William C. Patrick III

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William C. Patrick III is a now retired microbiologist and former bioweaponeer for the U.S. Army.

Patrick headed the American offensive biowarfare program as Chief of Product Development at Fort Detrick, MD, USA beginning in 1951. After biological weapons development and stockpiling were discontinued by President Nixon in 1969, he continued to work at Fort Detrick on biowarfare defense projects until 1986.

Since Patrick left his government job, he has been a consultant.

Mr. Patrick has 50 years experience in the field of Biological Warfare (BW); the first 21 years were devoted to the offensive aspects of BW (1951 - 1972); 14 years were devoted to the development of medical defense research programs to counter potential offensive BW of adversary nations; and since his retirement in 1986, Mr. Patrick has served as a consultant to the U. S. Government as well as to private organizations.
Mr. Patrick became Chief of Product Development Division of the former Biological Warfare Laboratories in 1965. He held this position until 1972 when the offensive program was disestablished. The mission of the Product Development Division provided Mr. Patrick with a broad and unique experience in BW. This division represented the first step in the weaponization of an agent. Products were developed with those desired/required biological, physical, aerobiological, and storage characteristics for employment in specific prototype munitions. Mr. Patrick worked closely with the basic research scientists, the bio-investigators and engineers in the pilot plant and in the production plant at Pine Bluff Arsenal (PBA) as well as with munitions development engineers. Frequently, the unique products of the division were the first to be tested in field tests at Dugway Proving Ground and at other field sites. Product development covered all agents and included bacteria, viruses, fungi, rickettsiase and toxins. Mathematical modeling was performed in relation to target analysis and target requirements constituted a fundamental objective in the product development cycle.
From 1951 to 1966, Mr. Patrick was employed in a variety of offensive programs which included, but were not limited to the following examples: 1) Project engineer in the design and start-up operations in the virus production facility as well as the freeze drying plant at PBA; 2) Plant manager of the virus pilot plant at Ft. Detrick; 3) Special envoy to Dugway Proving Grounds during the field testing of several munitions systems; and 4) Chief of Agent Processing Branch, Pilot Plant Division, BWL for several years.
Mr. Patrick joined U. S. Army Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in 1972 and served as the Plans and Programs Officer (1972 – 1984) reporting directly to the commander. He participated in the planning, directing, coordinating, evaluating and reporting on a broad, complex program of medical defense against BW Agents. In 1984, he was promoted to one of the most senior civilian positions at USAMRIID as Program Analysis Officer, a position he held until his retirement in 1986.
From 1986 to present, Mr. Patrick has performed services on a contractual basis to DIA, AFMIC, CIA, USAMRIID, FI, USSS, and other many other institutions. These services include but are not limited to the following examples: 1) lectures on agent-munitions weaponization, agent characteristics, aerosol technologies, etc; 2) mathematical modeling of agents to illustrate target coverage; 3) biodefensive and biosafety lectures; 4) analytical studies of agents and their potential; and 5) lectures on BW terrorism.
Mr. Patrick’s BW experience provided significant insight into Iraq’s biological warfare program. On UNSCOM 78 trip to Iraq (1994), Mr. Patrick’s observations on how process equipment was being used at the A I Hockum facility provided the nearest thing to “Smoking Gun Evidence” of Iraqi intent until they themselves declared an extensive BW program in 1995.
Mr. Patrick continues to conduct lectures on the following subjects: History of Biological Warfare; Agent; Munition Weaponization; Aerosol Technology; Agent Modeling; Biosafety; Biodefense; and BW Terrorism. Within the last year, he has appeared on all of the major U. S. television networks as well as Canadian Broadcasting, the BBC, PBS, the History Channel, The Learning Channel, and the Discovery Channel. He has been awarded a CIA Meritorious Citation, and the Order of Military Medical Merit.

NEW EDIT SIGNED:

stevehta --Stevehta 16:39, 25 March 2007 (UTC)