26 January to 10 Febrmry 1958.
Some delays encountered in negotiating with the Australian Trust
Territory goverment at Nauru caused much early concern regarding the
possibility of using a location at timt icalnd for weather activities.
By 12 February 1958, hovever, basic agreements had been nade, the site
had been selected, the site survey was in process, and the airstrip had
been examined.
Extension and improvement of the Nauru airstrip appeared
to be the greatest single impediment to prompt establishment and operation
of the weather station,
The airstrip, 150 feet by 4,200 feet, was not
expected to be capable of handling C-54 aircraft unti] mid-March 1958,
thus deferring much of the activity at the site util March and Aprils
Consequantly, a Holmes and Narver (Task Group 7.5) construction force
arrived at Nauru on 3 larch to begin erection of thewather camp.
By 31
March, Team 18 of the Weather Reporting Element had moved to Nauru to put
the camp into operational order, and by 7 April, the site was fully operational,
The airstrip, by that time, had been rehabilitated to acoommodate
C~54 aircraft,
fo more than nominal difficulties wera encountered in establishing
the camp at Kusaie,
After the rehabilitation of the Kusaie sits by Holmes
and Narver personnel, Team 21, the first to deploy to an operating loca~
tion, began its preparation to move from Eniwetok to the “usaie camp.
The team, with its equipment and supplies, arrived at Kusaie on 17 February
pf
AFWL/ HO