EXERCISE DESERT ROCK (October-November, 1951). A Study of Soldier Attitudes and Knowledge about Atomic Effects.
Abstract
EXERCISE DESERT ROCK represented an important step by the U.S. Army toward the tactical development of a major new weapon. For the first time an atom bomb was employed in a maneuver involving the actual participation of troops. The exercise was planned to provide answers to a number of basic questions. Not the least of these pertained to the reactions of the troops themselves. The atomic bomb is a weapon which has had a profound effect on the thinking of people everywhere -- and about which some awesome tales have been spread. Soldiers are not intellectually isolated. They are subject to the same sources of information and to essentially the same fears are as the rest of the population. How then did the participant troops feel before, during, and after the maneuver? How did the special training they received and the maneuver experience itself affect their knowledge about and attitudes toward atomic weapons? To what extent did those who were in on the maneuver later influence the views of non-participant troops? This report presents some answers to these questions and suggests certain conclusions that may be drawn with respect to training troops for atomic warfare.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1952
- Accession Number
- ADA078558