Equipment in the Office of Public Affairs, other than such normal items as 

 typewriters, included: a radio relay to the Command Van and, when atmospheric 

 conditions were right, to the Base Camp; a Xerox 660-1 copy machine which 

 proved marginally adequate- -a larger machine should be used in future opera- 

 tions; and a telephone system that included three lines with extensions on each 

 of the five desks . 



The Office of Public Affairs not only processed all visitors to the site but 

 also arranged tours and itineraries for these visitors, set up interviews for 

 the press, arranged dives to the habitat where they did not conflict with 

 operations, and provided technical guidance for both still and motion picture 

 photographers of the news media. 



Whenever possible, the Director of Public Affairs or another representative of 

 the Office of Public Affairs met visitors at the airport and provided necessary 

 transportation and assistance during their visit. 



For the first two-thirds of the program, the Office was kept open from 7:00 A.M. 

 to 6:30 P.M., seven days a week. However, with the decrease in personnel the 

 last third of the program, it was necessary to close the Office on Sunday. On 

 two occasions, during a hurricane alert, the Office was kept open around the 

 clock in order to insure that communications with the operational site were 

 maintained. 



COMMUNICATIONS 



As indicated above, in addition to the telephones there was a citizen's band 

 radio connecting the Public Affairs Office with the Command site and the Base 

 Camp. For field operations of this type where high public interest potential 

 exists, there should also be a teletype system and/or radio link directly to 

 the parent organization's headquarters to both speed the release of information 

 and expedite communications between the field and home offices. Future opera- 

 tions might also include a Xerox telephone transmitter which can send "hard 

 copy" directly in four minutes . 



DISCUSSION 



Three organizations sent personnel to provide support to the program: the 

 Department of the Interior, the Department of the Navy, and the General 

 Electric Company. A total of seven support personnel were distributed over 

 the 8-month period. On special occasions there were adequate personnel but 

 generally the on-site staff worked long and hard to keep up. 



Although the Public Affairs Office was understaffed, an average of two news 

 releases were made each week and at least one press conference was conducted 

 per week in the Virgin Islands . An average of 25 visitors were accommodated 

 each week as well . 



Every effort was made by the Public Affairs Office to insure that all agencies 

 received credit for their role in the program. This proved to be a most inter- 

 esting aspect of the multiagency program. Each participant contributed sig- 

 nificantly to the success of TEKTITE II, and it was appropriate, even advisable, 

 to insure that everyone's role was acknowledged. To that end, virtually every 

 release issued contained at the very least a concluding paragraph crediting each 



V-2 



