Operation Greenhouse, Buster/Jangle and Tumbler/Snapper
US Atomic Veterans
Charles Dial
Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2000
To: Keith pdxavets@aracnet.com
From: Charles Dial cedial@bellsouth.net
Subject: Atomic veterans
Keith;
I was assigned to the 3205th Target Drone Group, 3205 Target Drone
Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, Auxiliary Field #3 (Duke
Field). When I was sent to Eniwetok for project GREENHOUSE, I was a radio
mechanic at one of the radar stations. (plotter black) Our mission was
flying radio controlled B-17s and T-33s into the cloud to be over ground
zero at exactly the time the shock wave reached our assigned altitudes. To
do this, we had a Jeep at the end of the runway with all the radio
equipment necessary to get the drone started down the runway, then a
"mother" ship was approaching from behind to take over the controls and fly
the plane to its destination. A "master mother" was overhead to take
control as a backup system. When the plane was at the assigned altitude, a
ground MSQ radar station took control and flew the drone into the cloud
while all of the mother ships flew a round and picked it up as it came out
on the other side. There were four radar sites with the radio
identification call signs with Plotter Black, Blue, Green, and Red.
The first test went without a hitch and everything was fine, but later on,
we had a mishap on takeoff with one of the T-33s. I didn't see what
happened, but heard later that the wing tank touched the runway and the
mother ship had to ditch it in the lagoon. On its way to the water, it
passed within 100 yards of our MSQ radar station at the beach. I imagine
that the pilot struggled to get it to the water because all of our living
quarter tents were at the end of the runway.
One of the other tests (2nd or 3rd, I don't remember) a B-17 was caught in
the fireball and burned away all of the fabric control surfaces, the tires,
and a lot of the wiring, but it was still flying. After about two hours of
trying to get it aligned to the runway with the engines, they brought it in
with the wires from the tires still burning and hanging from the hubs.
It had no control surfaces except the skeletal frame work, but it was the
most perfect landing I ever saw as a two year observer. Ropes across the
end of the runway caught the airplane similar to an aircraft carrier.
Another B-17 came back ok but later it was found to have a cracked wing. It
was repaired and flown back to Florida. One of the T-33s that went into the
cloud got caught and never came out the other side. It was burned up in the
fireball.
I did not stay to see the last shot. Our unit left the air crews there for
the last one but all of the ground personnel took the equipment and went
back to Eglin AFB, Florida.
Later that year , from Sept 30 to Dec 2 , 1951, I was sent to Kirtland AFB,
Albuquerque, NM TDY to the Special weapons command to go to Indian Springs
AFB, Nevada to participate in BUSTER-JANGLES. We took four T-33s, four
pilots, four crew chiefs, and one radio mechanic. I don't recall anything
unusual happening that was noteworthy. Everything was routine. On this
mission, it was a manned flight into the cloud. We cut about a 10" hole in
the front of the drop tanks. Somewhere about in the middle of the tank,
there was a series of "shark gills" cut to let the air flow across a filter
in between. The filters were recovered and sent to Los Alamos, NM.
In the March of 1952 for 100 days, I was sent again to Kirtland AFB thence
to Indian Springs AFB,Nevada to participate in project TUMBLER-SNAPPER. We
had the same assignment as on the previous project, to sample the dust
cloud. This time, after one of the shots, I don't recall which one, I took
a ladder to the airplane so the pilot could exit the plane. When the canopy
was opened, I placed the ladder on the plane, the pilot exited, and we
drove away. The pilot got no radiation at all, but I had to take seven
showers before I got my alpha count down to acceptable levels. I suppose
that as I walked toward the airplane, a gust of wind caught me just right
while the pilot was still under a sealed canopy. Every time I took a
shower, the health physics person checked me and sent me back to do some
more scrubbing. All this time I never once saw him record anything or take
notes. My fact sheet says that there was no Radiation exposure recorded for
me in REECo records for this period.
Other than this one incident, I had a great time. Since returning to
civilian life, I spent 35 years working as a machinist at Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Y-12 plant building nuclear weapons. I have been linked to these weapons
now since 1951. I personally saw 18 detonations in the three projects I was
on. Thats about all I can recall this long after the fact. After all it has
been 50 years.
Charles Dial
Lenoir City, TN
cdial@mindspring.com
--Keith Whittle
November 14, 2000
Operation Greenhouse
Operation Buster/Jangle
Operation Tumbler/Snapper