Operation Top Hat

Operation Top Hat

Operation Top Hat was a "local field exercise"[1] conducted by the United States Army Chemical Corps in 1953. The exercise involved the use of Chemical Corps personnel to test biological and chemical warfare decontamination methods. These personnel were deliberately exposed to these contaminants, so as to test decontamination.

Contents

Background

In June 1953 the United States Army formally adopted guidelines regarding the use of human subjects in chemical, biological, or radiological testing and research.[1] The guidelines were adopted per an Army Chief of Staff memo (MM 385) and closely mirrored the Nuremberg Code.[1] These guidelines also required that all research projects involving human subjects receive approval from the Secretary of the Army.[1] The guidelines, however, left a loophole; they did not define what types of experiments and tests required such approval from the secretary, thus encouraging "selective compliance" with the guidelines.[1]

Tests

Under the guidelines, seven research projects involving chemical weapons and human subjects were submitted by the Chemical Corps for Secretary of the Army approval in August 1953.[1][2] One project involved vesicants, one involved phosgene, and five were experiments which involved nerve agents; all seven were approved.[1][2] Operation Top Hat, however, was not among the projects submitted to the Secretary of the Army for approval.[2]

Operation Top Hat was termed a "local field exercise" by the Army and took place from September 15–19, 1953 at the Army Chemical School at Fort McClellan, Alabama.[1][2] In a 1975 Pentagon Inspector General's report, the military maintained Top Hat was not subject to the guidelines requiring approval because it was a "line of duty" exercise in the Chemical Corps.[2] The experiments used Chemical Corps personnel to test decontamination methods for biological and chemical weapons,[2] including sulfur mustard and nerve agents.[1] Chemical Corps personnel participating in the tests were not volunteers and were not informed of the tests.[1]

See also

  • Human experimentation in the United States

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pechura, Constance M. and Rall, David P. Veterans at Risk: The Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite, (Google Books), U.S. Institute of Medicine: Committee to Survey the Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite, National Academies Press, 1993, p. 379–80, (ISBN 030904832X).
  2. ^ a b c d e f Moreno, Jonathan D. Undue Risk: Secret State Experiments on Humans, (Google Books), Routledge, 2001, pp. 179–80, (ISBN 0415928354).

Further reading

  • Taylor, James R. and Johnson, William N. Research Report Concerning the Use of Volunteers in Chemical Agent Research, DAIG-IN 21-75, 1975, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, Office of the Inspector General and Auditor General

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Operation Red Hat — was a U.S. military action taking place in 1971, which involved the movement of chemical warfare munitions from Okinawa, Japan to Johnston Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Contents 1 Operation 2 Accident 3 See also …   Wikipedia

  • Top-hat transform — In mathematical morphology and digital image processing, top hat transform is an operation that extracts small elements and details from given images. There exist two types of top hat transform: The white top hat transform is defined as the… …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Geranium — was a U.S. Army mission that dumped more than 3,000 tons of the chemical agent lewisite into the ocean off the Florida coast in 1948. Contents 1 Operation 2 Dumping 3 See also 4 References …   Wikipedia

  • Operation CHASE — (Cut Holes and Sink Em) was a United States Department of Defense program that involved the disposal of unwanted munitions at sea from May 1964 into the early 1970s.[1] The disposal program involved loading old munitions onto ships which were… …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Davy Jones' Locker — (or Davey) was a U.S. military operation from 1946 1948. It involved the dumping at sea of captured German chemical weapons following the end of World War II. Contents 1 Background 2 Operation 3 See also 4 …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Ranch Hand — Four plane defoliant run, part of Operation Ranch Hand …   Wikipedia

  • Operation LAC — A C 119 Flying Boxcar, the type of plane used to release the chemicals Operation LAC (Large Area Coverage), was a U.S. Army Chemical Corps operation which dispersed microscopic zinc cadmium sulfide (ZnCdS) particles over much of the United States …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Steel Box — The U.S. Military Sealift Command auxiliary crane ship SS Flickertail State (T ACS 5) as the ship arrives at Johnston Atoll during Operation Steel Box. Operation Steel Box, also known as Operation Golden Python, was a 1990 joint U.S. West German… …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Hump — Part of Vietnam War Date 5 – 8 November 1965 Location South Vietnam, Bien Hoa Result …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Savannah (Angola) — This article is about the South African invasion of Angola. For the World War II military operation, see Operation Savannah. Operation Savannah was the name given to the South African Defence Force s 1975–1976 covert intervention in the Angolan… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”