Operation Hardtack, Final Report, Task Group 7.4 Eniwetok, Mi

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our job l n Task thUp 7.h was t o provide air a up pr t to Joint Task Force SWU. The purpose of this rz port is to b def what we did i n carryinG out this job. 1epOI-t i a referrred t3 t h e hlatoriea of the Task Group Md of i t 8 units. Anyone interest rd in more detail than contained i n this Althou& Headquarters Task Oraup 7.k was not foriaalb establlshed for participation in the op ration started lone before that within Headquartem, Joint Task Force Sm, and within the headquarters and sq ii ad ro ~Of the L950th Test Cioup (Nuclear) of the -Air Force Spcid Wcapons Center. Thus, this report covers activities starting as early as tho Spring and Smer of Praving Groiinds on 18 August 1958. p3vision al units, and rt-assinn-nt of' Trsonnel will take place for several The last shot of the HA!!DTACK series took place at the Eniw-tok Roll-up activities, deactivation of These matters are rw tj ne, howwer, and thererare this .,s Len n cut Gf fPS of 18 AuDst 1958 i n order t o permit cariy I take this opportunity t o express ap mci ation to all the of fic or s and airmen who have served i n Tpsk Orsup 7.b so faithfully and well. All

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of uo are happy to have hen able tci cantribute t o thc BUCCOSB of Joint Task Force SEWin the conduct of Operation WUL

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Table of Contents Table of Figures Chapter 2 - YL as ion

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Chapter 2 - Orgazisation & Yanpwer Chapter & - Test Aircraft Chapter 6 - Aircraft Control Chapter 6 - Rad-Safe k Blast Damgo Responsibilities Chapter 10 - Typical Nuclear Test Event Chapter 3 - Supply of POL Products

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TABIE OF FIGURES Figure 2 - Accident Rate Part 111 - Personnel k Administrafion Figure 1 - Honthly Strength Chart Figure 2 - Peak HMtbly Strength Report Figure b - Number of SecuriQl Badges Issued. Figure 7 - teneral Order of Attachment of General

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Table of Xmes (Cont'd) Figure 15 - L 2 0 Flying Sunmmry Figure 20 - UTS Airlift Figure 21 - Air Control Area Figure 22 - Ionizing Radiation Exposures Figme 26 - Mssior. Execution aoard (Rose) Figure 1- Aircraft Engine conswrption FiKzre 2 - Line Itens on Iiand Figure 3 - Line Itens Requested and Issued Figure 5 - Pipe Line Tine fin A E P EYER. Figure 7 - Fuel Consumption

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Table of Figures (Cont'd) Figure 12 - Maintenance Y m Hour6 Bgended Direct Tian Figure U - General Purpose Vehicla Used Ngure fi - Special Purpose Vehicle Used Fieure 15 - Air Cargo Weat B d Figure 16 - Air Passenger Movement West Bound Figure 17 -Water Cargo West Bound Piwe 15 - Passenger Air East Bound FiEure 19 - Air Cargo East Bound Figure 20 - Water Cargo East Bound

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The nissio- o f Task houp 7.h, ProvisionalD w.b t o pravide ant operate Joint Task Force SE'JTT during Operation IikilDTxCK i n the qrir.; and surmer of 195E. The OmUF reach5d a ~ a kstrength of 2262. Althoupl the Qoup manned some six trend iff trm t o?ernting sites, the bulk of the pop la

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Late i n 1956 t h - b?SOth Test 3rmp (Nuclear) was established by Forc- Spezial k’eapms Center a t Firtland Air Prc e Base. nsnt orinnization whose mission i8to plan for and to pr wide direction of air svpport for full-scrlr nuclcar test programs both i n Nevada and t h e Pacific, The member8 of the H-adquarters of t%s group, while Fm tic i rating in the PLM BOB ex tr cisc in Nevada i n the Spring and Suimer a33 at:;er yrs x nel rssi ped t o t::t Headquwters of the &950th, merely Thus t h - r r was 113 t:,m lost in Drpnizinz a new Althsu& ndvencc detrchqents were i n the foruarZ area as early as February, opr rt ional. control of these units UPS not assumed by Task Group anc k ‘ it lix t r3s;nd?.*standin;. s*.rLc~usd if fi cult yin maintairing

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was p?ssi?,le for th- Cmnand-r o f Task &.mp 7.4 t o comarid a l l thz ai: o;?-r.;;tiws h ' hili et the san- time kesping the Commander Joint Task Force SEE3fullr informed of the situation and n spm ding to his orders. wing Safrty UPS a special subject atnll1.eveL within the Taak six mn thr of calendar year 1958 of 10.8 per one hundred thousand nflng The nccident r p t r achicvnd UPS a - 3 per one hundred thousand This compares with an Ji? Force-wide rata during kl end u

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a d t, provide certain of th- air su-prt services required by Joint bss- fsc il it is s at Eniuctok and Bikini Atolls, an inter-i8land and intera t o l l Pirlifl, syst?,,, weatkr reportiw and forecasting services, air too pre te aircraft for the purpose of collecting dsta an6 s a ~ ~ 1 ~ 1t.s This ls ttc r function included the operation of alr

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Headquarters Task Group 7.b was organized into three directorates (Personnel and Administration, Operations, and Materiel) and a rmll special staff reporting directly to the Commander ani consisting of th Flying Safety Officer and the Flight Surgeon. Tho operating personnel were orgaaised into tFzee cnitr: tho Test Aircraft Unit, Test Service8 Unit, and Tort Base Unit. areas of res pons it ili ty of each of the three operat- Unit8 are indicated i n The organbation structure md the general functional The Conwander of the Task Group was formerly assigned a s DeFUtp Co!vcaxler of the Air Force Special Wea?TJ:ns Center and, thus, has been associated for sotime uitt the atorric weap-ns research and development program. On 15 July 1957 he was reassigned t o the post of Deputy Comar.der for Oversea6 Tests i n prepre tim for iis subsequent a:s;wVlx c_C comand OIthe Task Grcup. arrangenent wee it pos s it le Tor kir tor art ici pate in the field phase of Re ration PI.ZE22E, the 1557 six ic test series conducted i n Eevada. E+ ,:- h e fcrmer caminder of %ice b950th Test irxp becam his de.clt:., a r.:ve ukich officers cf the &95Gth Test Grocp assumed like staff positions wit kin Task of two officers makicg up the Cm=n;ier's special staff it was necessery to request mnning from resources other ttan that of the Pir Force Special logical effects of radia:ion w&s obtained bjr arrangement with Eeadquarters Joint Force SZVEh' and ?eadcuarters United States Air Force. The services of a Flight Surgeon rcith experience i n the bio-

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3.-rAng< the period when Task Group 7.b was operating a t Kirtland pir Force Bise, assistance was pr&.ded by t h e Staff Judge Advocate of tho A b Force S pci al Weapons Center. Arrangements were aade with the Comander Pacific Air Fo:ces t o provide leEal assis kn ce when needed a t Suiwetok by placing a . qualified officer of MBstaff on FDT with the Task Oroup. It proved necessary t o request such assistance on three occasions during t h o on-site phase ol the The Test Aircraft Unit included the data and sanplo collection aircraft. I t s connnander was formerly the Deputy Conmander of tho &ism Test Group. Therefore, he well crderstood the problems connected with flying aircraft in the vicinity of nuclear detonations and though nuclear clouds. was the Cowenzer of the b72ttt Test Squadron (Sampling), one of the u n i t s experienced, thror;& participation ir. previms qe ration a, with all aspects of Linit were FrDvided by va::ou.5 Air Force and havy com*tlads and came unaer o m TiAs latter officer and his .;:.it wero Tre rer&:r.:r.i Eien.ents assifled LO the Test Aircraft Its cora nder was zr. officer x ltte qe rien ce in .;a*y phases of FATS o;erationm. C cixi dent with the arr lv zl ~f the Cox-.ander Test Services bnit i n the forward area he assxsed coi..-.ark rssgc,ns it ill ty for all PATS units based inthe Proving The Test base Grit, wr.ose iOSk xi.s t o prcvide airt ~ s ef aci li ties and local airlift, tad a s its nucleus the b9Slst Sup7ort Squa-ron (Test), and a detactxent of the 2ktk Eelico-ter Scuadron, IACAF, utose permanent homes a r e a t E-lwetok. Tnese ctits vere au;:r,ented as needed tcmet the test reqLire-

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In addition it ua: necessary i o requert 411 partie%patingunit8 to make a prorata contribution of additional personnel needed to augment the f i e l d main-

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:a:?:nced in late 1556 coincidefit with the roll-up of that JWC'S nticltar bwildy7ft rcquirenents. These studies led to the dcvelopplent of the data Ir P5ruary 1957 as beins our needs for the conduct of our test &~sion.

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I n rarly 195C, th5 ?ask Group staff directed i t a efforts t3 the preyretion of drteilrd plans necessary for carrying out each facet of Eniwrtok durinc thc first week i n February t o mmitor ud expedite cq lrt ion of the construction program, cntaNishment of weather ialmxi stfitions and off-island sites, and preparation of base facilities for An advance cchrlon led by the Deputy Comander arrived 6t

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Planning for thir support v a o d m r by tho rear echelon with the assistant. of several officers of the &926th Test Squabon (Sampling) who were returned early for that purpose. - Yany cornand funcxions i n connection with Task Group 7.& qe rations uem . nwm1 to t lose experienced by any commnder at Wing level, but there wero a feu problem which mrit special comim~t. I n addition t o those stations in the Muetok Proving Ground itself, Task Group 7.& maed several other locations for t h e purpose of making and grmps were a183 resident on these irlands. the senior Lntividual perlranently assigned was in st meted to a??oint tiiat i n - lat i cns tetaeen the JTF-7 personnel and the local inhabitants. uanned eight weather islands and WBS res2onsitle for the administration on four of tnese. Freqzent visits were xdeto the cams. Per ere rec - untoward I n several cases personnel of other task The Task Group Comander hating evclved for operation k.miACY,. a previously azreed upon nmber of aircraft to the Task Group 7.5 dispatcher a t ELKEX (Parry) 1sihr:ti ewt, day. In turn, he re4s patched these airplanes as tkey were neeced t c rleet tr.e re;,ire:.ients of the scientific and contruction personnel of Task Groups 7.1 and 7.5 respectively. Another group G f a:rcraft was retained on the stTip a t and t.0 serve as s?are ail craft. were consclidated into as in s le office knmn 8s the Eniwetok Li r lift Operatiom I n the past it had been the practice t o provide t c xeet all ofher JTF SETEN require,T4ents

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Office, located at FED. This office controlled the movement of a irc rafI through the Use of two-way radio with the aircraft andklepbone and radio circuits with each of the ?ass-nger and cargo agents on all the up-atoll airstrips. The EA00 kneu the precise location ad status of each aircraft a t all tiwr and was in a position to pin the b e s t feaplible service to a11 NDuring the operation the long rang8 construction program a t Eniwetok was reviewed and amended to reflect the projected needs of Task Qmp 7.h for future test operatian8 i n the E?G. A similar review was conducted of Test Grwp (Nuclear) i n order tba't future rabnninp docvments would reflect The supFort refinered t c Task Grmp 7.b by other task groups was outAlthoigh the construction program lagged betind schedule p r i o rstanding. t o the o?eratlor., most of 'he delays xere beycnd the control of Task Group 7.5 and a11 cf t?.e es rez ti alfa c ili tics were csnrleted prior to the beginning h e housekeepirg sucrort reqxired of the

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Throughout the exercise the Task Group Comander and other 6u;ervisory perronnel devoted mch at tent ianto flying safety. During the period when accidents i n the Eniuetok Proving Grounds were chargeable tothe Task Group (21 February t o 18 Augurt 1 9 9 ) a total of 18307 flying hourr vero achieved and four najor accident6 were experienced f o r a rate of 21.3. It i a vorthy of note t h a t three of the four accident6 involved helicopter#. helicopters, the accident rate war only 6.8 per 100,ooO hmrr of flying time. The attached chart show our accident r a t e on a cumulative basir. Our f o w accidents involved an L-20 and three helicopter. as follows: 0a. On the morrig of 7 A;~I- L-zs took of .- The engine died soon after takeoff and the pilot stalled the aircraft onto the reef. was no in3ux-y t o personnel. Yajor damage t o the aircraft resulted, but there Ac irl lian passenjer was droned in t kia accident; C. On 13 J.;ly 1950 an 5-2s aircraft crashed i n t o the a-can when the failure cavld not be daterrained pec is ely as the aircraft sank i n very deep water and could not be recovered. All pe3ple aboard the aircraft escaped withOn 111 Aupst1959 an E-2E aircraft crashed near Yvonr,e i n 35 feet of No pasaengero were aboard.water ap:.roxlmtely 1500 f e e t short of the runway.

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Our Croup Flying Safety Council war es tabl leh d am soon as the operation vizorous flying safety Frograms were conducted by ail Units and Element.. procam began -..it3 €lying safety survey of a l l Unitr -and Element. with continuous follow-up action throughout t h e operational period. It rrt Weekly throughout thb exercime. Under its supervision, h n p unusual feature8 o f the flfing operation In the kniwatok Proving Grornds rade flying shfety a particular important subject. &me of these a. Airfield construction a t was not coq let ed before we started insta1la:i;rr: of Ii g kts, etc, took place. Cons-queztl; we Fad t o operate while paizting and ,-r&ding, t. Ttere were maus across the runway at two pointr. !he sark in i and taxi areas were cranped. The marc diverse type of aircraft operating off the single runwar req;ired the coordinaticn of several dLfferent types of traffic pattern.. e. S-lC1s landei a t 1 2 3 : ~where i n some cases the rarkincs and Ir. additicn t o the f x x accidents which we experienced, many Licicients 'liiere uere mazy tli:?.t$ ir. the area of rxlear detonation.. a. A E-57D aircraft ewerienced failure of the nose gear hydraulic The runway was foamed and the aircraft landed i n the foam.actuator. Tie ncse gear coZlaese8 sit\ only slicht daarage to the aircraft. The aircraft were grounded until the actuators could be tested and all the …