My research paper is on Dugway Proving Ground incident of 1969. The incident actually took place in March of 1968. What happened in 1969 was that President Nixon reaffirmed the “no first use, retaliate in kind” which became a national policy for the employment of chemical weapons. (Mauroni, Al, p. 33) The incident involved the killing of 6,000 sheep according to The Salt Lake Tribune. A deadly nerve agent known as VX had drifted off the reservation contaminating the sheep feeding area. The Army conducted investigations to show that they had nothing to do with the death of those sheep. At the end of the investigation it showed that they were not responsible for the incident. I am going to talk about the history of Dugway Proving Ground, and what cause the sheep to die. The people are blame the government for the death of the sheep, and the government is blaming ranchers. The government said the sheep died from the pesticides they sprayed to protect their crops. The history around Dugway Proving Ground is interesting, because it was built in the spring of 1942, and testing started in the summer of 1942. They wanted to build this place quick as possible, because it was back during World War II. The mission of Dugway Proving Ground is to test, implement United States and Allied biological and chemical weapon defense systems in a secure and isolated environment. (DPG, March 2014) Dugway Proving Ground was established by the US Army Chemical Warfare Service, because they wanted a more secluded testing site than the one they had in the US Army Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. Dugway Proving Ground consisted of 802 thousand acres. (DPG, Mar 2014) All that meant was they wanted to find a place that was not as visible to the people, and stayed... ... middle of paper ... ...a. Later they closed down the program, but it was eventually reactivated. Works Cited 1. Mauroni, A. J. (2007). Chemical and biological warfare: A reference handbook ABC-CLIO, Inc 2. Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press. 3. "Facts About VX." CDC. N.p., 9 May 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. Retrieved from http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/vx/basics/facts.asp 4. JIM WOOLF THE SALT, LAKE TRIBUNE. (1997, Dec 14). Tribe digs into mystery of sheep that died near Dugway in 1968; sheep: Utah tribe digs into mystery. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/288782360?accountid=4138 5. "Dugway Proving Ground." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Mar. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugway_Proving_Ground
The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston is an intriguing book that discusses the anthrax terrorist attacks after 9/11 and how smallpox might become a future bioterrorist threat to the world. The book provides a brief history of the smallpox disease including details of an outbreak in Germany in 1970. The disease was eradicated in 1979 due to the World Health Organization’s aggressive vaccine program. After the virus was no longer a treat the World Health Organization discontinued recommending the smallpox vaccination. In conjunction, inventory of the vaccine was decreased to save money. The virus was locked up in two labs, one in the United States and one in Russia. However, some feel the smallpox virus exists elsewhere. Dr. Peter Jahrling and a team of scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Maryland became concerned terrorists had access to the smallpox virus and planed to alter the strain to become more resistant. These doctors conducted smallpox experiments to discover more effective vaccines in case the virus were released. Preparedness for a major epidemic is discussed as well as the ease with which smallpox can be bioengineered.
In 1968 over 6000 sheep died during or as a result of the incident that took place that day in Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah. Picture the Headlines, Dugway Proving Grounds is responsible for killing American Sheep. A thorough investigation at all levels; local, state and federal was conducted to find out what happened. It was discovered that the incident stemmed from a series of test that were conducted at Dugway Proving Grounds, using the agent VX. What is VX you ask; VX is one of our persistent chemical agents that are also classified as an Organophosphate? This is the type of agent that will linger and not dissipate. It is considered a Nerve Agent.
US Enviromental Protection Agency. (2010, December 13). Retrieved January 20, 2011, from US EPA Human Health: http://cfpub.epa.gov/eroe/index.cfm?fuseaction=list.listByChapter&ch=49
Area 51 also includes the testing of aircrafts.” the correct names for the facility are Homey Airport” ( wikipedia the free encyclopedia)
During the past century, more than 500 million people have died due to infectious diseases. Several tens of thousands of these deaths were due to the deliberate release of pathogens or toxins. Two international treaties outlawed biological weapons in 1925 and 1972. Unfortunately, these treaties have failed to stop countries from conducting offensive weapons research and large-scale production of biological weapons. As our knowledge increases on these disease-causing agents, so does our fear of future threats of biological warfare (Frischknecht, 2003).
Rose, S. P., & Pavett, D. (19691968). CBW: chemical and biological warfare. Boston: Beacon Press.
Zubay, Geoffrey L. Agents of Bioterrorism: Pathogens and Their Weaponization. New York: Columbia UP, 2005. Print.
For the perpetrators of an attack, biological agents can have great advantages over typical instruments of war. Like any weapon, however,
They were in a field alongside a road down a steep hill to the south
News of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons seem to plague today's newspapers. Taking a glance at headlines, one would read about current issues regarding Iraqi disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, Russian government intentional use of a gas that killed rebels and hostages, and terrorist threats on the United States. Chemical and biological warfare (CBW) is not a new problem in the war against terror; it was a danger to communities centuries ago.
Bioterrorism is an increasing problem that we are faced with into today’s society, with one of the more recently known outbreaks being Ebola virus hemorrhagic fever. Bioterrorism is defined as an attack on humans, plants, and animals that is caused by deliberately released viruses, bacteria, or other germs called agents to cause illness or death. Bioterrorism has many dangers that affect health care, and several ways we can confront and eliminate bioterrorism as well with several federal programs in place to help with the preparedness of health care facilities. There are also different types and categories of bioterrorism.
The regulation or elimination of chemical and biological weapons has huge societal impacts going into the future. Both sides of this argument greatly understand the severity of these weapons. There usage not only impacts certain regions, but the whole world. The usage of chemical and biological weapons will continue to be a controversial topic because there will be technological advances that make the chemicals and organisms much more deadly. Now is the time to understand and make decisions on the use of chemical and biological weapons before it gets out of hand. However, human civilization has had these “moral’’ arguments from the beginning of time and solving them will be one of our greatest challenges.
Riedel, Stefan. “Biological Warfare and Bioterrorism: A Historical Review.” NCBI. Baylor University Medical Center, 17 Oct. 2004. Web. 19 May 2014.
The idea of biological warfare may be a simple one, but do not make the mistake of oversimplifying it. One might say that coughing on someone you don’t like in order to give them your cold could be considered biological warfare, but it is nothing like the threat we are facing. Technology has moved far beyond the days of infecting Native Americans with small pox. Today, people are capable of making disease-resistant strains of virus and bacteria, manufacturing them in mass quantities, and storing them for long per...