White Sands Missile Range held its first Trinity Site Open House of 2023
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (April 3, 2023) The White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs Office held its biannual Trinity Site Open House on Saturday, April 1, 2023, which attracted 3,877 local and international visitors.
“As stewards of the Trinity Site National Historic Landmark, White Sands Missile Range allows free access to the public twice a year by conducting the open houses,” said Camilla Montoya, Public Affairs Specialist, and event coordinator for Trinity Site for the past 18 years.
The WSMR PAO team provided free Trinity Site pamphlets and bus rides to the Schmidt/McDonald Ranch House for viewing, where the Environmental team was stationed and answered visitor questions. The Frontier Club’s management team was set up by the information shack cooking and selling food and refreshments, and at the site, visitors could buy T-shirts and souvenirs from the WSMR U.S. Army Family and Morale Welfare and Recreation truck.
The Public Affairs team managed the information station where they processed and registered global and local media representatives who attended the event to cover the history of the Manhattan Project. Scott Stearns, Chief of Public Affairs, provided tours of the Schmidt/McDonald Ranch House. Jim Eckles, historian and former WSMR PAO employee, answered visitors’ questions on the historical and scientific impact of Trinity Site.
The Open House was made possible due to the countless WSMR police officers, the 3-6 AMD, Air Force and Navy WSMR tenants directing traffic and parking, along with the volunteers who have been showing up every year to assist the WSMR PAO team with set up and crowd management.