Because of its tiny population and distance from any continental land mass, the atoll and its surrounding seas offer weapons testers huge expanses that, almost unique in the world, are nearly free from traffic, whether human or radio. If you are living in New Mexico, the cities just get bigger and bigger, and begin to encroach on Los Alamos. Out here, they don't have cities to grow and encroach, and that's what makes this place an unduplicated national asset. It also makes it something of a paradise, at least as far as the Americans are concerned. Unlike the other stops along the way, here only American employees, their dependents and those with special permission are allowed to get off the plane.
Church attendance is high, as are the test scores of the children who grow up here.
Consumer goods are subsidized, keeping the cost of living down, and even recently released movies are shown for free at an open-air cinema. The result is that many of the people who come to work here for companies like Raytheon and Boeing often extend their tours as long as possible, some staying for 20 years or more. Since 1946, when atomic testing began at Bikini Atoll, native islanders have been moved to make way for military programs. Thirty-three years after the last of the 66 atomic and hydrogen weapons were exploded in the area, more than 350 displaced Bikini natives are still living on Kwajalein Atoll. Today, the rationale for maintaining control of Kwajalein remains strikingly similar.