Theses and Dissertations Thesis Collection

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Theses and Dissertations

Thesis Collection

2001-12

Is the U.S. Navy prepared to counter biological warfare threats?

Richardson, Scott Nathan.



NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL Monterey, California

THESIS

IS THE U.S. NAVY PREPARED TO COUNTER BIOLOGICAL WARFARE THREATS? by

Scott Nathan Richardson

December 2001

Thesis Advisor: Second Reader:

Peter R. Lavoy James J. Wirtz

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

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1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE December 2001

3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master's Thesis

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE: Is the U.S. Navy Prepared to Counter Biological 5. FUNDING NUMBERS Warfare Threats?

6. AUTHOR(S): Scott Nathan Richardson

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER

9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING / MONITORING

N/A

AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE

13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words)

The biological warfare (BW) threat to U.S. Naval Surface Forces (NSF) is real but not well understood. Greater awareness about the threat is essential for U.S. NSF to establish key competencies to counter its effects. Commanding Officers (COs) and Officers in Tactical Command (OTCs) will be placed in positions where they must combat challenges from adversaries who will seek to use BW. This thesis identifies what can be done to enhance NSF capabilities to counter BW.

Having neglected the BW threat, the U.S. Navy seeks to improve its preparedness by exploiting the development of key bio-defense systems. While some of these systems including Joint Portal Shield and the Joint Biological Point Detection System will soon be deployed, the Navy still lacks the doctrine, organizational modifications, training and education, and leadership to take advantage of these new technological systems.

This thesis suggests that Local Unit Practices (LPs) prescribed by COs and OTCs should be established to match each unit's capability and sustainability to the threat. To do so, U.S. NSF require an institutional revolution that maximizes doctrine and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) which tie directly into LPs to provide the means for BW defense and protection.

14. SUBJECT TERMS: Biological Weapons, Biological Warfare, BW, Navy Doctrine, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Naval BW Defense, Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTP), NBC Defense, Counter-Proliferation, Surface Naval Forces BW Readiness, Armed Forces BW Readiness, Consequence Management, Navy Defenses.

15. NUMBER OF PAGES

94

16. PRICE CODE

17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF REPORT

Unclassified

NSN 7540-01-280-5500

18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE

Unclassified

19. SECURITY

20. LIMITATION

CLASSIFICATION OF ABSTRACT

Unclassified

OF ABSTRACT UL

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