Outgoing Telecommunication Message to a D Starbird Regarding Project Smokey.

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!A E 55 AGE IDENT IF I CAT IO t J A III LITA RY EXERCISE CONDUCTED AT THE NEVADA TEST SITE IN THE SUMMER S143KY AND OTHER MILIT A9Y EXERCISES ON THE NTS RECENTLY HAVE MADE REPORTER NITH STATION KUTV It4SALT LAKE CITY REQUESTING IF I FORMAT IO ! CI< PROJECTS YO KY. THE REPORTER WIDTH AT A Mkf4 NAMED _-

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HAD ATE RHIN AL CASE OF LEUK EC II A, AND THAT tiE HAD APPLIED TO THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION FOR MEDICAL CARE AND OTHER BENEFITS. CLAIMED THAT H E WAS A MEMBER OF A CONTINGENT OF 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISI OM TROOPS INVOLVED IN PROJECT SMOKY, AND THAT HE HAD RECEIVED AN EXPO SURF TO RADIATION WHICH9L TIM AT ELY RESULTED WHICH THEY HAD RECEIVED FROM THE IdV RADIOLOGICAL BRANCH,ESTABLISHING MR DURING PROJECT SMOKY. BY THE VA AS BEING TOO LOW TO ESTABLISH A CLEAR RELATION TO HIS ILLNESS 20 YEARS LA lER, AND HIS CLAIM NAS DENIED..TOOK HIS CASE TO THE NEWS I4EDIA. NENS MEDIA CONCERNING THE CASE. ‘THE RESULTING STORIES RECEIVED NATIONWIDE COVERAGE,INCLUDING A REPORT ON THE AGC-TV EVENING NEWS. AN ASSOCIATED PRESS STORY FROM SALT.LAKE CITY ON APRIL17STATED THAT THE VA BOARD OF APPEALS HAD GRANTED DISABILITY, “ STRESSING THAT...THE BOARD DID NOT TRY TO DETERMINE LEUKEMIA NAS ACTUALLY CAUSED BY A 1957 ATOMIC BLAST. “

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THE NEWS MEDIA THAT THE MEDICAL HISTORY OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN PROJECT SMOKY SHOULD BE CHECKED TO DETERMINE IF THE GROUP HAS A HIGHER INCIDENCE NUMB%?%$&E~~~f~'iATION ABOUT THE NTS TESTS AND TROOP MANEUVERS AND FOR PHOTOGRAPHS. REQUESTS TO VISIT THE NTS TO LOOK AT THE AREAS WHERE THE TESTS WERE CONDUCTED. AT LEAS REQUESTS FOR IN F OF IMATION ARE USUALLY HANDLED BY OPA/HQ, OPA / NV, AND THERE HAVE BEEN Tl!O INFORMAL MEDIA THE DNA PUBLIC IN FC FUAT ION OFFICER. ERDA HAS RESPONDED TO QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE NTS AND / DATA ON THE TESTS.QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE MILITARY OPERATIONS ARE REFERRED TO DNA. DR. WALTER WEY ZEN,DBER MANAGER, BECAUSE THERE AREA UUMBER OF GOVERN HE NT AGENCIES INVOLVED, EACH UITH ITS OWN SPECIAL INTEREST,NV HAS PROPOSED A f4EETIf4G ON MAY 1 9 IN LAS VEGAS TO ORGANIZE AN IN FOR f ii ATl ON PLAr.I TO COORDINATE REPLIES TO INQUIRIES FROM THE NEGIS MEDIA AND THE PUB L.1C.

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ATTENDEES AT THE MEETING WOULD INCLUDE REPRESENTATIVES FROM ERDA HEADQUARTERS,THE DOD, AND OTHER APPROPRIATE AGENCIES. SITE DURING 1951-58 AND FOUR AT OR NEAR THE SURFACE DURING1962. MANY OF THESE TESTS NE RE UTILIZED BY MILITARY UNITS AND CIVIL DEFENSE ORGANIZATIONS TO CONDUCT EFFECTS EXPERIMENTS, TROOP MANEUVERS AND OT KER TRAINING EXERCISES. - THE MILITARY UNITS PARTICIPATING IN TROOP EXERCISES WERE STATION EC AT CAMP DESERT ROCK,A TEMPORAKY SIXTH LOCATED NEAR MERCUKY ON THE SOUTHERN END OF THE NTS. ‘CYZ23 WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL ASPECTS OF THE MILITARY TRAINING EXERCISES AT THE NTS, INCLUDING PROJECT SMOKY WAS ONEOF TbIO MAJOR TR COP EXERCISES CONCIIJCTED DURING OPERATION PLUMBBOB IN THE SUMNER O F 1957. IT’ WAS PART OF EXERCISE PROJECTS AND TESTS IN WHICH THE U.S. ARMY, MARINES,NAVY,AIRFORCE, AND CANADIAN ARMY PARTICIPATED.THE TOTAL NUMBER OFf - II LITA RY PERSONNEL, OBSERVERS, TROOPS AND SPECIAL PROJECT PERSONNEL PARTICIPATING IN OTJERATION PLUMB BOB NAS 20,103, WHICH INCLUDED APPROXIMATELY 2,500 PE F SON NEL INVOLVED IN PROJECT SMOKY. SEVERAL THOUSAIjD AEC,

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LABORATORY,CONTRACTOR,CIVIL DEFENSE AND O THE ii OBSERVERS ALSO PARTICIPATED IN PLUMB BOB. THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTIONS OF PROJECT SMOKY ARE ;Z= FROM, THE FINAL REPORT OF OPERATIONS ,~- EXERCISE DESERT ROCK VI1 & VI IT AND FROM PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS ISSUED BY THE AEC OFFICE OF TEST INFORMATION. THE TROOP MANEUVERS INVOLVED TWO EVENTS : SMOKY, WITH A YIELD OF 44 KT, CONDUCTED BY UCRL (NOW LLL) ON 31 AUGUST AT 0530 ON A700 - FOOT TOWER LOCATED ON THE EAST SIDE OF NTS AREA 8; AND GALILEO, WITH A YIELD OF 11.5 KT,WHICH WAS CONDUCTED BY LASL ON 2SEPTEMBER 1957 A T 0530 ON A THE READINESS DATE FOR THE SNOKY EVENT WAS AUGUST19,EUT IT WAS DELAYED BECAUSE OF PROBLEMS III TH THE SHASTA EVENT WHICH HAD TOBE TMO EXERCISES WERE INVOLVED IN PROJECT SI4OKY. COMBAT OPERATIONS E VAL bATING TACTICS FOR THE PEN TOMIC DIVISION CONCEPT. THE CT tiER WAS TO DETERMINE HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN NUCLEAR PIA XF ARE BY CONDUCTING A SERIES OF PERSONNEL TESTS SUPERVISED BY THE HUMAN RESOURCES RESEARCH OFFICE (HUClRRO} OF GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. PARTICIPATING TROOPS NE RE : A.INFANTRY TROOP TEST - EXERCISE DESERT ROCK VI1 & VIII. RIFLE PLATOON COA 1ST BATTLE GROUP12TH INF.

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PROV. CO, 82D AIRBORNE DIV. E. HUMRRO TROOP TEST - HUMRRO TEAM - OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DE PAR IT I ENT OF ARMY. PROVISIONALC ~ PAN Y, 8 2 ~A IR BORNE DIVISION. TO PORTRAY TO THE PUBLIC THE ARMY AT ITS BEST EMPLOYING ROC10ORGAN I - Z ATION IN OPERATIONS UNDER ATOMIC WARFARE CONDITIONS IN ORDER TO DETERCZINE THE FOLLOWING WITHIN LIMITS OF HELICOPTER LIFT AND TROOP (I) THE TROOP SUPPORT, MATERIEL., AND EQUiPMENT REQUIRED TO COi4STRUCT A DEFENSIVE POSITION ADEQUATE FOR PROTECT I9N FFOM THE EFFECTS O F AN

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(2) T H E VALIDITY OF TACTICAL DOCTRINE, ORGANIZATION, PLANNING DATA, AND HELICOPTER REQUIREMENTS F O R THE MOVEMENT BY HELICOPTER OF A REINFORCED COMPANY TASK FORCE T O SEIZE AN OBJECTIVE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE USE OF AN BY HELICOPTER, OF A REINFORCED COMPANY TASK FORCE. (1) PHASE I - THE PASSIVE DEFENSE AGAINST AN ATOMIC DETONATION OF A HASTILY PREPARED POSITION CONSTRUCTED IN FOUR HOURS 6 Y ELEMENTS OF AN INFANTRY BATTLE GROUP. THE POSITION, LOCATED WITHIN THE EFFECTS ’3RADII REALISTIC ADAPTATION T O TERRAIN AND TROOP PARTICIPATION, AND WITH ADJUSTMENTS IN AMOUNT OF EQUIPMENT EFFECTED TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE SPECTATOR ( 2 ) PHASE I1 - AERIAL KOVEPIENT OF A TASK FORCE, I N WHICH A REINFORCED COMPANY TASK FORCE, INITIALLY DISPOSED IN A DEFENSIVE AREA, IS ASSENBLED AND MOVED APPROXIMATELY 8 MILES BY HELICOPTER T O SEIZE AN-OBJECTIVE (BLOCKING POSITION) AND ESTABLISH A PATROL BASE UTILIZING FIXED WING AND HELICOPTER BORNE PATROLS FOR SURVEILLANCE OF A DIVISION AREA OF ( 3 ) PHASE I 1 1 - AERIAL RESUPPLY OF A TASK FORCE I N WHICH THE TASK FORCE WAS RESUPPLIED EXCLUS1VEL.Y BY HELICOPTER UNTIL THE TERMIC. CONDUCT OF TEST. (1) PRE-EXERCISE TRAINING AT CAMP DESERT ROCK: UNITS BEGAN ARRIVING DURING THE LAST UEEK I N JULY. SEVERE STORMS AND.

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MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS DELAYED THE ARRIVAL OF HELICOPTERS FROM FORT BEN NING AND FORT CYAGG AND PRECLUDED COEIMENCEMENT OF TRAINING PRIOR TO 29 JULY.DETAILED PLANNING,GATHERING OF EXPERIENCE DATA FOR COORDINATION AND INTEGRATION OF THE REVISED EXERCISE PLAN INTO AEC OPERATIONS AND ISSUANCE OF THE NECESSARY ORDERS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE TEST WERE ACCOMPLISHED PRIOR TO15AUGUST 1957. (2)PHASE I - FORTIFICATIONS PREPARED INCLUDED 115 TYPE EM PLACE - MENT POSITIONS FOR THREE RIFLE PLATOONS,A WEAPONS PLATOON,RIFLE COMPANY COMMP,ND POST, TWO 4.2INCH MORTARS, AND A PORTION OF A BATTLE GROUP COMMAND POST.LOCATIONS OF EM PLACE KENTS RANGED FROM 2,575 FT WERE EMPLOYED. NO FORTIFICATION MATER I PtS OTHER THAN SANDBAGS AND WHAT COULD BE IMPROVISED LOCALLY WERE PROVIDED.A TOTAL OF 7% HOURS WAS DEVOTED TO DIGGING. SPECTATOR INTEREST,ADDITIONAL TIME bIAS DEVOTED TO DRESSING UP THE ONLY TOOLS ORGANIC TO THE BATTLE GROUP THEN,TO PROVIDE A DEFENSIVE POSITION SUIT A ELE FOR POSITION. THE ESTIF~ATEDD EG REE OF COMPLETION OF ALL POS I ~ ION SNAS 60%. RESIDUAL CONT MlI NATION OF THE BATTLE POSITION AFTER DETONATION PKE - VENTED PERSONNEL FROM VISITING THE POSITION FOR SEVERAL DAYS. RIND AND PREDICTED FALLOUT PATTERNS DICTATED IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ALTERNATE PLAN(ONE OF FOUR) IN WHICH THE TASKFORCE INITIALLY OCCUPIED AND WITNESSED THE ATOMIC DETONATION FROM A POSITION APPROX IM ATC LY EIGHT MILES FROM GROUND ZERO ON THE EXTREME LEFT OF YUCCA FLAT INSTEAD OF ON

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THE RIGHT, AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED, FROM VICINITY OF BANDED MOUNTAIN 8809. BECAUSE OF HEAVY FALLOUT PATTERN, PI0 OFSERVERS OR TROOPS WERE PERMITTED T O OCCUPY THE SMOKY TRENCHES. THE INTERMEDIATE HELICOPTER AVIATION UNITS AND T H E PATHFINDER TEAM NERE LOCATED IN THE HELICOPTER ASSEMBLY AREA APPROXIMATELY 18 NILES FROM GROUND ZERO. SUPPLIES WERE LOCATED AT A DIVISION DISTRIBUTION POZNTAPPROXII4ATELY 16 NILES FROM GROUND ZERO AND THE OBJECTIVE AREA. (B) SMOKY H-HOUR WAS 0530. THE PATHFINDER SERIAL STARTED tdOTORS PRELIMINARY AERIAL RADIOLOGICAL SURVEY, LANDED IN THE OBJECTIVE AREA A T H + 45 MINUTES AND REPORTED, IN COORDINATION CJITH RAD SAFE PERSONNEL, THAT THE LANDING ZONE WAS SAFE FOR TASK FORCE OPERATIONS AT H + 59 MINUTES. (C) HELICOPTERS FOR TROOP LIFT DEPARTED ASSEMBLY AREA H + 51 MINUTES, LANDED IN INTERMEDIATE ASSEMBLY AREA CIITH ENGINES RUNNING AT H + 70 MINUTES, MOVED OUT FIVE HZNUTES LATER AND LANDED IN LOADING AREA AT H + 92 NINUTES. A WEAPOPIS PLATOON, BEGAN DEPARTING LOADING AREA FOUR MINUTES LATER AT H + 96 MINUTES, ARRIVING IN THE LANDING ZONE H + 105 NINUTES. ALL OF THE INITIAL OBJECTIVES WERE SEIZED BY H + 130 MINUTES. MINUTES AND COMPLETED THE TROOP LIFT BY.H+ 164 MINUTES. MINUTES TO SEIZE ITS ASSIGNED OBJECTIVE,. INITIAL HELICOPTER BORNE PATROLS 1 AND 3 WERE DISPATCIHED BY H 4- 185 MINUTES. AT H + 225 MINUTES, THE TASK FORCE COIC~lRNDER REPORTED HE HAD ADVANCED TO FOINTS PERMITTED BY RAD-SAFE PERSONNEL AND HAD BEEN HALTED JUST PRIOR TO SEIZURE OF

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OBJECTIVE2(QUARTZITE MOUNTAIN). NO INJURIES TO PERSONNEL WERE REPORTED. (G) AERIAL RESUPPLY AND EVACUATION BEGAN ATH t. 154 MINUTES WITH DELIVER OF THREE HELICOPTERS LING LOADS OF AMMUNITION AND WATER. AND ON CALL RESUPPLY WAS EFFECTED P iI THIN THE TELESCOPED NATURE OFTHE EXERCISE FOR MAXIl4UI.4 OBSERVER INTEREST.SLING LOADS WERE USED TO THE MAXIMUCl FOR SPEED OF DELIVERY AS WELL AS SPECTATOR INTEREST. HUMRRO TROOP TEST.A.OBJECTIVE.THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TEST PLAN REQUIRED PROVING THREE MEASURES OF TROOP PERFORMANCE. (1) THE ABILITY,OF MEN TO FIELDS TRIPA RIFLE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE INITIAL WTNESSING OF AN ATOMIC ExP Los I or d. (2) THE ABILITY OF MEN TO SWEEP A DUMMY MINE FIE LG SHORTLY AFTER HIT NES SING THE EXPLOSION. (3) THE ABILITY O F MEN TO NAVIGATE A COMBAT COURSE AND THROW DUMMY GRENADES IN RADIO LOGICALLY CONTAMINATED TERRAIN. IN CONJUNCTION WITH SHOT SMOKY FOR WHICH EXTENSIVE COil lR OL DATA KAS COb'iPILED. AN ALTERNATE PLAf.1 WAS ALSO PREPARED FOR SHOT WHEELER.SINCE THIS TEST WAS DESIGNED TO TAKE PLACE IN A CONTAMINATED AREA, AND NEITHER THE HUEIRRO PERSONNEL NOR THE TROOPS BEING TESTED WERE QUALIFIED AS RADIOLOGICAL MC N IT OR S,DESERT ROCK RAD - SAFE PERSONNEL WERE ASSIGNED FOR THE SAFETY OF PERSONNEL PARTICIPATING IN THIS PROJECT.THE ADVERSE WIND AND PREDICTED FALLOUT PATTERN WHICH REQUIRE DIMPLE I4ENT ATION OF Ah' ALTERNATE PLAN FOR SHOT SMOKY,PRECLUDED USE OF THE SMOKY TRENCHES FOP. HUQIRRO TESTf4IS SION. CONTAMINATION OF THE WHEELER TEST AREA BY SHOT S!4OKY ALSO PREVENTED ADOPTION OF THE H HEEL ER ALTERNATE PLAN.RESCt4E DULE liG OF SHOT GALILEO,