Blast from the past: Guardsmen visit The Manhattan Project National Historical Park

Guardsman with 420th Chemical Battalion, 96th Troop Command, Washington National Guard, traveled to the past to learn for the future during a tour of the Hanford Nuclear Site, part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, in Richland, Wash., on May 5, 2023.

Led by Lt. Colonel Marco Brettman, Commander of the 420th Chemical Battalion, the purpose of the tour was to demonstrate lessons learned from the Hanford Site and The Manhattan Project, and how it applies to the units in the formation today. Senior staff of the 420th Chemical Battalion also provided briefs to show how the activities at the site relate to their units. The topics covered the history of the Manhattan Project, the engineering aspects, the use of imminent domain at the Hanford side, and the transportation of nuclear material.

“It’s a way for us to come together collectively,” said Brettman. “To learn that a lot of different things within the Army work together to...produce great things for us to fight and win or advance what we're doing.”

The four-hour tour, guided by Marty Zizzi and Charles Taylor, included a visit to the B Reactor along with an in-depth explanation of the operation as it relates to the history of The Manhattan Project. Zizzi and Taylor used the deactivated B Reactor, artifacts, and models to explain the functions of how the B Reactor operated in its prime.

The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government. The site was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project and was home to the Hanford Engineer Works and the B Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world. The plutonium created at the site was used in the Trinity test and in the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan to end World War II.

During the Cold War, the site expanded to include nine nuclear reactors and five large plutonium processing complexes. The last reactor ceased operation in 1987.

In December 2014 U.S. Senators obtained congressional authorization for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park. November 2015, the Department of Energy and the National Parks Service agreed to collaboratively maintain the new park.

“I think it resonates with people that haven't seen it, its history and a look back in time into just how extraordinary The Manhattan Project was.” said Brettman when asked if he thought the staff ride was a success.