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Project 112

Deseret Test Center Project 112 was a Cold war-era chemical and biological warfare test program. This comprehensive program was initiated in 1962 out of concern for our nation’s ability to protect and defend against these potential threats.

One aspect of Project 112 was known as Shipboard Hazard and Defense, or SHAD. SHAD was composed of test designed to identify U.S. warships’ vulnerabilities to attacks with chemical or biological warfare agents and to develop procedures to such attacks while maintaining a war-fighting capability. An accompanying article supplies more details of the tests.

Beginning in September 2000, the Department of Defense actively pursued declassification of relevant medical information from all 134 planned chemical and biological tests in Project 112. DoD committed to providing the VA with the medically relevant information it needs to settle benefits claims as quickly and efficiently as possible and evaluate and treat veterans who were involved in those tests. This required analyzing historical documents recording the planning and execution of SHAD tests. DoD has kept the public informed of newly released information and the investigation’s progress.

The classified information related to SHAD was not completely catalogued or located in one facility. The Deseret Test Center, the organization that ran the tests, was closed in the 1970s. The search for 40-year-old documents and records kept by different military services in different locations was the initial challenge. A separate article offers more details of the investigation.

The accompanying chart details the status of the investigation, dates and other test information that has been released and which planned tests were not conducted. We developed fact sheets for each test that was completely investigated.

Questions? If you need help verifying your possible participation in a Project SHAD/112 test, please call DoD's contact managers at (800) 497-6261, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you'd like to speak with a VA representative, call the Special Issues Helpline at (800) 749-8387 or visit the VA's SHAD page. Many states offer services and benefits to veterans. To find out more about a particular state, select it on the map.