of Mauroni's popular reference handbook is neither sensationalistic nor moralistic. Instead, it offers readers a reasoned, thorough, and fact-based introduction to this highly charged issue.

Covering the period from World War I through the Iraq War, Chemical and Biological Warfare not only describes the development of key chemical and biological agents, such as anthrax, tularemia, brucellosis, VEE, Q fever, and botulinum toxin, it also assesses the threats we face, compares military CB warfare with terrorist incidents, explains effective defensive measures, and clarifies the responsibilities of the various federal agencies charged to address these issues. With extensive new material, this edition provides an authoritative and up-to-date introduction to this vitally important topic.

Midwest Book Review

CB Warfare - A Reference Handbook

Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Reference Handbook, ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, CA, 2003

Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Reference Handbook surveys the history of modern chemical and biological weapons, from their genesis on World War I battlefields through their World War II deployment and Cold War research and development to present-day policies and strategies.

Casting aside moral issues and scare tactics, this uniquely unbiased reference explores both sides of this highly controversial topic, explaining the utility, necessity, and protected use of such weapons as well as the ramifications of their abuse. From delivery systems (bombs, missiles, rockets) and defense methods (detection devices, protective suits, decontaminants) to the deployment of such weapons in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars, students and concerned citizens alike will discover the real reasons behind U.S. support for chemical and biological warfare.

Army Chemical Review

Chemical Demilitarization

Chemical Demilitarization: Public Policy Aspects, Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT, 2003

For more than 15 years, the Army's chemical demilitarization program has been criticized and castigated as a potentially dangerous effort, poorly executed without concern for the public. By reviewing the chemical demilitarization program as a public policy area, Mauroni offers a different perspective on how the Army worked with Congress and the public to offer the safest program possible. The Army was forced to delay its own schedule and increase the breadth and depth of the program to address political demands and idealistic environmental concerns. Mauroni contends that Army and Department of Defense leadership's insistence on treating this program as a strictly technical effort, rather than as a public policy concern is in part responsible for the public's misunderstanding of the Army's execution of the program.

Despite its challenges, the Army is well on its way to accomplishing its goal of destroying the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile with no impact on the public or environment. They have stumbled through, however, rather than planned their exit. According to Mauroni, the Army needs to examine this program carefully to identify how to address public policy questions better in the future, to include responding to chemical and biological terrorism, developing a biological warfare vaccine program, and addressing future Gulf War illness questions. Their failure to learn will otherwise result in a continued inability to address critical questions on how they respond to chemical and biological warfare issues.

Army Chemical Review

CB Warfare History

America’s Struggle with Chemical-Biological Warfare, Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT, 2000

Fear and ignorance have colored the perception of chemical and biological (CB) warfare both in the public and military spheres. Media coverage following the alleged gassing of sheep at Dugway Proving Ground in 1968 has led most people to believe that CB warfare is an unstoppable doomsday weapon of mass destruction. Yet, in 1972, General Creighton Abrams, the Army Chief of Staff, attempted to disestablish the Chemical Corps because he saw no need for it. Had that decision not been reversed in 1976, there would not have been any chemical defense specialists or equipment available for Operation Desert Storm in 1990.

This study tracks events relating to the Department of Defense's CB warfare program between 1968 and 1990, as it evolved up to the Gulf War. It also details how the military develops and procures CB defense equipment to protect today's soldiers. Mauroni draws parallels between the development of binary chemical weapons, the chemical demilitarization program, and the DoD CB terrorism response efforts, as each has very similar issues and solutions. He seeks to educate leading officials and the general public about the facts behind CB warfare and the options for coping with it in the future. With proper training and equipment, the challenge of CB warfare can be met and dealt with on the modern battlefield.

CB Defense - Persian Gulf War

Chemical-Biological Defense: U.S. Military Policies and Decisions in the Gulf War, Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT, 1998

The Gulf War has been the only conflict in the last half-century that featured the possible use of chemical-biological weapons against U.S. forces. Vulnerability to such an attack spurred the Department of Defense to action from the first hint of trouble in August 1990 through the end of hostilities in March 1991. Nearly disbanded in 1972, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps would be the prime force in ensuring that U.S. forces could both survive and sustain combat operations under chemical-biological warfare conditions. Focussing on the work of senior Army officials, this account assesses the degree of readiness achieved by the ground war's initiation and the lessons learned since the conflict.

For an appropriately trained and equipped military force, chemical weapons pose not the danger of mass destruction but the threat of mass disruption, no more deadly than smart munitions or B-52 air strikes. This book will reveal a coordinated response to train and equip U.S. forces did take place prior to the feared Iraqi chemical and biological attacks. Undocumented in any other book, it details the plans that rushed sixty "Fox" reconnaissance vehicles to the Gulf, the worldwide call for protective suits and masks, and the successful placement of biological agent detectors prior to the air offensive. In addition, the work addresses what really happened at Khamisiyah. Were troops exposed to chemical weapons and what is behind the mysterious Gulf War Syndrome?

Parameters Review