Office of Field Support
Crowd Control Survey, Kill Devil Hills
Assignment
Officer of record: Spencer R., HAEB-7714, Senior Field Compliance Officer, Office of Field Support.
Date of duty: December 17, 1903. Location: Kill Devil Hills, Dare County, North Carolina. Duration authorized: one day, withdrawal before first movement.
Bureau records show a boarding procedure in effect at this event. The Bureau of Premature Invention requested a site survey to determine whether the ground could accommodate the queue lanes the procedure requires.
The officer was not assigned to observe the event.
Contact restrictions
- No statement of purpose to any person present.
- No approach to the camp buildings.
- No contact with any person operating a camera.
- No queue asset to remain in the field of view of a recording device.
Observations
- The officer arrived before first light and surveyed level ground adjacent to the launching rail.
- The ground accommodates three queue lanes. The officer established Group A, Group B, and Group C in accordance with the standard, using 140 feet of rope and four stanchion pins.
- The officer was issued the sign for Group C and set it at the third lane.
- Anticipated attendance, supplied by the Office of Public Recollection, was 400. The standard requires lane capacity sized to anticipated attendance.
- Persons present at the officer’s withdrawal: five.
- One of the five operated a camera. The rope and the pins were removed from the field of view in accordance with restriction 4. The sign was not located at that time.
- The officer withdrew before first movement of the machine.
- The officer did not observe the event.
Deviations from plan
- Anticipated attendance exceeded persons present by 395. The variance was reported to the Office of Public Recollection, which advised that anticipated attendance is derived from an event’s recognized significance and is not adjusted by attendance.
- Queue lanes were installed for a boarding that did not take place. The Bureau of Premature Invention has recorded the boarding as NEVER OCCURRED and the queue installation as compliant.
- 140 feet of rope was issued. 148 feet was returned. The Property Office has opened a separate matter.
Property retained and lost
Returned at withdrawal:
- Overcoat, boots, and hat.
- Field Device 11, property tag HAEB-P-000011.
- Four stanchion pins.
- 148 feet of cotton queue rope.
- $0.85 of $2.10, the remainder expended on transport and receipted.
Not returned at withdrawal:
- One painted sign reading GROUP C.
The Office of Anachronism Control has classified the sign as out of period property in an unknown location and has directed that HAEB Form 17-B be filed by the finder.
Memory variance on return
Item 22. Memory variance on return. Select one.
- None.
- Minor. Selected by the officer.
- Moderate.
- Referred to the Office of Public Recollection.
- Not applicable.
Officer’s entry, in full:
A return briefing was conducted on the evening of December 17. I attended it. I was told the assignment had been postponed.
The Office of Field Support conducted no briefing on that date.
The officer named three persons present at the briefing. One was Compliance Officer Daniel Pike, who is not assigned to nonlocal historical duty until 2026. One was the officer. The third name does not appear in the personnel system.
The variance is recorded as minor.
Supervisor disposition
Report accepted as filed.
Anticipated attendance is not a discrepancy. The figure is a planning input and is certified separately by the Office of Public Recollection.
The surplus rope is addressed in a separate matter and is not a finding of this report.
The Office of Field Support does not maintain attendance records for briefings it did not conduct.
The officer has requested a copy of the briefing record. There is no briefing record. The request has been retained.
No interview is scheduled at this time.
Reviewed by the Office of Field Support, Compliance Review Section.
Issued equipment
- Field Device 11, handset, property tag HAEB-P-000011
- Era compatible overcoat, boots, and hat, Office of Field Support stock
- 140 feet of cotton queue rope, Office of Field Support stock
- Four stanchion pins
- One painted sign reading GROUP C
- $2.10 in authorized local currency
- Withdrawal signal card
Prohibited knowledge
The following were withheld from the assigned employee. Disclosure at the date-of-duty is a reportable event under Directive 4.1.
- The number of persons who will be present
- The designation and content of Group A and Group B
- The approved passenger capacity of the machine under observation
- Whether the event is scheduled to occur
Supervisor disposition
Report accepted as filed. Anticipated attendance is not a discrepancy. The surplus rope is addressed in a separate matter. The Office of Field Support does not maintain attendance records for briefings it did not conduct. No interview is scheduled at this time.
Related records
- HAEB-1903-GROUPC, Premature Boarding Procedure
- HAEB-1844-STOP, The Unsolicited Reply
- HAEB Directive 4.1, Nonlocal Historical Duty
- HAEB Directive 6.3, Handling of Out-of-Period Property
- HAEB Directive 7.4, Premature Language and Unauthorized Foreshadowing
This directive is in force and is not published. Its provisions are available through the office that applies them. - HAEB Form 17-B, Rev. 12.4, Declaration of Out-of-Period Property
Real-world source note
The historical anchors below are factual. The Bureau, its staff, its records, and every administrative consequence described on this page are fictional.
- The first sustained, powered, controlled flights of a heavier than air machine were made by Wilbur and Orville Wright at Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. [Tier A, Basic anchor] Source
The flights are established history. The Bureau, the officer, the queue standard, and the Group C sign are fictional. - Four flights were made that day. The first, piloted by Orville Wright, covered roughly 120 feet in roughly 12 seconds. The longest, piloted by Wilbur Wright, covered 852 feet in 59 seconds. A small number of local witnesses were present, including men from the nearby life saving station, and one of them operated the camera that recorded the first flight. [Tier B, Specific detail]
- The machine flown that day carried its pilot only. Passenger carrying flight came years later. [Tier A, Basic anchor]