this week in history 072413
“This Week in History” is a weekly recounting of historical events which shaped today’s U.S. Air Force. On July 25, 1946, Task Group 1.5, a 2,200-man U.S. Army Air Force element, conducted the second phase of a test to burst an atomic bomb underwater off Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean during Operation Crossroads. This group provided aircraft and personnel to photograph and collect data on the explosion, the first of its kind since the bombing of Nagasaki Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945. (U.S. Navy photo)