Ghosts of a Troubled Past

I promised an update on the (rather dark) history of Diego Garcia before shipping out. I will preface this with a bit of subtext though. According to the principal investigators of DYNAMO, this is the very first time that a meteorology field campaign is being allowed to take place on the island. We are trying to make a good impression so that we can continue coming back in the future, since this area of the world is considerably bereft of important upper-air observations for the understanding of tropical climate dynamics.

We were warned not to blog/tweet/post about military operations, take photos of aircraft, etc. And I'm somewhat reluctant to write something that might be viewed unfavorably by the British military... however, history is history, and I feel that it's important to understand what we'll be dipping our feet into. So rather than explicitly writing about what occurred on Diego Garcia in the 1960's and 70's, I'll point you instead to this article from the Guardian.

Certainly the ghosts of a troubled past will make for an unusual vibe as we are stationed on this beautiful, remote island.

-Gavin