Re: Biological Warfare Agents

[Vernon Brechin <vbrechin@igc.apc.org>]

The first response to Ted's question was from Marianne Thaeler who mentioned
that a U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range report, she had seen, indicated
that an unnamed tenant had quietly engaged in Biological Warfare Agent (BWA)
experiments on the range. I speculate that that tenant may have been the
DoD's Defense Nuclear Weapons Agency (DNA) which operates a facility near the
site of the first atomic explosion, Trinity Site. This federal agency has
been seeking alternative missions, including those involving biological
weapons testing, since the funding for its nuclear weapons testing activities
have been reduced. 

The change in its mission is reflected in its recent name change and in a
reorganization that became effective on October 1, 1998. A few years ago the
DoD's DNA agency was renamed the Defense Special Weapons Agency (DSWA). As
of October 1st, the organization was absorbed into a new DoD agency, the
Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). 

Vernon Brechin 
vbrechin@igc.org