# 99044. Reserve Leadership Gets Anthrax Vaccinations

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By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON -- The Reserve component chiefs led by example 

Jan. 25 by receiving the first in a six-shot series of 

anthrax vaccinations here during a ceremony at the Reserve 

Officers Association midwinter conference.

Charles Cragin, acting assistant secretary of defense for 

reserve affairs, and 12 other reserve component leaders set 

the example for 900,000 reserve component members who will 

receive the shots by 2003.

"Since childhood we are accustomed to receiving 

vaccinations," Cragin said. "From smallpox to polio, we 

vaccinate to protect against diseases." The vaccination can 

protect service members against anthrax, a livestock 

disease that kills 99 out of 100 unprotected people. 

"[Anthrax] is the No. 1 weapon of choice in biological 

warfare. It is effective and easy to weaponize. If inhaled, 

it is almost always deadly."

Cragin said giving service members anthrax vaccinations is 

a prudent form of force protection. Some reserve component 

service members have already started receiving the shots. 

Reservists deploying or already deployed to Southwest Asia 

or Korea, high-risk areas for biological warfare, have 

started receiving the vaccinations. 

He assured the audience of the safety of the vaccine, 

noting no long-term side effects have surfaced since the 

Food and Drug Administration approved it 29 years ago.

DoD has inoculated about 170,000 personnel with more than 

475,000 separate shots. Dr. [Lt. Gen.] Ron Blanck, Army 

surgeon general, said side effects have been minimal. "In 

about 5 percent of those vaccinated, there has been a 

little redness and soreness where the shot was given," he 

said. "It's a killed bacteria serum. So problems that you 

would associate with a live serum are not possible."

Blanck, who has had the shots, said the program has gone 

remarkably smoothly with no reports of major problems 

associated with the serum. One case of Guillain-Barre 

syndrome was reported, but the service member made a 

complete recovery and medical officials do not know if the 

vaccination caused the illness.

Cragin said he had "utmost confidence" in the safety and 

effectiveness of the vaccine. 

Blanck said he spends an "awful lot of time" assuring 

service members and their families that the vaccinations 

are safe. The FDA approved the vaccine, he said, and the 

Army ran supplemental tests on it. Also, DoD developed a 

tracking system that shows who received shots, where, and 

what batch of vaccine was used to inoculate them. Finally, 

the whole process inspection by an outside expert.

Service members who refuse the shots are disobeying a 

direct order, said Cragin, and they are putting their 

colleagues in jeopardy. "If they deploy and they are in an 

area where this weapon is used, now their colleagues have 

to worry about them," he said.

Inhaled anthrax causes pneumonia-like symptoms one to six 

days after exposure. Victims eventually drown, in essence, 

when their lungs fill with fluids.

The six-shot series provides full protection from the 

disease. Getting a partial series provides only partial 

protection; however, even after three shots service members 

obtain 80 percent to 85 percent immunity, Blanck said.

For active duty and deploying reservists the protocol works 

like this: The first three shots are given in two-week 

intervals. The following three shots are administered at 6, 

12, and 18 months. The program also includes an annual 

booster 

The following reserve leaders received their shots during 

the ceremony. Charles L. Cragin, acting assistant secretary 

of defense for reserve affairs; Mark Davidson, deputy 

assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve 

affairs; Bryan E. Sharratt, deputy assistant secretary of 

the Air Force for reserve affairs; Maj. Gen. Thomas J. 

Plewes, chief, Army Reserve; Maj. Gen. Roger C. Schultz, 

director, Army National Guard; and Maj. Gen. James E. 

Sherrard III, chief, Air Force Reserve.

Others receiving the shots were: Brig. Gen. James Helmly, 

deputy chief, Army Reserve; Brig. Gen. Michael J. Squier, 

deputy director, Army National Guard; Rear Adm. John B. 

Totushek, director, Naval Reserve; Rear Adm. John F. 

Brunelli, commander, Naval Surface Reserve Force; Rear Adm. 

Thomas J. Barrett, director for Reserve and Training, U.S. 

Coast Guard Headquarters; Col. Howard Schick, deputy 

director for Reserve Affairs, U.S. Marine Corps; and Capt. 

James Willis, deputy director for Reserve and Training, 

U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters.

Other officers participated in the ceremony but had already 

started the inoculation process. They were: Air Force Lt. 

Gen. Russell C. Davis, chief, National Guard Bureau; Air 

Force Maj. Gen. Robert A. Mcintosh, assistant to the 

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Brig. Gen. Craig 

B. McKinley, deputy director, Air National Guard.

Cragin said service members can find out more about the 

vaccination program visiting the anthrax web site at 

http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/Anthrax/.

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 Mark Davidson, deputy assistant secretary of the navy for manpower and reserve affairs, receives his anthrax vaccination from Cmdr. Victoria Tyson. Tyson is a naval reservist assigned to Bethesda Naval Hospital, Md. (Jim Garamone)