Army Corps Of Engineers

The Cold War era caused feelings of uncertainty and fear for the American government and its citizens. With Communist nations in various parts of the world, the U.S. feared nuclear attacks and wanted to ensure their protection from radiation if an attack occurred. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave responsibility for civil defense to the Secretary of Defense and a National Fallout Shelter Program was established.

The Secretary of Defense created the Office of Civil Defense and gained the assistance of the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks. These three departments worked together to carry out civil defense tasks, mainly the fallout shelter survey. The goal of the survey was to identify structures (buildings, tunnels, mines, caves) that were able to reduce the dosage of radiation by a factor of 20, if a nuclear disaster were to occur. These buildings would be designated as public shelters. The national goal was to identify enough structures for 50 million Americans.

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