Johnston Atoll is #8 Most Wanted DXCC entity globally. It seems easy to ride a bike around there but difficult to operate ham radio where it’s commonly known DXpedition operators leave no footprints on such trips.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Air Force are currently discussing future management options; in the interim Johnston Atoll and the three-mile Naval Defensive Sea around it remain under the jurisdiction and administrative control of the US Air Force.
Entry into Johnston Atoll is heavily restricted, and requires a special-use permit to visit, often from the U.S. Military or the US Fish and Wildlife Services. And they both generally only give permits to military personnel and civilian contractors. This even applies to U.S. and American Samoan citizens.
Hi,
Question: Was the JOC built by the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Air Force? In addition, do you know when was it built?
Enjoyed the video…
BOB
I’m under the belief that the atoll and other small islands have been sold in a private arrangement
Is there a way to verify this ? Thanks.
Hello, I was stationed on the Atoll from July 1975 through August 1976. North end of the island had a lighthouse about a quarter mile off shore on one of the two islands and was manned by U.S. Coast Guard. On the northern part of the Atoll was a 3 par, 9 hole, golf course. Along the shore I used to find hundreds of hermit crabs. Travelling South, the tower building was the JOC (joint operations command. Upon arrival all personnel signed in according to their assignment. I was an MP with the 267th Chemical Co. And provided security for the large bunker area on the south end of the island. The bunkers contained nerve, mustard and another bio chemical. The chemical teams would enter the bunkers Mon-Fri to check rabbits in them. Rabbits were used due to high sensitivity of the agents and discerned leaks and there were some. It was a gated area with ourguard shack at the single entrance. The southern tip of the isle had a huge stainless steel chute where daily food waste was dumped and the White-Tip and brown sharks would feed 3x daily. They actually were conditioned on feeding times. Many would fish shark just for the Jaws. The southwest area of the island was cordoned off by fencing and stored 50-gallon barrels of Agent Orange. No women were allowed to be on the island due to the possible leakage of the agent as it affected the reproductive organs. The paved road that is around the isle is approximately 5 miles in distance which, I ran daily. The airstrip took the center of the island and along the West side were 3 floor brick barracks for Army personnel. Then some two story barracks for Army NCOs. Some single floor also were in that immediate facility for the civilian fire team. On the west coast, the Air Force had its Thor Trident lunch area. During two launches that I witnessed all island personnel were moved to the north end of the island. Just north of the barracks area was the large mess hall and behind was the open theater. JAWS was the hit at that time. Every night it would rain a downpour for two mi its but you were nearly dry by movies end. West of the theater was the single floor post office and across the road were 2-3 floor civilian barracks. On the isle north end just soth of the golf course and on the west were two large 3-floor barracks for Air Force personnel. Uniquely the barracks had Venetian glass windowing for each room for airflow. There was also a medical clinic on the island, base-exchange and several open air clubs ffeaturing foid and entertainment, run by the civilian staff. The weather station was located north of the Air terminal. Riding a bicycle I thought I saw an innertube on the rock sea wall. As i walked over to investigate i had spooked a female sea lion which, later i learned to be Molly who visited the island annually. Snorkelers woul play as Molly would grab their fins and pull thender, only to release. Molly, as story was foretold, had gottn injured years prior by a boat prop and she was nursed to health. Since that time she always found comfort in returning. I served 13 months on the femaleless island with two separate 1-wk R&R’s to Honolulu. Now, seeing the video, believe me when I say there were only 15 Palm trees on the island with some decorative bushes during my tour. There was no mound of buried waste as the island was completely flat. The Air Force left the island before then of my tour there and rocket launches ceased, at least as an on-going operation. I played tennis on the courts, just off the main road and across from my barracks with basket ball courts being adjacent. The JOC building housed a racket ball courts, squash. No window and I worked as a part-time disc jockey for Armed Forces Radio 99.5 FM Johnston Atoll during 10 months of my tour there.
The USAF has jurisdiction over Johnston and has banned all personnel, except USAF, USFWS and their volunteers.
Johnston has a sad history. During the Cold War, not one but two missile tests failed and rained radioactive material on the atoll. Radioactive material was ‘cleaned’ by the Military and their contractors and dumped in the lagoon or on waste piles on the atoll. These waste piles were covered with layers of coral debris to mitigate the problem. They are still there.
Secondly, chemical warfare munitions were destroyed on the atoll (agent Orange and others). A large facility was built to accomplish this and hundreds of workers were assigned to the atoll. Some of them have attempted to claim disability due to exposure but have been met with heavy pushback from the Government and their contractors. The only remaining structure is the JOC (Joint Operations Center) and that is in disrepair though quite usable.
More recently, the atoll had been infested with “Crazy Yellow Ants”! Yes, that is the street name for anoplolepis gracilipes. (Look it up!) These ants are not indigenous on the atoll and USFWS was tasked to eradicate the CYAs. The CYAs excrete a very acidic substance which gets into the eyes of the sea birds causing them to lose their sight and therefore unable to forage. There have been multiple USFWS volunteer crews on the atoll. These crews live on the atoll, usually for 6 month intervals. They freely roam the atoll and have posted a few YouTube videos of the atoll. USFWS has done a remarkable job and the infestation seems to be at an end. That is some of the history…so now for the Amateur Radio part!
In an attempt to obtain landing permission, multiple proposals have been submitted to the USAF. Initially, the process appeared to be fast tracked. The USAF was aware of the very positive feedback we received after the Wake Atoll operation. For Johnston, the USAF was given a very contained ‘foot print’ of our operations. Our set-up would be self contained and restricted to wherever area USAF deemed safe and of short duration (2 weeks). We would be self financed, have appropriate medical personnel with us, and follow the same protocols as the USFWS volunteers for ingress and egress to the atoll. Additionally, we offered the USAF compensation for any USAF supervision required on the atoll. The Amateur Team individually signed a Waiver of Responsibility, which effectively eliminated any chance of legal action for any reason. The Waiver was a Department Of Defense (DoD) authored document which assured the US Government of complete isolation.
Progress moved ahead nicely until a single Colonel objected on the basis of potentially hazardous material being brought back to our point of embarkation(Hawaii) by personnel’s clothing and/ or other material. Any assurances given, such as we would follow the exact protocol as the dozens of USFWS personnel and further, we would be under the supervision of the USAF, fell on deaf ears.
Multiple resubmissions were sent to the good Colonel’s chain of command, up to an including the Secretary of the USAF in the Pentagon. All were summarily dismissed or simply unanswered.
Literally, hundred of hours have been invested in the multiple iterations of an Operations Plan, Logistics Plan, soliciting personnel for the operation, attempting to get support from US Senator and Representatives (tough going!), issuing Freedom of Information applications, and on and on.
Quick side note. The FOIs, which were issued to obtain the true ‘why was the operation nixed’ were answered with mostly redacted information. The only information not blacked out was the title of the emails and some small chit chat! Further FOI requests asked for specific documents detailing the hazard potential expressed by the Colonel (There was dialog between the Colonel and other USAF departments). Again nothing of value was forwarded.
Summarized: Using the guise that hazardous material would be transported off the atoll is simply another way of saying it isn’t in their mission. Stating the atoll is unsafe seems disingenuous as literally hundreds of USFWS personnel have lived on the atoll for extended periods, roamed the atoll, dove and fished in the lagoon and even farmed vegetables in the soil. The USAF has a mission and that mission does not include Amateur Radio.
All hope is not lost. Sooner or later, the Johnston will be turned over from the USAF to the USFWS. The Pacific Region USFWS have been open to Amateur Radio operations as long as their terms are met. So if we live long enough, who knows!