The US Biological Weapons Program - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 19

for BW R&D and assigned some of its personnel to Camp Detrick. 53 The
Air Force shared responsibility on BW R&D with the CmlC. 54
The CIA's Technical Support Staff specialized in gadgetry and carried
out a number of questionable experiments on unaware human targets.
Moreover, it had a close relationship with Camp Detrick. As its director,
William Colby, explained to the Church Committee in 1975:
CIA's association with Fort Detrick involved the Special Operations Divi-
sion (SOD) of that facility. This division was responsible for developing
special applications for biological warfare agents and toxins. Its principal
customer was the U.S. Army. Its concern was with the development of
both suitable agents and delivery mechanisms for use in paramilitary sit-
uations. It performed “certain research and development” in the labora-
tory facilities of the Special Operations Division of the Army Biological
Laboratory at Fort Detrick. 55
Too many organizations were involved in US biological warfare plan-
ning. This dispersal of responsibility forms a sharp contrast to the
Manhattan Project. The need to centralize CBW coordination within the
CmlC was recognized by the Eisenhower administration. In 1955 and
1957 the CmlC's authority over CBW R&D coordination was strength-
ened. 56
Facilities
Several facilities were dedicated to biological warfare preparedness af-
ter World War II: Camp (later Fort) Detrick, Maryland; Edgewood Arse-
nal, Maryland; the X-201 Plant, Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Dugway Proving
Ground, Utah; Plum Island, New York; and the Chemical Corps School,
Army Chemical Center (which later became Fort McClellan), Alabama.
Camp Detrick, established in 1943, had from 3,000 to 4,000 personnel
during the final phase of World War II. By March 1946 it was down to be-
tween 300 and 400 employees. 57 Miller describes it as consisting of “re-
search laboratories, pilot plants, and chamber test facilities. It also con-
ducted agent and agent-simulant tests.” 58 Its main testing site was the
8 Ball Bomb Test Building, completed in 1950 at a cost of $715,468. 59
Edgewood Arsenal performed a multitude of R&D tasks during the post-
war period.