Brig,
Your step-grandfather served under Lt Col Ulysses S. Nero (13 November 1898-27 October 1980)? Nero was a longtime enlisted man in the Army Corps before receiving his commission in WWII. He’s sometimes referred to as the “father of American aerial precision bombing.”
Regards,
Shawn
Operation Crossroads
Brig,
I'll have a look at the CROSSROADS book I mentioned to see if there is anything about that.
Based on your step-grandfather’s job and the commendation from Nero, I would surmise he was attached to Task Unit 1.5.5 (Air Service Unit) on Kwajalein. In addition to service and maintenance troops, the task unit had engineers, MPs, and weather-forecasting personnel. Lt Col Nero was the Officer-in-Charge, Maintenance Control of Task Group 1.5 for Operation CROSSROADS. Commanded by Brigadier General Roger M. Ramey, Task Group 1.5 was the Army Air Group of Joint Task Force 1. Vice Admiral William H.P. “Spike” Blandy commanded Joint Task Force 1 and was the overall “boss” of the operation.
Task Group 1.5, composed of provisional Army Air Forces units, had the mission of conducting Able shot with the B-29 bomber, “Dave’s Dream” (serial number 44-27354). Much of Task Group 1.5 were personnel from Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico, home of the 509th Composite Group. At the time of CROSSROADS, Colonel William H. Blanchard was commander of the 509th while Brigadier General Ramey commanded the 58th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) based at March Field, California.
For gee whiz, here is the unofficial emblem of the 58th Wing used during CROSSROADS; this was applied to the fuselage of "Dave's Dream."
Regards,
Shawn
I'll have a look at the CROSSROADS book I mentioned to see if there is anything about that.
Based on your step-grandfather’s job and the commendation from Nero, I would surmise he was attached to Task Unit 1.5.5 (Air Service Unit) on Kwajalein. In addition to service and maintenance troops, the task unit had engineers, MPs, and weather-forecasting personnel. Lt Col Nero was the Officer-in-Charge, Maintenance Control of Task Group 1.5 for Operation CROSSROADS. Commanded by Brigadier General Roger M. Ramey, Task Group 1.5 was the Army Air Group of Joint Task Force 1. Vice Admiral William H.P. “Spike” Blandy commanded Joint Task Force 1 and was the overall “boss” of the operation.
Task Group 1.5, composed of provisional Army Air Forces units, had the mission of conducting Able shot with the B-29 bomber, “Dave’s Dream” (serial number 44-27354). Much of Task Group 1.5 were personnel from Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico, home of the 509th Composite Group. At the time of CROSSROADS, Colonel William H. Blanchard was commander of the 509th while Brigadier General Ramey commanded the 58th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) based at March Field, California.
For gee whiz, here is the unofficial emblem of the 58th Wing used during CROSSROADS; this was applied to the fuselage of "Dave's Dream."
Regards,
Shawn
- Attachments
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- 58th Wing.jpg (30.28 KiB) Viewed 915 times
The Baker explosion I've never determined if, or how many, U.S. casualties resulted from the event of this blast. It was larger then they expected and I know they did not know alot about exposure to radiation at the time.
Regards
Also, here is a good 12 minute video on the Army Air Forces called Special Delivery that looks at the U.S. Air Force in 1946 and has footage of this test
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ChristopherPerrien
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- Location: Mississippi
Cool, I'll check out the link. What made me wonder about this was this superb documentary Trinity and Beyond