Behind the high barbed wire fence, scientists at Dugway Proving Ground, a top-secret military base covering approximately 320 hectares in rural Utah, USA, are testing the world’s most dangerous chemical and biological weapons.
Dugway Proving Ground is located in one of the most isolated areas in the United States, known for its rattlesnakes and wild horses. This remote location attracted the military to build a secret facility in the early 1940s.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt “greenlighted” this military base after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The base began operations in 1942 to train soldiers on bombing simulations of 24 Japanese towns and 6 German towns.
After the Korean War in 1954, Dugway shifted its focus to chemical and biological weapons. A prominent project during this period involved research to turn fleas and mosquitoes into weapons.
By the late 1960s, Dugway’s chemical weapons research came to an end after outdoor testing of a nerve agent resulted in the death of 6,400 local sheep.
It took more than a year for the U.S. military to acknowledge this and compensate the farmers over 1 million USD.
In the following decades, Dugway continued to be used for military projects like missile testing. However, it wasn’t until the early 1990s, amid growing concerns about Russia and the Middle East using chemical and biological agents, that Dugway returned to this field.
In 1991, Dugway released a list of substances that could be researched, including anthrax pathogens, Q fever bacteria, and toxins related to food poisoning, among others.
During the Cold War, scientists at Dugway conducted a controversial project that exposed soldiers to weaponized pathogens, as well as nerve gas and hallucinogens, to observe their effects.
More than 5,800 soldiers underwent testing. However, after a Senate hearing in 1994, the military discontinued the project after researchers realized it was not as safe as previously thought.
The base has 1,400 residents, with an elementary school and a high school, along with several restaurant chains.
Within the chemical testing department, there are two types of laboratories. One is for analyzing chemical components; the other is for developing and evaluating equipment to protect soldiers from harmful chemicals.
Dugway has another department dedicated to biological agents, focusing on objectives such as training soldiers to deal with weapons of mass destruction and researching the production of antigens.
The military base is a training ground where soldiers practice scenarios such as searching for weapons of mass destruction and detecting traces of harmful bacteria.
Dugway has made efforts to become more transparent in its operations, but much of what occurs behind the barbed wire remains classified. Occasionally, the base garners public attention when scientists mishandle deadly agents.
In 2011, Dugway had to shut down after a vial containing about a quarter teaspoon of nerve agent went missing. No one was allowed in or out of the base for several hours. It was later found and deemed an unintentional incident.
In 2014, Dugway accidentally shipped anthrax doses, a deadly agent, to 21 states and to South Korea. A subsequent report indicated that Dugway had failed to follow standard procedures, specifically not using sufficient radiation to eliminate anthrax samples.
According to the Pentagon, despite these incidents, the military base mostly achieves its objectives and ensures maximum safety.
In 2021, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Dugway hosted a two-week event where military groups coordinated using new technologies to prepare for future wars.
This was the first event of its kind held at Dugway and could mark the beginning of a new focus for this top-secret military base.
