Dork, Project

One task remained. I was eager to make a film to preserve the drama of the Dork project experiment, but wanted to avoid excessive braggadocio. I recalled James Joyce s advice in his 1916 novel. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, that a creator should remain within or behind or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails. I decided to clip... 

Studies with BZ did not cease in 1964, although the Dork project was our last major BZ experiment, since we believed we had completed the evaluations considered necessary to characterize its actions and effectiveness under various conditions. 

The following morning, uniforms acceptably clean we met with the Post Commander, the Chief Scientist, and half a dozen staff officers. There was some sotto voce jesting about the operation s name - Project Dork - no doubt mischievously chosen by some wag. The implication of this not-so-subtle reference to General Dick, originator of the brainstorm we were about to implement, was clear. 

Project DORK volunteers on flatbed truck breathing with oscilloscopic feedback guidance... 

Project Dork had been completed almost exactly one month from the day that a persistent major from Washington had come to Edgewood with a bizarre request from a four-star general ... 

An intriguing postscript to the Dork operation was a telegram from a civilian in Utah who wanted to share his expertise with our laboratories. Its wording raised the suspicion that his roof might have been missing a shingle or two (as they say). As far as I know, no one responded to this well-intended communication, but it seemed like an interesting piece of memorabilia, and I tucked it into the project folder. 

The lengthy IG report concludes with a detailed account of the field test we conducted in November 1964 at Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah (Project Dork). The fact that the request to carry out diis test came via a Department of the Army representative, bearing an urgent requirement to test the feasibility of disseminating BZ to volunteers at distances of 500 and 1,000 yards, seemed to satisfy the IG team that the test was necessary and properly authorized. 

After recounting die manner in which Project Dork was carried out, including the stringent medical and other safety controls in effecf and the use of physostigmine to control severe reactions, the IG team concluded Evidence available in die referenced reports indicated full compliance with Chief of Staff Memorandum 385. ... 

Utah Project Dork 8 Nov 1964 Aero range of doses effectiveness confirmed... 

Study 23 Project Dork Aerosol Munition Test ... 

Fig. 11 This subject was one of 8 volunteers who participated in Project Dork, previously described in Chapter 14. Performance scores dropped rapidly when physostigmine was withheld, but returned to near normal when resumed. Heart rate responded similarly. Total amount of physostigmine given was roughly 100 mg (expressed as oral dose equivalent). Note that physostigmine by injection is approximately 50% more effective than by the oral route (i.e., 2 mg i.m. 3 mg p.o.)...

The Dugway experiment, to test the effective dosage of BZ when disseminated in the open , began in late 1964, and was codenamed Project Dork. The Hawaii tests took place in 1966 and 1967. 

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