facilities as requested,
A tighter control of vehicles shou.u be exercised
{n order to get the maximum utilf{zation out of all vehicles.
Although the Task Group requested 47 vehicles for use on Johnston,
only 8 were assigned full tlme. A few more were available from a TG 7.5
central motor pool on a daily first-come-first-serve basis. A bus line using
two 12-passenger "Toonerville" units circled the small island on a 15 round
trip schedule.
requirements.
This system fell far short of meeting vehicle transportation
Ags the build-up increased, the inadequacy of this transportation system
became more apparent. A request for more bus service was disapproved
because of the inability to get full utilization at all hours of the day of the
vehicles that were dispatched from the pool. The problem was finally overcome by having H&N hire additional drivers to operate a taxi system.
A somewhat similar problem occured at Hickam Air Force Base when
vehicles promised to the TG 7.1 projects were not provided. That problem
was solved by task units renting cars from the Hertz system.
Although the Johnston Island phase of the operation was successfully
accomplished with a drastically reduced number of vehicles, the administrative attention required as well as frustrations of and harassments to both
staff and technical personnel seemed to outweigh any of the hoped-for
advantages.
Off-atoll Operations. Although the CTG 7.1 report for Operation Redwing recommended that plans for off-atoll stations in future operations be
‘
finalized prior to movement to the EPG, this was still not accomplished in
some instances in this operation.
Off-atoll sites were operated at Wake Island, Rongelap, Utirik, Ujelang
and Wotho Atolls, and Kwajalein Island. They were serviced by SA-16 aircraft and surface runs by the M.V. Aloto.
For the Newsreel events there were 11 manned stations located on
Johnston and Sand Islands, 10 for scientific purposes and 1 for support needs
(firefighting crews, etc.). Outlying TG 7.1 scientific stations included a max-
imum of five stations afloat (USS Boxer and Belle Grove, and the Dehaven,
and Cogswell until replaced by the Epperson, Lansing, and Hitchiti), 10 airborne scientific stations, and units on top of Mount Haleakala on Maui, Wheel~
er Field and Lualualei on Oahu, and French Frigate Shoals.
Test Rockets. Extensive rocket firing tests were characteristic of the
Teak and Orange operation at Johnston Island. A total of 37 firings were
accomplished between July 10 and August 12, 1958. These included five types
of rockets: The Nike-Cajun, Nike-Asp, Deacon-Arrow, Viper-Arrow, and the
Modified Lacrosse.
The operation at Johnston Island was basically affected by: (1) the
proximity of the inhabited area to the launchers, (2) the air traffic conges-
tion through the Johnston Island air space, and (3) the location of the Navy ship
support anchorage in the firing lanes. These features were in wide variance
with the conditions that existed at Bikini Atoll.
Joint Task Force Seven decided that the firing conditions at Johnston
Island required a central control agency for firings which had the authority
to:
1. Dispatch CAA "Notices to Airmen" (NOTAMS)to air traffic influenc-~
ing the complete Pacific air traffic system throughout the Hawaiian/Johnston
airways system.
92
AFWL/HO
.
Fi