The same naval officer chose both nuclear test sites and Diego Garcia

Evidence

The Navy’s expulsion of the Chagossians was not its first experience taking over tropical islands. After World War II, it had been given the responsibility of searching the planet for places to host the country’s first postwar nuclear weapons tests. “We just took out dozens of maps and started looking for remote sites,” explained Horacio Rivero, one of two officers charged with examining locations—the same Rivero who would later insist “no dependents” remain on Diego Garcia. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 188

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the pattern of Pacific island dispossession for US testing, echoing themes in nuclear-colonial histories.