Record date:
William Falk
Drafted during the Vietnam War, Falk used his mathematical and statistical skills toward objectives like ensuring the compliance of the chemical make-up of smoke grenades to regulation and eliminating BZ , a hallucinogenic chemical agent, which had been disseminated due to a leak at Pine Bluff Arsenal.
William Falk was born on September 29th, 1949, in Elmhurst, Illinois. He grew up around the Midwest, spending several years in Franklin Park, northern Wisconsin, and Minnesota before his family settled down in Wheaton. He attended Wheaton Central High School, graduating at seventeen, and then enrolled at Michigan State University. At Michigan State, Falk studied mathematics and statistics, joined the debate team, and joined the US Army ROTC for a time, though he left before graduating. He graduated in three years and began working at CNA Insurance in Chicago. In December of 1970, Falk received notice that he had been drafted into the United States Army, and instructions to report to the Chicago induction center in January of 1971.
From the Chicago Armed Forces examining and induction station, Falk and the other draftees and recruits were bused to O’Hare Airport where a waiting jet ferried them to Fort Polk, Louisiana. Towards the end of basic training, Falk was told that he had the opportunity to attend Vietnamese language school, although doing so would add a year to his enlistment contract. Rather than deal with the extended commitment and the certainty of being sent to Vietnam, he elected to continue basic training and proceed to Advanced Infantry Training. The day before graduation, to his surprise, he was instead ordered to Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas to serve as a mathematics/statistics assistant.
In 1969, the United States halted its offensive bioweapons program. Pine Bluff Arsenal was used as a storage depot and disposal center for American biological agents. Falk was first assigned temporary duty in the biological operations center, Directorate of Biological Operations, at the arsenal, running statistical analysis on results obtained from dismantled biological weapons to ensure that all components were completely neutralized. Several weeks later, he transferred to his permanent assignment as the statistician for quality control at the Pine Bluff Arsenal manufacturing facility for smoke grenades. He validated the chemical testing of smoke mixtures to make sure that the mixtures complied with specifications. Towards the end of his deployment, Falk served on the post’s Chemical/Biological/Radiological team, during which time he assisted with security and cleanup after a leak of BZ, a hallucinogenic chemical agent adopted by the Army in the early 1960s.
As the Vietnam War was winding down throughout 1972, the Army began to demobilize. After being promoted to the rank of Specialist 5, Falk left the armed forces. He completed his obligation after one year, nine months, and one day of service, returning to his job at CNA Insurance and his family in Chicago, where he and his wife raised three children.
