4 



TECHNOLOGICAL OFFENSIVE 



Crossroads was above all a technical oper- 

 ation. All planning was subservient to the primary 

 mission: collecting technical information. 



Rear Admiral W. S. Parsons, as Deputy Task 

 Force Commander for Technical Direction, led the 

 technological offensive. As Assistant Chief of Naval 

 Operations, Special Weapons, he played a large part 

 in formulating Navy opinion as to how the Tests should 

 be arranged ; and, as ranking Navy member of the joint 

 LeMay Subcommittee, he helped draw up the formal 

 directive. 



His biggest job was analyzing the technical require- 

 ments, breaking them into logical divisions, and setting 

 up the necessary technical administration. With the 

 assistance of Navy Captains Horacio Rivero and F. L. 

 Ashworth, he found that the required technical activi- 

 ties could be aranged under four distinct headings. To 

 handle these activities, he set up two technical adminis- 

 trative groups and two advisory positions. 



The largest of the two technical administrative 

 groups was made responsible for the following: (1) 

 preparing the target vessels, exposing them to the two 



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