The US Biological Weapons Program - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 26

sicknesses, or incapacitations. In the process, “The experimenters learned
that larger doses of the Q fever agent shortened the incubation period,
that previous vaccination prevented the disease, and that the infection
was highly responsive to oxytetracycline.” 87 The results of the BW spray
tests satisfied the CmlC by demonstrating that spraying was the superior
means of disseminating BW agents. 88
Human testing was not confined to the Whitecoat trials. A 1996 report
by the Chemical Weapons Exposure Study Task Force gives the most
complete listing of human testing throughout the offensive phase of the
program. Subjects were exposed to Bacillus subtilis, Francisella tularensis,
ricin, botulinum toxin, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, Coe virus, rhino-
virus, Mycoplasma pneumonia, Coxiella burnetii, Brucella species, Bacillus an-
thracis, smallpox virus, influenza virus, staphylococcal enterotoxin, and
Rickettsia rickettsii, the agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Several test
sites were utilized, from Detrick to the Ohio State Penitentiary. The sub-
jects were exposed to aerosol inhalation, airborne particles, syringe injec-
tions, and inoculations. Although the 1966 report listed injuries, it did
not report any fatalities. Presumably, when lethal agents were used, ade-
quate protection was provided. 89
The objective of another series of trials, Operation Large Area Coverage
(1957-1958), was to test the theory that large air masses would carry bio-
logical agents over considerable distances (see Chapter 3). According to
the CmlC, “These tests proved the feasibility of covering large areas of a
country with BW agents” sprayed from airplanes. 90
BW testing accelerated during the Kennedy and Johnson administra-
tions. The Kennedy administration launched Project 112, which included
both land and sea tests. The ocean and coastal tests were codenamed
Operation SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense). In 1961 Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara ordered a review of America's military capa-
bilities. Among the 150 projects initiated, Project 112 was aimed at “re-
search, testing, and development for chemical and biological weapons.”
The purpose of SHAD was “to identify US warships' vulnerabilities to
attacks with chemical or biological weapons and to develop proce-
dures to respond to such attacks while maintaining a war-fighting capa-
bility.” Tests were held off the coast of Hawaii and California, in the open
spaces of the Pacific, in the Marshall Islands, in Alaska, in the Panama Ca-
nal Zone, in Florida, and in the Great Plains region of Canada. Agents