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 instruments. The 12-day curriculum is shown in Table 3. On the seventh day, personnel were divided into groups by job: destroyer monitors, aircraft monitors, PGM monitors, etc. They were issued instruments, and radium sources in lead "pigs" (containers) were used to give the men experience calibrating and reading their instruments under a semblance of field conditions (Reference A.2, p. 7; Reference C.9.206, pp. VII-(C)-6 and VII-(C)-7).

Haven arrived at Bikini on 12 June, and a task-force-wide rehearsal, called Queen Day, was held on 14 June. Two problems for the radsafe section became immediately apparent. First, because of a shortage of electronics technicians, radios on Mount McKinley used by the Radiological Safety Control Unit could not be kept operating adequately under the heavy load put on them. Second, the 24 landing craft assigned to the Radiological Safety Section were in very poor repair and their radios were even worse. Only six of the twenty-four landing craft could participate in this first exercise, and four of them broke down without 3 hours. Neither Mount McKinley's radios nor the landing craft were fully ready for the ABLE rehearsal. Their first completely satisfactory performance was on ABLE day (Reference C.9.206, p. VII-(C)-8).

Task force personnel had various means of learning about the upcoming operation and the safety procedures and the problems that might be encountered. Ships' newspapers and Plans of the Day carried many articles on CROSSROADS. The Operation Plan was available on each ship and formed the basis for indoctrination of the ship's force about what to expect and what safety precautions were to be taken. A bulletin addressed to the officers and men of USS Wharton (AP-7) and signed by the Director of Ship Materials (DSM) gave a description of the projected detonation and the arrangement of the target fleet. The bulletin also included the statement that from time to time members of the staff would give lectures on various aspects of the bomb tests that would be of general interest (Reference B.0.14). This bulletin probably was typical of the briefing materials used throughout the task force. In addition, there was a full-scale rehearsal stressing safety before each test. Most of the scientific personnel collecting data on phenomenology and blast effects were probably fairly well-versed in radiation safety from their service with the Manhattan Engineer District. Units designated to enter possibly radioactive areas received briefings from members of the radsafe staff, usually the unit's assigned monitor, on radsafe procedures needed for their particular assignment (for example, see Reference B.0.1, p. F-XII-3). The radsafe monitors were responsible for the safety of personnel reboarding target ships. Task force personnel received general indoctrination on radiation safety and nuclear effects.

Continuing Need for Radiobiological Safety Personnel

Even after ABLE and BAKER had been detonated and the first phase of CROSSROADS drew to a close, the need for radsafe monitors and other radsafe personnel continued. The contaminated target and support ships presented a relatively long-term problem, and CHARLIE, the third test in the CROSSROADS Series, was still planned. Moreover, the series' first phase had brought home to the military leadership the need for a substantial military radsafe organization.

August saw the beginnings of activity designed to begin meeting these long-term needs. On 5 August, CJTF 1 asked the Navy Bureau of Ships for 100 naval

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