PLANS AND PLANNERS 



immediately on completion of the Operation. In the 

 Navy, which was to supply over 90 per cent of the 

 personnel, the Bureau of Naval Personnel put its 

 weight behind the drive. The Bureau of Ships, Bureau 

 of Ordnance, Bureau of Aeronautics, and several other 

 bureaus also dug deep for personnel. And the same 

 cooperation was given by the Army. 



Mere numbers were not enough. It was specialists 

 that were particularly needed. Especially hard to find 

 were electricians, radio and radar men, oceanograph- 

 ers, bomb disposal experts, veterinarians, experts on 

 fish and blood. 



Particularly acute was the dearth of radiological 

 safety men. During the re-entry stages after the ex- 

 plosions, many lives might depend on the availability 

 of men who could quickly and reliably detect danger- 

 ous concentrations of radioactive materials on target 

 ships, or in lagoon water. Such men, called monitors, 

 were also needed to clear the way for the speedy re- 

 moval of animals and apparatus from the exposed 

 ships. Similarly, they were vital to the quick saving 

 of target ships which might be on the verge of sinking. 

 Several hundred recruits were selected and trained, 

 but when the tests were postponed by the President, 

 many resigned. More were recruited; they were given 

 last-minute training before departing for Bikini and 

 while at sea. Over 225 monitors were actually available 

 in the crucial periods at Bikini; and although they 

 were spread thin and worked long hours, they per- 



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