mended actions for other Task Force elements were made, By the fall certain fiscal cifficulties had been encountered by Task Group 7.4. At the request of Headquarters, USAF, the fund- ing arrangement for the Task Group was changed in October, A memo- randum published in March, 1953, made it the responsibility of Air Force major commands to fund for and to procure operating expenses of atomic weapons tests, At the time of the preparation of the FY 54 budget estimate, however, CTG 7.4 did not know of the extent of participation in CASTLE and therefore did not have certain re- quirements included in the budget. Each individual supporting unit was therefore requesting additional funds from its parent command and the various commands in turn were approaching Headquarters, USAF, for the necessary funds. Headquarters, USAF, desired only one contact point for requests in connection with Operation CASTLE and as a consequence Headquarters, AFSWC, was directed to assume the funding responsibilities for Task Group 7.4 and its supporting units. The months of November and December, 1953, were marked by cornferences designed to finalize Task Group 7.4 operational plans. Conferences on aircraft, personnel, security, ecnstruction in the forward area, operations, and supply were all held during these months so as to make firm the many details still ovtstanding in this immediate pre-operational period, One such meeting was held on 11 November between CTG 7.4 and Strategic Air Command (SAC), Headquarters, Offutt AFB, Omaha, Nebraska, to confer or SAC parti-