Cold War Veterans Blog

Cold War Weapons Tests May Have
Harmed US Veterans

From 1962 through 1973, the Department of Defense’s Deseret Test Center conducted Project 112, a program to test new chemical and biological weapons. The tests conducted in Utah, Hawaii and at sea exposed military and civilian personnel to hazardous materials. In these recently declassified fact sheets, the Department of Defense reveals details about the ships and units involved in the tests and to what substances their crews and other personnel may have been exposed.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 471-03 July 01, 2003

DoD Completes Deseret Test Center Investigation Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs, announced yesterday the completion of DoD’s investigation into the 1962-1973 Deseret Test Center operational chemical and biological warfare testing done under Project 112. The announcement comes with the release of the final 10 detailed fact sheets and two updated fact sheets. These fact sheets, when added to the 46 fact sheets previously released, present health-related information on all chemical and biological tests done by the Deseret Test Center under Project 112. The new fact sheets cover tests conducted in Utah, in Hawaii, and at sea. Project 112 was a joint program initiated in 1962 out of concern for our ability to protect and defend against potential chemical and biological warfare testing threats. DoD initiated this investigation at the request of the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide information to respond to some veterans' claims that tests conducted in the 1960s and early 1970s may have affected their health. "Our investigative team located and searched classified records to identify which ships and units were involved in the tests, when the tests took place, and to what substances their crews and other personnel may have been exposed," Winkenwerder said. "We are pleased to be able to bring this investigation to a close." Veterans who believe they were involved in Deseret Test Center tests and desire medical evaluations should call the VA's Helpline at (800) 749-8387. Veterans who have DoD related questions, or who are DoD beneficiaries and have medical concerns or questions, should call DoD’s Deployment Health Support Directorate’s contact center at (800) 497-6261. All Deseret Test Center fact sheets are available on the DeploymentLINK Web site at http://deploymentlink.osd.mil/current_issues/shad/shad_intro.shtml.