Subject: Operation BUSTER - JANGLE
excerpts:
Shot SUGAR, the first surface detonation at the NPG, was fired with a yield of 1.2 kilotons at 0900 hours on 19 November 1951. The Sugar device was detonated 3.5 feet above the ground in Area 9, Yucca Flat. The initial survey detected onsite fallout to the north of ground zero.
As part of Exercise Desert Rock II, the armed services conducted a troop ovserver program and damage effects tests. The observers, who were from the Army, witnessed the shot from a location nine kilometers south of ground zero. At least one day after the shot, the observers toured the display areas in a bus convoy. Five ten-man evaluation teams also toured the equipment displays on 20 November. One team came from each of the following Camp Desert Rock sections: Chemical, Signal, Engineer, Ordanance, and Quartermaster. The teams reentered the forward area during the next five days to retrieve test equipment.
About 550 DOD personnel participated in scientific projects conducted by the two test units at Shot SUGAR. Approximately 450 SWC participants performend support missions. Perhaps and additional 100 DOD personnel worked for various units coordinated by the test organization.