The U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories (USBWL) was a suite of research laboratories and pilot plant centers operating at Camp (later Fort) Detrick,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States, beginning in 1943 under the control of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps Research and Development Command. The USBWL undertook research and development into

biocontainment One use of the concept of biocontainment is related to laboratory biosafety and pertains to microbiology laboratories in which the physical containment of pathogenic organisms or agents (bacteria, viruses, and toxins) is required, usually by is ...

decontamination Decontamination (sometimes abbreviated as decon, dcon, or decontam) is the process of removing contaminants on an object or area, including chemicals, micro-organisms, and/or radioactive substances. This may be achieved by chemical reaction, dis ...

, gaseous sterilization, and agent production and purification for the U.S. offensive biological warfare program. The laboratories and their projects were discontinued in 1969.

History

Origins

The USBWL was created after Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson requested the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(NAS) in 1941 to review the feasibility of biological warfare (BW). The following year, the NAS reported that BW might be feasible and recommended that steps be taken to reduce U.S. vulnerability to BW attacks. After that, the official policy of the United States was first to deter the use of BW against U.S. forces and secondarily to retaliate if deterrence failed.

World War II

Throughout the war years, Dr. Ira L. Baldwin, professor of bacteriology at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, was scientific director of the Laboratories.

Cold War

The USBWL were the United States' front-line defense against BW during the first half of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Disestablishment

In 1969, the USBWL ceased to exist when President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

disestablished all offensive BW studies and directed the destruction of all stockpiles of BW agents and munitions.

Operations

At Fort Detrick, the USBWL consisted of various labs and divisions, including: *The Safety "S" Division, first to be activated (1943) **Biological Protection Branch *The Special Operations (or Projects) Division (1949–68), the most highly classified work **Conducted hundreds of field tests of aerosolized simulants; **Investigated and developed drugs for use in "

brainwashing Brainwashing is the controversial idea that the human mind can be altered or controlled against a person's will by manipulative psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently ...

" and interrogation *Planning Pilot-Engineering (PP-E) Division *The Crops Division (called "Plant Sciences Laboratories" after 1966), evaluated thousands of compounds for herbicidal activity (including

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...

; see

Herbicidal warfare Herbicidal warfare is the use of substances primarily designed to destroy the plant-based ecosystem of an area. Although herbicidal warfare use chemical substances, its main purpose is to disrupt agricultural food production and/or to destroy p ...

) *The Basic Science ivision?*Division B, pursued anthrax vaccine work The USBWL was also a parent facility overseeing testing and production centers elsewhere, including: * Pine Bluff Arsenal,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

* Horn Island,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

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

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, including Granite Peak Installation * Vigo Ordnance Plant, near Terre Haute,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Work-related deaths

Three deaths related to occupational bio-agent exposures occurred during the USBWL program. (Additionally, an unnamed

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

died in a pump explosion in Building 201 in 1943.) *William Allen Boyles, a 46-year-old microbiologist, contracted

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

and died on 25 November 1951. Boyles Street, on Fort Detrick, is named in his honor. His internal organs were harvested after his death to isolate the anthrax contained in them. *Joel Eugene Willard, a 53-year-old electrician, died in 1958 after contracting pulmonary anthrax. Willard Place, on Fort Detrick, is named in his honor. *Albert Nickel, a 53-year-old animal caretaker, died in 1964 after being bitten by an animal infected with Machupo virus. Nickel Place, on Fort Detrick, is named in his honor. The army made details of these deaths public in 1975.

Reunions

The "Fort Detrick Reunion Group" met most years between 1991 and 2008 when they disbanded for lack of participants. When they met at Nallin Pond in 1994, their numbers peaked at 400. They consisted of a diverse group of USBWL participants ranging from animal caretakers to top scientists.Tucker, Pat (2011), "Reunion Group Continues to Give to Fort Detrick Community", '' Fort Detrick Standard'', 23 June 2011, pg 4.

References

{{coord, 39, 26, 8, N, 77, 25, 38, W, region:US-MD_type:landmark, display=title Biological Warfare Laboratories Biological Warfare Laboratories Biological warfare facilities Fort Detrick 1969 disestablishments in Maryland United States biological weapons program Military installations closed in 1969