The Deseret Test Center was a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

operated command in charge for testing chemical and biological weapons during the 1960s. The Deseret was headquartered at

Fort Douglas, Utah Camp Douglas was established in October 1862, during the American Civil War, as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, to protect the overland mail route and telegraph lines along the Central Overland Route. In ...

, a former U.S. Army base.

History

Progress toward standardizing new biological warfare agents was limited from 1961 to 1962 by the lack of adequate extra-continental test facilities in which toxic agent munitions combinations could be fully assayed without the legal and safety limitations that were necessary in less remote test areas within the Continental United States. In May 1962 the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

established the Deseret Test Center at

, a disused army base. Regis, Edward. ''The Biology of Doom: The History of America's Secret Germ Warfare Project'',
Google Books
, Macmillan, 2000, p. 198, (). The

command at Deseret was established as a result of being tasked with conducting

Project 112 Project 112 was a biological and chemical weapon experimentation project conducted by the United States Department of Defense from 1962 to 1973. The project started under John F. Kennedy's administration, and was authorized by his Secretary ...

and

Project SHAD Project SHAD, an acronym for Shipboard Hazard and Defense, was part of a larger effort called Project 112, which was conducted during the 1960s. Project SHAD encompassed tests designed to identify U.S. warships' vulnerabilities to attacks with che ...

. The Deseret project required a joint task force to undertake overseas chemical and biological testing. In response, the

established the Deseret Test Center under the auspices of the

U.S. Army Chemical Corps The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons. The Chemical Warfare Service was established on 28 June 1918, combining activities that until ...

. Harris, Sheldon H. ''Factories of Death: Japanese Biological Warfare, 1932-45, and the American Cover-up'',
Google Books
, Routledge, 1994, p. 232-33, (). A directive from May 28, 1962 outlined Deseret Test Center's mission: No tests were actually conducted at Deseret Test Center however, the Deseret administration facility was supported by

Dugway Proving Ground Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) is a U.S. Army facility established in 1942 to test biological and chemical weapons, located about southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and south of the Utah Test and Training Range. Location Dugway P ...

about away. The Deseret center occupied Building 103 and 105 at Fort Douglas, where administrative and planning decisions were made. The headquarters at Fort Douglas was staffed by 200 individuals. The U.S. Army closed Deseret Test Center in 1973.Fact Sheet - Yellow Leaf
", ''Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs)'', Deployment Health Support Directorate, accessed November 15, 2008.

Project Deseret (1961-1963)

''Project Deseret'' was developed to conduct a highly classified military research, development, and testing program which was aimed at both offensive and defensive human, animal, and plant reaction to biological, chemical, toxicological, entomological, and radiological warfare agents in various combinations of climate and terrain. The top secret research was conducted by the United States' Deseret Test Center with Britain, Canada, and Australia under the Quadripartite agreement. During Project Deseret each agent needed to be tested at sea, in the arctic, desert, and in a tropical jungle environment. In the autumn of 1961 Project Deseret was divided into two main parts consisting of

and

. Project Deseret was designated to assist not only the Army but the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

and the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

as well; thus, it was funded jointly by all branches of the U.S. military and U.S. intelligence agencies, a euphemism for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

's (CIA) Office of Technical Services. On April 17, 1963, President Kennedy signed

National Security Action Memorandum 235 NATIONAL SECURITY ACTION MEMORANDUM NO. 235 was an NSAM signed by President Kennedy at Washington D.C. on April 17, 1963 which placed requirements on Federal agencies and required Presidential approval prior to conducting ''Large-Scale Scientific o ...

(NSAM 235) authorizing: The deployments of

agents and field testing commenced immediately after the memorandum was signed. Which is odd, because https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_112 states project 112 started in 1962, while Kennedy memorandum NSAM 235 (of 1963) is clearly described at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Action_Memorandum_235 as intended to bring any biochemical experiments potentially environmentally detrimental under the direct control of the presidential office in order to prevent harm from such experiments.

Tests

Between its opening in 1962 and 1973 the Deseret Test Center was at the helm of Project 112,

Guillemin, Jeanne Jeanne Harley Guillemin (March 6, 1943 - November 15, 2019) was an American medical anthropologist and author, who for 25 years taught at Boston College as a Professor of Sociology and for over ten years was a senior fellow in the Security Studie ...

. ''Biological Weapons: From the Invention of State-Sponsored Programs to Contemporary Bioterrorism'',
Google Books
, Columbia University Press, 2005, pp. 109-10, (). a military operation aimed at evaluating

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

and

biological weapon A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterroris ...

s in differing environments. The test began in the fall of 1962 and were considered "ambitious" by the Chemical Corps; the tests were conducted at sea, in Arctic environments and in tropical environments. Tests were aimed at human, plant and animal reaction to the chemical and biological agents and were conducted in the United States,

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, Egypt, South Korea and

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. According to the Department of Defense, Deseret planned 134 chemical and biological weapons tests and of those 46 were carried out and 62 were canceled.DOD RELEASES DESERET TEST CENTER/PROJECT 112/PROJECT SHAD FACT SHEETS
, ''

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

'', October 9, 2002, accessed November 15, 2008. The tests of Project 112, and the related seaborne

, were kept secret until October 2002.Judson, Karen. ''Chemical and Biological Warfare'',
Google Books
,

Marshall Cavendish Marshall Cavendish is a subsidiary company of Times Publishing Group, the printing and publishing subsidiary of Singapore-based conglomerate Fraser and Neave (which in turn currently owned by ThaiBev, the beverage company in Thailand), and at pre ...

, 2003, pp. 83-86, (). Many tests occurred on U.S. soil and released live biological agents, chemical agents or their simulants. In total, according to the reporting of

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

, more than 5,000 soldiers and sailors were involved in the secret tests, many of them unknowingly.Secrecy Over Cold War WMD Tests
, ''

'', January 16, 2004, accessed November 15, 2008. From 1963-1965 there were 18 tests involving biological simulants, usually ''

Bacillus globigii ''Bacillus'' (Latin "stick") is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria, a member of the phylum ''Bacillota'', with 266 named species. The term is also used to describe the shape (rod) of other so-shaped bacteria; and the plural ''Bacilli ...

'' (BG). BG was used to simulate dangerous agents, such as

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

; once thought harmless to humans, research in the intervening years has revealed some simulants can actually cause infection in those with

weakened immune system Immunodeficiency, also known as immunocompromisation, is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious diseases and cancer is compromised or entirely absent. Most cases are acquired ("secondary") due to extrinsic factors that a ...

s.Shanker, Thom.
U.S. Tested a Nerve Gas in Hawaii
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', November 1, 2002, accessed November 15, 2008. 14 separate tests were performed using VX,

sarin Sarin (NATO designation GB G-series, "B"">Nerve_agent#G-series.html" ;"title="hort for Nerve agent#G-series">G-series, "B" is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound.tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...

es.

References

External links

*Davidson, Lee.
Secrets at sea: Cloud of secrecy lifting on Dugway Navy's tests of germ and chemical agents in the Pacific during Vietnam War
, ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'', Oct 22, 1995, accessed September 27, 2019. {{authority control 1962 establishments in Utah Biological warfare facilities Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City Chemical warfare facilities Military installations in Utah Research installations of the United States Army United States biological weapons program

History

Project Deseret (1961-1963)

Tests

See also

References

External links