Radiation Safety and Cleanup Preparations

215

~ystoms, central locator, and American Red Cross services were provided.

oo ytowing in-processing, personnel were fed at the base dining hail and

re aported to billets. Billets were provided at Anderson AFB, three Navy

pases, and four local hotels. —

.

Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Dodd, the JTG J-2, was designated
Commander of the Evacuation Element. At Guam, Colonel David N.
Gooch, USAF, Commander of the 43rd Combat Support Group,

anderson AFB, directed local support activities and provided office space

and facilities for the Enewetak Evacuation Control Center. At the center,

communications were established with Enewetak, Field Command, and
other involved activities to plan and coordinate return of the evacuees.
Thefirst return airlift was scheduled to depart Guam at 0500 hours on 27

December. The control center began attempting to locate and notify the
returnees of the departure time the previous afternoon before some of

them had been able to find billeting. A sudden change in circumstances
made early return advisable. Typhoon Mary had changed course and was
headed toward Guam.

The first returning aircraft departed Guam the next morning on

schedule. That flight carried life-support and equipment repair crews and

other essential support personnel. Theaircraft were configured for normal

passenger seating for the return flights. Three flights the following day
returned 391 personnel to Enewetak. The next flights were delayed by
typhoon alert conditions on Guam. On 30 December, the last of the

returnees arrived. 7?
Typhoon Mary damage at Enewetakfacilities was limited to broken

windows and wind-damaged doors, siding, and roofing, plus damage to

two pilings on the personnel pier. The most serious loss was three
causeway sections, which broke loose from their moorings at Billae

(Wilma) and were carried out to sea. Typhoon Mary damage was modest
because the storm center passed well to the south of the atoll, and the
winds and seas approached the base camp islands from the ocean side
rather than the lagoon side. Thus, the heavy waves generated by the
shallow lagoon floor were directed away from the eastern islands where the
base camps were located and the lagoonside of these islands where most
of the JTG’s watercraft were moored. As a result, the base camps and

watercraft were relatively protected. The atoll was not so fortunate for the
next storm, which came from the opposite direction.

TROPICAL STORM NADINE: JANUARY 1978
By 6 January 1978, Enewetak Atoll had nearly recovered from the effects

of Typhoon. Mary when, shortly after noon, the wind rose out of the

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