Short‐duration 10.6‐&mgr;m pulses are used to perturb low‐pressure CO2laser discharges. Various spontaneous emissions from the glow discharge are monitored as they return to their steady‐state values. Vibration‐vibration (VV) pumping between CO2(&ngr;3) and CO (produced by dissociation or premixed) as well as N2has been observed in three independent studies. Data obtained from these studies correlate well with each other. When the reciprocal time constant for the VV process is plotted against pressure, a straight line is obtained as predicted by theory. The slope of this line is consistent with rate‐constant data taken from laser‐induced fluorescence experiments.