as Well as warn, the inhabitants in the event of an emergency,
in the same manner as during REDWING, A noteworthy advance in
technique has been the installation of an IBM 704 computing
machine at Eniwetok which will be used to speed up the computation
of weather forecasts and fallout patterns.
Of special interest to the Rongelap people, who were returned
to their home island through the joint efforts of the Department
of Interior, the Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy
Commission last June is the stationing of a Public Health Service
medical officer on Rongelap full time during the HARDTACK
operational period. Another interesting sidelight 1s that a
recent study by Joint Task Force SEVEN shows that, if required,
the operational forces could complete the evacuation of a
threatened Atoll before hazardous fallout would occur,
Of
course, We do not expect that such a drastic measure would ever
be required in view of the constant improvement in our techniques,
but we are not neglecting any possibilities.
In the very near future we will make a public announcement
of the establishment of the danger area.
We request that until
chat release you handle the danger area notice as Confidential
matter,
If you have any questions concerning these matters please
reel free to call upon me,
Sincerely yours,
Alfred D, Starbird
Brigadier General, USA
Director of Military Application