were given their final electronics air check~out by their respective
Mother aircraft while enroute.
One drone had been forced to return
to Kwajalein for minor maintenance and was later flown to Eniwetok.
The radio-controlled aircraft were taken off from there the next morning by the "beeper pilots" on the ground and were directed by their
respective Mother aircraft to their stations over Engebi Island.
Other
aircraft were flown from Kwajalein to their assigned locations and
by 0550 hours, approximately thirty minutes before H-hour, all aircraft
had reported on station.
The Commander, Air Forces, and his Staff ‘aboard the USS MT. McKINLEY
had manned their stations and were prepared to direct the air partici-
pation in this first test.
Operations Order No. 3, issued by the Office
of the Commander, Air Forces, Headquarters, Joint Task Force SEVEN, had
directed the scope of the entire air operations.
The Air Operations
Rooa, just off the Flag Bridge, had plotted the positon of all air
craft, and facilities were available through the Combat Information
Center to communicate with all aircraft in the area, all ships in the
fleet, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok.
Chart 7 on the next page contains the information that was plotted
on the "OPS" board in the Air Operations Room by the Staff of the Air
Commander.
When the data from this chart is used in interpreting the
information contained on Chart 8 showing the planned positions of all
aircraft in the air, a complete picture is obtained of air operatinns
Section VIII
64