Deployment Health Support Directorate (DHSD) investigators questioned the Deseret Test Center personnel they interviewed on the reason for taking gargle samples and nasal swabs from vessel crew members. The practice was an informal, and largely undocumented, supplement to the mechanical samplers positioned throughout the test ships to measure organism penetration and dispersion. It appears that the data gathered may have been used to help validate mechanical samplers in the early tests where Bacillus globigii was the biological simulant being used, allowing the practice to be discontinued once samplers were optimally positioned. One known exception is that during the Autumn Gold test, gargle samples and nasal swabs were taken of crewmembers wearing protective masks to determine the effectiveness of the masks. These sample readings are documented in the Autumn Gold test report, but unfortunately are not linked to the crew members whom provided the samples.