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PART I, CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 1
OPERATIONALSITES
1.1
1.4.2
Bikini Atolls. During Operation HARDTACK,
circle 520 nautical miles in radius, centered on
Johnston Island. Arrangements for this area
The Atomic Energy Commission’s Eniwetok Proving Ground (EPG) is comprised
of the complex of islands in the Eniwetok and
Phase I, Johnston Island was added to the complex of EPG to provide a firing site for two high
altitude bursts (TEAK and ORANGE) which
were originally scheduled for launching from Site
How, Bikini Atoll. (See Fig. 1-5, Sphere of
Operations).
1.2
Detailed geographical layouts and land
areas of the Eniwetok and Bikini Atoll
and Johnston Island are shown on Figs. 1-1, 1-2,
1-3, 1-4, 1-6. and 1-7, TG 7.5 provided construc-
tion and service activities to 33 islands in the
Eniwetok Atoll and 20 islands in the Bikini
Atoll.
1.3
On 5 Apri! 1958, prior to the first nuclear
detonation of the HARDTACK series,
AEC officially established a danger area around
EPG (See Figure 1-5) to avoid possible damage
to transient aircraft, fishing craft, and surface
shipping vessels. The danger area encompassed
the Eniwetok Proving Ground and ocean areas
bounded by 18°30/N, 156°00’E; 18°30'N,
170° O0’E; 11°30’N, 170° 00’E; 11°30°N, 166°16'E;
10-15'N, 166-16’E: and 10°15’N, 156°00’E, ex-
tending North to 18°30'N, 156°00’E. This area
was declared safe on 8 September 1958, whereas
the operational phase of Operation HARDTACK, Phase I, was terminated 15 September
I9RS.
14
Thre» separate danger areas were established for the Johnston Island area:
1.4.1.
In its Newsreel Operations Order, JTF-
Seven established a “Missile Danger
Area” in which no aircraft would fly from H
minu- 3 minutes until H-hour. Arrangements
were made for the JTF-Seven Missile Flight
Safety Officer to take emergency flight termination action to prevent impacting of an erratic
missile outside of this area. The missile danger
area was described by JTF-Seven as ‘‘that surface area enclosed by a circle of 200 nautical
miles radius and centered at the launching pad,
excluding that part of the circle beyond a line
Aircraft were excluded from the “Air
Closure Area” which was defined as a
were made by representatives of JTF - Seven in
conference with members of the 6th Regional
Office, Civil Aeronautics Administration, and
with the concurrence of the latter’s headquarters.
It became effective upon notice of an impending “‘live” shot by JTF - Seven. This information
was then disseminated by the 6th Regional
Office, CAA, to each of the Air Route Traffic
Control Centers feeding traffic into this area.
It was the responsibility of each Center to ensure that all air traffic was outside this circle
at the planned H-hour and that in-bound tyaffic
would not be cleared into that area until the
detonation had taken place or a definite postponement had been received. This air closure
area applied at all altitudes from 5000 feet, the
the minimum over-water clearance altitude, and
up.
1.4.3
Effective 25 July 1958, a “Surface Danger Area” was established for the Johnston Island area by JTF - Seven Operation Order
(Hydropac 601'58ABCD) which designated the
danger area as “a circle with a 400-mile radius
centered at Latitude 16°45’N, Longitude
169°31’W.”
The
danger area
lifted 25 August 1958.
restriction
was
1.5
JTF - Seven was responsible for all RadSafe and weather information; however.
TG 7.5, in its support capacity, performed varying degrees of construction and provided camp
support operations and or maintenance to the
various outlying stations listed below, as directed
by JTF - Seven.
Utinik
Kusaie
Kapingamarangi
Nauru
Tarawa
perpendicular to the launching azimuth (180°
Ponape - Operated by U.S. Weather
Bureau
16° 44'382”N, 169° 30°53"W.”
Truk - Operated by U.S. Weather
Bureau
true) and 40 nautical miles to the rear of the
launching pad. The launching pad is located at
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