Operation Hardtack Final Report (Task Group 7.4) (Deleted)

Page 3

Our job jn Task fdroup?,b was to provide air support to Force SKVU?, The rurpose of this r?port is to brief what we ing rnltthis job, Anyone interested in more detail than contained in this report is rcf~rr’d +.9the histories of the Task Group and of its units. Althou~h Headquarters Task Group 7.!4was not formally established for participation in the op”’rationstart~d Joint Task Force SEVEN, and within the b950th Test Group (Nuclear) of the Air this report covers activities starting plans and preparation for its lone before that within Headquarters, headquarters and squadron6 of the Force Special weapons Center. Thusj as early as the Spring and Summer of 1957. The last shot of the HARDTACK series took place at the Eniwctok . provisional units, and r~’assi~m”nt of personnel will take place for several weeks to come. cut off as of are routjne~ however, and therefore this 18 Au~wst 1958 in order to permit eariy i.sor~anizcd into five parts as follows: III Fersonnel & Administration I take this opportunity to express appreciation to all the offictrs and airmen who have served in Tosk Group 7,1Jso faithfully and well, All

Page 4

of us are happy to have been able to cmtribute to thtisuccess of Joint Task Force SEWN ~n the conduct of Operation HARDTACK.

Page 5

Of Staff usu (MOAT) Test Services Unit Weather Reporting Element Lt Co: Pusin Lookout Mountain Laboratory Comdr 408C-thStrat Reconnaissance Wing Col Adams Mr. Ted Johnson, CAA, 6th Region, Honolulu Hunter AFB, Ga. Col Kieffer -

Page 8

TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 2 - Accident Rate III - Personnel & Administration Monthly Strength Chart Peak Monthly Strength Report Monthly Island Strength Number of Securi@ Badges Issued General Order of Attachment of General.. Figure 1 - Calendar of Events Figure 3 - Aircraft Participation Figure 0 - B-52 Flying Summry t

Page 9

Air Control Area Ionizing Radiation Exposures Rrogramned Mission Execution Chaxt (Rose) Mission Execution Board (Rose) Aircraft Engine Consumption Line Items Requested and Issued Pipe Line Time lili~AOCP EMER. Me-gas and Diesel Consumption

Page 10

MaintenarlceMan Hours Expended Indirect Maintenance Man Hours Expended Direct The General Purpose Vehicle Used Special Purpose Vehicle Used Air Cargo West Bound Air Passenger Movement West Bound Water Cargo West Bound Passenger Air East Bound Air Cargo East Bound Water Cargo East Bound

Page 12

Joint Task Force and to provide weather and other s:i-fic~s in support Of of 195e. The Group reached a peak str=ngth of s-rved on FRED Island at Eniwetok Atall. Some the bulk of the FCO@S y:rsr)nn~lserved in Task (lroup70h, provisional. All of the remairing ~cqle were mrmbrrs of the United States Air Force. Kirtland Air Force the Task ~roup and began within the Air Fbrce Special Weapons Centsr at Base, New Mexico early in 1957. In October of that Y< its o~erating Elements were formally established. 7 Group prsonnel began moving into the Forward Area in December and continued at an ever increasing rat~ until 15 March 1958 when the Task Grmzp, H:Zdquartcrs and all.its Units and Elenents became operational in the During the five months that the Task Group participated in sustained support of HAN3TACK, its flying and technical elements Farticipatcd in 35 fiucl:art“st events. Of these, 11 took place at Bildni, 22 at Eniw=t~k, >nd 2 at Johnston Island.. @. four occasions it w:.snccess~ for the effects and sampler aircraft of and 1982hours in direct support The houp provided w~ather wc:thcr forecasting services to of nuclear test operatior.s. reporting, weather reconntiss=.ces and Joint Task Force SEVEN. Weather reporting st?.tionswere set up on eight islands ranging jn distance fram one hundred

Page 13

Trovidin: t~lnTrsk Fore:.Sowmdcr with that wcathtr informtiori ilcn .r.d.-dto d.t:rtine whether or not to shoot.

Page 15

Air Research and Developnsnt Command as part of the Air nent organization w+ose missjon is to r~an for and to prxide direction ~.artici~atin~in the PI:PIBBOBlx?rcise in N-vada in the Spring and Summer of 1957, ccmcurr-ntly initiated plans for Task Group 7.4 participation in HA30TA5K. T?pzmactivation of Task Group 7.4, Provisional, by Headquarters Air Research and D-velopnent Command on 1 October 1957, the Corrmnder assumed si.nilartitles within the newly formed Task rmoup 7.4 and cmtinu-- d~5.n~the job at hand. Thus there was no t:lmelost in organizing a new Duri.n~the Feriod from 1 October until phass ~f HA~llT.QCKin the forward area on Is March, the provisional units and and organized at their various ~lidance of the Commander, Joint Task ~rce SE~’ and the Commander, Task Although advance detachments were +n the forward area as early as February, operational control of these units W*S not assumed by Task Group 7.4 and Joint Task Force SEVIOJuntil their commanders arrived cm 12 and shots varied depending upon the shot

Page 16

adfiquatccommunication bctwezn the various operating locations. Thus, it was possible for th~ Command-r of Task GrOUp 7.4 to command all the air operations-while at the same time keeping the Commander Joint Task Force six months of informed of the situation and res-pendingto his ord~rsSaf-ty was a sp:cial subject at all I.evelswithin the Task accident rate achi,ev-dwas 21-3 per one hundred thousand This comrares with an Air Force-wide rate 13.6 pr one hundred thousand flying hours calendar year 1958 of IO*8 per one hun~ed and ~or the first

Page 17

fold: to-operate aircraft for the purpcse of collecting d+a and sa-rplss and to provide certain of the air sunport s~%ces required by Joint Task Force SEVEN. This “latterfunction included the operation of air base facilities at Eniwetok and Bikini Atolls, an inter-island and interatol.1airlift Systelljweathsr reporting and forecasting services> air

Page 18

Headquarters Task Group 7*L was orga~zed into three directorates special staff reporting directly to the Commander and consisting of the Flying Safety Officer and the Flight Surgeon. The operating personnel were organized into three units: the Test Aircraft Unit, Test Sefices Unit, and Test Base Unit. The organization structure and the general functional areas of responsibility of each of the three operating units are indicated in The Commnder of the Task GrOup was formerly assigned as Deputy Commatier of the Air Force Special Weapcns Center and, thus, has been associated for some time with the atomic weapons research and development program. On 15 Jul~ 957 he was reassigned to the post of Deputy Comrander for Overseas Tests in preparation for Fds subsequent assumption of command of the Task Group. This arrangement md.e it possible for him to participate in the field phase of’ Operation PLUl@JCB} the 1957 atomic test series conducted in Neva*. He assuwd command of the 49SOth Test Group and Task Group 7.4 on 1 October 1957. me former commander of the L9SOth Test Group became his deputy, a move which served to insure the continuity of that unitrs operations. Witn the activation of Task Group 7.4 on 1 Octaber 1957, the varicus staff officers of the 49~Oth Test Group assumed like staff positions within Task Group 7.4, an arrangement which prOVed particularly effective. In the case of two officers making up the Commanderrs request manning from resources other than Weapons Center. The services of a Flight logical effects of radiation was obtained Joint Force SEVEN and Headquarters United special staff it was necessary to that of the Air Force Special Surgeon with experience in the bioby arrangement with Headquarters States Air Force.

Page 20

During riod when Task Group 7.h was operating at Kirtland Air Force Base, assistance was provided by the Staff Judge Advocate of the Air Force Special Weapons Center. Arrangements were made with the Comiinder Pacific ~ Fo]ces to provide legal assistance when needed at Eniwetok by placing a qualified officer of his staff on IDY with the Task Group. It proved necessary to request such assistance ‘onthree occasions during the on-site phase of the Aircraft Unit included the data and sample collection aircraft. was formerly the Deputy Commander of the ~950th Test Group. well understood the problems comected with flying aircraft in the vicinity of nuclear detonations and through nuclear clouds. His deputy “ was the Commander of the h926th Test Squadron (Sampling)$ one of the units assigned to the b950th Test Group. This latter officer and his unit were= experienced through participation in previous operations, with all aspects of nuclear cloud sampling. The remaining Elements assigned to the Test tircraft . Unit were provided by various Air Force and Navy commands and came under our operational control when they arrived at the Eniwetok Froving Ground. The Test Services Unit was mnned and organized by the F&litary Air Transport Service to provide nor~l FATS services to the Joint Task Force. Its commander was an officer with experience in ~any phases of HATS operations. ‘ Coincident with the arriva} of the Commander Test Services Unit in the forward area he-assumed command responsibility for all MATS units based in the Froving The Test Base local airlift, had Urnt~ whose task was to ~rovide air base facilities and as its nucleus the 49~lst Support Squa.ron (Test), and a detachment of the 24th Helicopter Sqbadron, EACAF’,whose permanent homes are at Eniwetok. These units were augmented as needed to meet the test requirements by their parent commnds~ the L950th Test Group and FAw respectively.

Page 21

In addition it wal necessary t.orequest all participating units to mke a prorata contribution of additional personnel needed to augnent the field main-

Page 22

cantirwnt<l test, Oprration PLUJ!%XH3. The first efforts were directed at the Frc~aration of aircraft, SUpplY, construction, transportation, and hud2~t requirtmmts. These studies led to the development -khicl-,was presf.ntedat the Joint Task Force SEWN planning in F:hruary 1957 as beinG our needs for the conduct of our flymi.d-19~7a Schedule of Events and a Communications pl~ of the data p~rti.cipantstogether ~Tithreprcscnt:tives of the various Air Materiel whi~ej the Task Ckoup staff published its first phlning directive Outthe ~mr=tioms Plan and a draft of the Movement Directive had betn completed and the Con~ander and his deplty had completed staff visits to tb,eforward area. One of the princj@ pllrposesof these tisits was

Page 23

In sarly 195&, the Task Grmp staff directed its efforts to the preparation of detailed Flans necessary for carrying out each facet of the mission. An advance echrlon-led by the Deputy Commander arrived at l?niw~tokdurinc the first week completion of the construction stations and off-island sites, in February tk mmitor and expedite program, establishment of weather island and preparation of base facilities for

Page 24

Operation HARDTACX involved {he detonation of some 35 nuclear devices. Of these, llwere detonated at Eniwetok, 22 at Bikini Atoll, ad two at Johnston Island. On four occasions two detonations occurred th@same day and 17 occulred on successive days. A total if 257 sorties were fl-= in connection with the operation. The organizational structure and the resources made available to Task Group 7.4 proved adequate to meet its and UMBRELLA, and the gave rise to some new able to resolve these Five of the events: the two underwater shots, WAHOO three high altitude shots> YUCCA, TEAK and OFWGE, operational problems but in each instance we were problems and perform the required missions. The comniandarrangements in the forward area were varied depending * on location of events and operational requirements. The first event was 7 YUCCA, the high altitude balloon shot conducted at Bikini Atoll. This event imposed some unusually stringent commnd and operational problems. ‘ Task Group Commander exercised command of the air operation from the Operations Center (AOC) in the USS BOXER. His deputy was responsible the dispatch and recovery of test aircraft from Eniwetok. He used the Operations Center at FRED Island, Eniwetok Atoll, as his com:and post. On subsequent Bikini events, the Bikini Air Operations Center was under the direct on-the spot supervision of either the Task Group Commander or one of his senior officers, and the Task Group C~mmander exercised overall c~ntrol from the FRED AOO. The Cormnanderof the Test Aircraft Unit was responsible for the pre and post-mission operation of aircraft on the air base. He exercised this control from a radio-equipped vehicle on the ramp itself. The Fl@ng safety Officer or a senior operations officer mnned the tower during missions to assist in expediting landings and takeoffs.

Page 25

On WAHOO and U?iBRELLA,when the re especially stringent local aircraft requirements, a senior staff officer was also stationed at the central dispatch office controlling the helicopter and liaison aircraft.. Throughout the operation a rear echelon was maintained at Kirtland Air Force Base. Its function was to monitor and to assist the actions being taken at that Base in the support of the operation. In additions it provided an agency through which the dependents could obtain information and assistance, a function which contributed materially to the morale and welfare of the families of the men participating in the operation. When it was decided to conduct the high altitude shots, T~I and ~~!@ at Johnston Island rather than at Bikini, we placed one of our operationsstaff officers on detached service with Joint Task Force SEVEN to serve aBase @erations Officer at Johnston Island and later established command posts at both Johnston Island and Hickam ti Force Base, Honolulu. Immediaie . control of tileair operat~ons in connection with the two events was exercised by the Task Group Commander from the AOC in the USS 60XER (a destroyer was used to provide AOC facilities when they were required at Bikini during the absence of the BOXHi). Aircraft participating in M3EJ@ZL operated from Hickam Air Force Ease and Barbers Point Naval Air Station in Hawaii. Operational’ control of these aircraft-during the takeoff, enroute and landing phase of the missions was exercised by the Deputy Commander, Task Group 7.4, from a command post located in the Honolulu Air Traffic’Center. The Cormnanderof the Test Services Unit served as the acting commander at the Eniwetok Proving Ground while the Task Group Comnander and his deputy were away participating in 1E2?S’=. Task Group was required to provide ~Ianning assistance LITTLE DAVID, a nuclear rocket test to be conducted at and aircraft for Operation Eg~n fir Force Base

Page 26

Planning for this support was d e by the rear echelon with the assistance of several officers of the L926th Test Squadron (Sampling) who were returned early for that purpose. Ylny co~nd functions in connection with Task Group 7.4 operations were normal to those experienced by any a few problems w!ich merit special In addition to those stations commander”at Wing level, but there were in the Eniwetok Proving Ground itself, Task Group 7.4 mmned several other locations for the purpose of ~king and reporting weather observations. In several cases perscnnel of other task groups were also resident on these islands. The Task Group Commander having the senior individual permanently assigned was instructed to appoint that individual as the personal representative of the (ATF SEVEN to be responsible= 1for maintaining discipline among JTF-7 persomnel and establishing correctfl - lations bet-~eenthe JTF-7 personnel and the local inhabitants. Task Group 7.h manned eight weather islands and was responsible for the administration on . four of these. Frequent visits were mde to the camps. There incidents during the operation; but in two cases personnel who some lack of stability were replaced to forestall any possible A new arrangement for the dispatch and control of liaison evolved for-operation MRD.iACK. In the past it had been …