(22 August 86) We finished a week of training for police officers, received a tour of Kwajalein Island and a classified briefing. I’ll be on a chopper to an outer island in a couple of days for my first assignment. Since this is an international force, I was sworn in by our American chief of police and a judge from the Republic of the Marshall Islands. I’m now a Marshall Islands police officer.
The EC Corporation currently holds the police/security contract for the Kwajalein Missile Range (KMR) at Kwajalein Atoll. It just replaced Washington Patrol. Hiring and keeping good people is difficult, which makes for a high turnover rate for companies as well as personnel.
The force consists of 100 Americans and 24 Marshallese constables from Micronesia, which is made up of a number of island nations spread across the Central Pacific, administered by the United States as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
Kwajalein Island is the southernmost and largest island in a chain of 93 islands and islets that comprise Kwajalein Atoll, a coral reef enclosing the largest lagoon in the world, around 1,000 square miles. Shaped roughly like Florida, these islands do look like jewels just above the surface of the ocean. This is the harbor at Kwajalein Island on the lagoon side. Sailboats from the yacht club are to the right.
The United States Army at Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) is responsible for operations at the atoll. The army recently recruited a larger police force because the Marshallese, owners of this atoll, had a dispute about rent payments and civil rights issues with the U.S. Government and decided to occupy the ten islands involved in military testing. This larger force utilized army landing craft (LCM) to remove the islanders, putting an end to the occupation just before I arrived. Our other jobs are to protect the ten active islands 24 hours a day against Russian (Soviet) infiltration for spying operations and to operate as police officers on the main island of Kwajalein.
USAKA, under the U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command, is responsible for the testing of offensive and defensive weapons systems. Under this command, Kwajalein will have a role in the testing of four strategic defense initiative “Star Wars” projects beginning in 1989.
Contract workers for companies such as RCA, GTE and Pan Am receive wages comparable to those on the mainland. But they pay no U.S. income tax, only Social Security and a small Marshallese tax. A month’s paid vacation and free transportation to the states are standard benefits, along with free medical care, housing and food. And plenty of recreation. The reason residents call this atoll “Almost Paradise” is because you do have to work. But no one seems to be complaining.
Kwajalein workers’ duties involve collecting data on the behavior of warheads, called RVs, that land on targets in the lagoon or on Illeginni Island, midway up the west reef. RVs stands for re-entry vehicles, not a Winnebago.
Cameras and other tracking equipment on Kwajalein, eight outer islands and the advanced radar complex on Roi Namur record this data.
The primary missions during the past few years have involved reliability tests for intercontinental ballistic missiles that are already in service (Minuteman) and development tests for the MX Peacekeeper ICBM.
Whenever a missle test is held, one or more intelligence gathering ships, including submarines, from the Soviet navy can be found off Kwajalein, trying to find an ideal spot from which to observe and listen. Any Soviet surface vessel in the vicinity is known as Brand X. Brand X is so well-known in the Marshall Islands that several sports teams in the capital of Majuro use the name.The ship is believed to carry the best in monitoring equipment, including a new sensitive “ear” that can pick up conversations on shore as it passes by several miles away.
They also have a satellite with a powerful camera in orbit over the atoll with the ability to capture objects as small as a car.
Roi Namur, which is about 60 miles north of Kwajalein Island, is the most important tracking site for missiles, satellites, and the upcoming SDI tests. This top secret installation has a permanent population of about 200. But early every morning, except Sunday, military planes carry scientists, technicians, and support people up from Kwajalein. And every afternoon the workers are flown back to Kwajalein.
On one side of the island there is an array of powerful tracking radar, including ALTAIR, known locally as “America’s Radar.” ALTAIR can track objects over 24,000 miles in space. This radar has a 150 foot dish that weighs more than 800,000 pounds and rotates on a circular rail that allows it to move to any tracking position in a matter of seconds. Everything orbiting earth, including a glove that was lost by an astronaut, is identified and recorded by ALTAIR personnel.
Since Kwajalein Atoll lies in the most common launch corridor, the most ideal path for launching satellite payloads, ALTAIR has 
been charged with tracking Soviet and Chinese launches. This is the reason why Roi Namur will be one of the first targets to be hit if the Soviets decide to launch a nuclear strike against the United States. It could come from Brand X, which carries a contingent of Russian spetsnaz troops. They are the equivalent to our navy seals. And of course, the Marshall Islands police force is the front line of defense for the atoll as one supervisor informed me. I could be wrong but I don’t think the bookies in Vegas would even take that bet. It’s something I will keep in mind.
ALTAIR has been used for more than just military research, though. A number of other scientific projects have been carried out here, including measurements to determine the dimensions of the endangered ozone level. For these reasons the U.S. has no plans to leave Roi Namur, even though we promised to give it right back after we completed a few experiments there. This was almost 60 years ago.
The Marshallese of Roi Namur were moved to Ennubirr Island, south of the radar. ALTAIR puts out 5 megawatts of high frequency radiation. Before it begins operations, a police officer travels by boat to the island and places a red metal flag on the end of the pier. The Marshallese are supposed to stay indoors until the testing is finished. I asked the briefer if the islanders comply. He just smiled and said no.
Filed under: Almost Paradise Volume 1
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It’s interesting to read about the police on Kwaj from back then. I’ve recently served two tours on Kwaj, with assignments on Kwaj, Roi-Namur and Meck with KPD. I always wished that there was some kind of historical documentation of police and security on Kwaj just to have some idea of where it all began and where we’ve come. Interesting read. Thanks.
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