Mobilization
165
guidelines and procedures, and control would have been established more
readily.69
A significant organizational shortcoming during the first year was the
lack of a JTG deputy commander/chief of staff to relieve the commander
of administrative burdens. With much of the work either incomplete in
definition or in an experimental phase, the CJTG hadto devote his time
and efforts to the operational mission. Eventually, this need was
recognized, and a lieutenantcolonel position was established, although too
late for the initial year of the project. 7°
Despite these and other organizational shortcomings and command and
control problems, the on-atoll organizational structure for the cleanup
forces proved to be workable andeffective. It resulted in highly successful
accomplishment of the complex mission, on time and within budget.
FIELD RADIATION SUPPORT TEAM DEPLOYMENT: 28 JUNE 1977
The Field Radiation Support Team (FRST) was formed on 19 June 1977
at Hickam AFB. FRST personnel were given a 4-day basic radiological
indoctrination course at the 25th Infantry Chemical-BiologicalRadiological School, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Initial FRST personnel
deployed to the atoll on 28 June 1977, where they began a 3-week
specialized training course in local radiological hazards, the method of
cleanup operations, and the instrumentation peculiar to their Enewetak
mission. Experience showed that the 4-day basic indoctrination course in
Hawaii was unnecessary and, after January 1978, all Enewetak-related
training for replacement FRST personnel was accomplished onatoll.
The on-atoll specialized FRST training for the first increment was
interrupted for an urgent on-site investigation of a suspected radiological
burial site near the Erie shot ground zero on south Runit. This
investigation, described in Chapter 4, diverted some FRST members from
training classes to on-site work. By the time the investigation was
completed, other operations had progressed to the point where theinitial
FRST incrementreceived most of its specialized training by field testing
the equipment and procedures the radiological planners had devised for
the cleanupproject, rather than by classroom training.7!
Mostofthe radiation safety and detection equipment obtained for the
cleanup was state-of-the-art commercial equipment. The radiation
detection equipment was chosen because the one electronics package
could be used to measurealpha, beta, or gammasimply by attaching the
appropriate probe and adjusting the high voltage setting. The commercial
protective masks were chosen to comply with Occupational! Safety and
Health Administration’s requirements for field of view for heavy