great duty being a liaison man
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After completing tech school in Fort Bliss I was assigned to the Nike Missile Sites
around New Britain Conn.
It was Sept of 1956 and we were just opening the launch sites.
I was eventually assigned to the HQ of the HQ BTRY on top of a mountain outside of New Britian. I and three others were sent as AAA liaison to the Eastern Air Defense Command (air force) in Roslyn NY. We were there until Jan 1957 then moved out to Montauk Pt NY. The air force radar site in Montauk was the 773 aircraft control and warning and Sqd.(773rd ac&w). We were there to call in the locations of U S aircraft during a possible enemy air attack so we wouldn't shoot down our own aircraft. I do remember that the call sign for our location was “cowboy” and New Briton was “powder. It was great duty being a liaison man and I remaind there until Discharge in Aug. of 1958. They sent a helicopter over from New Britain to pick me up for processing out and I felt like a General for a short time. The reason for my letter is the absence of any information on the New Britain location ( I would like to know what happened to it) of the HQ BTRY. And as expected most people don't know that we had a small unit of AAA liaison People on the Montauk site. If you goggle 773rd ac&w squadron you will find more info about that site. I had a very good experience in the USARMY mostly because of the people I came into contact with My Capt., Andrew J Kelgariff (sp) was the greatest (most decorated man in the 63rd AAA GR) and I still see one of my army buddies from time to time. |
Riot Gas Exposures - a dark side of the world -
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Intro - I (Ed Thelen) have known Roy Mize for about 10 years. We are volunteers at the Computer History Museum.
I trust his words. This is a copy of an e-mail from Roy to Eric Muth
Doing some research and found a link to Muth ... . I knew we were both Nike veterans, but I didn't know we had both done time at Edgewood Arsenal and participated in the chemical warfare experiments. I was at Edgewood in November/December 1959 and January 1960. Except for the holidays, most of my time was spent in psychological tests and physical endurance testing. (You remember the great shape we were in when we were young.) Spent the last 3 hours reading the horror stories of some of the 7720 vets. Without a doubt, we are both very lucky. The Good Lord must have something in mind for us. Unlike many of the vets, I did get to see what was supposedly my official records. The reason was my security clearances. Like you, I also had a top secret clearance (for over 30 years). TS was where clearances started in the world I worked and I had many 'need to know' above TS' clearances. When publicity about Edgewood testing LSD really came out in the early 80's, I was ordered to make a request for my records through channels. For some reason, my sponsoring organizations didn't seem to want an official connection. Although based on what I've read in the past few hours, someone made sure that what I received was complete. I don't have the records. They were submitted for review to my sponsors. I do remember that the summary said that I had not received LSD or BZ and had only been exposed to contaminates in one test; e.g. a 'non-lethal' nerve gas - identity not given. I have long believed that it was a diluted Sarin and from what I've been reading, this is a logical conclusion. I was also contacted in the 1982 follow-up for Edgewood volunteers, I should have kept a copy of the questionnaire but I didn't. Also didn't keep the letters. Just felt that I was ok and had moved on. I remember my single field test well. Under the command of a ranger colonel, a small group of us received tank operations training at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. It was fun. Once we had the hang of it, we were given a tank to take on a joyride across the range. Our only orders were not to knock down any buildings or objects and don't run over any trees larger than about 8 inches. Early the next day we reported to the tank range for tests. I sat on the left with the viewport open and dressed only in my fatigues. On my right sat an experienced tank driver dressed in protective clothing, gas mask on and viewport closed. The scenario was simple. We were to drive down the road and ford a stream. There would be a cloud hovering about the water at the ford. It could be early morning fog from water vapor. It could be low lying smoke from a smoke bomb to obscure an enemy across the stream, or it could be nerve gas. Just before my tank entered the water, a grenade exploded in front of the tank and released gas. I don't remember much except that I managed to cross the stream and stop the tank before my panic took over. I bolted the tank and ran. Just ran. Some men grabbed me and kept me from rubbing my eyes. I received on-site medical aid and in a few hours felt fine. I learned later that the person next to me in the tank was responsible for stopping it so that the volunteer wouldn't be run over. I understood why. I still don't know how I did what I did. I was told most volunteers bolted with the tank still moving. There has never been any residual effects. I do remember that liquid flowed from every orifice in my body, including my ears, and the stinging, burning sensation was akin to moving your hand too closely across a blowtorch except that it was everywhere - inside and out. My time in the wards was pretty uneventful except for one person. I've always been an observer and the one thing I remember was a young sergeant who in retrospect must have been given either BZ or LSD. We were in a closed medical ward and he kept wandering around commenting to no one in particular about his body - e.g. he didn't have one. As time progressed, I remember him commenting on seeing his hand floating beside him but not connected to his body and then about other parts as he came down from the high. I also remember my first blood test at the Edgewood clinic. I passed out. They gave you a beaker, stuck a glass tube in a vein and said call the medic when it was nearly full. I called the medic , he took the beaker and the tube, and then I keeled over. Didn't mean to ramble, but the readings brought back long forgotten memories. Roy |
Social life on Belle Isle Detroit Mich. Fall 1955-Dec 1956
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Off duty time was good in Detroit area.
Free bus rides every 1/2 hour to downtown. U S.O. was center of activity - free movie passes - also free tickets to many events - stage shows-hockey and 50-75 tickets to football games. G.I.s had own section right field Brigg Stadium - uniform or I.D.card got you in free. We would boo Al Kaline & Mickle Mantle for being 4-F. U.S.O. came to Belle Isle about every 6 weeks for a talent show. Sat night dances at Veterans Bldg. U.S.O. located at that time basement of stage theater. We would hang out in bar next door knowing when the bell rang to leave in a hurry and return 1/2/hr.later. The bell was the intermission sign for the stage show we were to leave the bar to give space to the big paying customers from the stage show. We would return when stage show started again. U.S.O. had free snack bar - Free coffee, "Coke" (the drinking soda) cost a nickel from a canteen machine. Female hostess would sit and talk to us. One got up to "powder", one of our boys being polite handed the hostess her purse which on the floor. "This is heavy -what's in here a gun?". "Yes I'm a police woman". We were on our good behavior that night! This was 1955-1956 female cops were an unknown quantity then. One Sunday night all the girls ran to the T.V. screen. GIs wondered what was going on - Elvis first time on T,V. |
Red Faced in Red Canyon
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A bty 85th Red Canyon launch crew--summer 1955 vol 1
Our latrine was a pit and an orange crate with a hole in it.Soldier K came into the L.C.T. where we kept the rolls of toilet paper and a magazine and left to attend to natures call. K returned to the trailer to return the paper and the magazine. Sarg. Underdue told him he had gotten a call from the safety officer asking why a soldier was running "bare assed" in the desert with his pants around his ankles --out of uniform" K got red in the face as he would pull jokes on us but did not liked one pulled on him. "I THOUGHT IT WAS A RATTLESNAKE and took off in a hurry."
Some of the boys had cars at Red Canyon. Returning from a near by town they captured a tarantula spider--put him in a box and came back to the barracks where half of us were Next morning "the not in the know group" headed to the latrine. All of a sudden came a loud yell"%#@****^^^ Look what we have been sleeping with!!!! We never told them it was an import. I wonder how much sleep was lost the next night One of the launch crew killed a rattlesnake cut off its head --when the duce&1/2 picked us up he coiled it with the rattles showing under a tarp which he placed over the rest of the dead snake.
A sarg in assembly site at Red Canyon was bragging that he never misplaced a tool because he wore a tool belt to prevent this. A challenge to our boys. At every chance they had they would pickpocket a tool from the belt---Sarg was not happy when he reached for a tool and found a empty slot Setting up site on Belle Isle A tree on the Fisher (made car bodies for G.M.) estate was in the line of site between radar and missile. Our Lt. told this to the groundkeeper who oked the tree removal. A detail cut down the tree. The next day the Lt. went back stating another tree was in line of site also. The Fisher groundkeeper said he would have the tree removed. Wonder why he didn't want our free help again? |
Red Canyon Tales
I was sent there as a heating and ventilation specialist...Sgt cambell said he needed a mechanic ..I told him I really was a mechanic...He took me to this old chrysler industrial engine that had been taken all apart and was frozen up with rust...It was attached to a six inch hale centrifical pump...He said get it running...So I dumped the sand out of it and put diesel fuel on the pistons and valves and tapped on the pistons with a hammer handle to set up vibrations to let the diesel fuel work..I got it broke free and took it in the shop and rebuilt it..It ran like a watch...
Sgt Cambell had our c.o. change my mos to 621.10 from 521.10... I remember wiley hit a cow one night coming back from carrizozo with his ford...I was busy putting transfer cases in the M 52 tractors...They were being used to haul potable water from carrizozo to red canyon...They were going to advance me in rank every 4 months instead of the usual 6 months...
I went down to the nike bar...It was packed ..This nice looking lady came in and asked if she could sit at my table..Yes I said...so we had some drinks and listened to the music...Later,I said I`m hungry so we went to a restaurant that was half a bar .. we were going up one set of stairs, sgt campbell was coming down the other side..He saw us but didn`t say anything..
Later she drove me back to red canyon..The next morning sgt sidel said to take the duece and a half downtown to the jail and pick up our personnel...There had been a disturbance..The lady was sgt campbell`s fiance..the following week I was filling the water coolers on all the buildings..driving the garbage truck and at night I was filling the pot torches on our road construction job..Sgt campbell said I`ll make sure you don`t have time to hang around my fiance...I finally convinced him I was innocent of wrongdoing and he let me back in the engineer shop...
Then I went to Kaiserslautern,Germany for 25 months..They were going to send us to vietnam but the russians put up the berlin wall in aug 61,so we stayed in germany..We got extended past our enlistment for several months...and we mustered out...I would like to know the grid coordinates of red canyon if anyone knows them..then I can look it up on google earth..
Thanks..george miceli ra12567961
N 33 deg 43.100, W 106 deg 07.383
Nike site closing, wish pictures
What I have desperately looked for years were pictures of the IFC equipment or missiles at the Nike site at PR-38 Bristol RI getting dismantled and or trucked away in 1974 for posting on my website. Alas... no-one I have contacted has any. Civilians now at Bristol or Army fellas that were there when it closed ...nobody has anything. We did have a fella who was part of our old crew go back to Bristol a few years ago and went thru their small newspaper's (Bristol Phoenix) archives which at the time were only stacks of dusty newspapers in a room and he found nothing after spending a day there. Unfortunately no archives at that time at the newspaper were kept on a computer of microfiche . I have talked on the phone with Don Wantuck who was the last BC at Bristol when it closed and he told me all he did was hand over the keys to a civilian and that was it. No ceremony, pictures or anything. Strange as the site was there for 18 years defending that area. I would have thought there would have been some sort of a closing ceremony
Off subject a bit:
Anyway, now I even would accept some pictures from other Herc or Improved Herc sites of the dismantling to post if possible since we can't find any from Bristol. Full credit would be given to whomever submits them.
Can you help?
2 Red Canyon Stories, Mess Sergeant, I'm Doomed
When I arrived at Ellsworth AFB (late Summer 1957), the Nike sites were under construction. There were 75 MM gun placements still in use, pending activation of the Nike batteries. All of the Army personnel (75 MM and Nike) lived in 3-story barracks buildings at the back (North) end of the air base. We had our own mess hall, motor pool, etc.
At the mess hall one evening, one of the gun crews didn't come in for their supper. The mess sergeant waited for maybe an hour, then told the mess crew to clean up. They had just about finished when an officer came in with the gun crew. The mess sergeant said he was sorry, but they were too late. The officer told him the crew had pulled their duty, and he WOULD feed them. So the sergeant went back into the kitchen. A few minutes later, the officer went back to check on the sergeant's progress. There was the mess sergeant, picking hamburger patties out of a garbage can!
Well, that was the end of the sergeant (we thought). He was quickly shipped out and we never saw him again. That is, until maybe a year later when we went to Red Canyon. When we went to the mess hall, there was the sergeant. He was serving food on the chow line. But he wasn't a sergeant any more, he was a PFC....
The second story concerns one of the missile firings I was involved in. I participated in two. For one, I was in the bunker near the missile as it fired. That was a little scary but uneventful, other than the roar, the ground shaking, the stove rattling and dust flying down the escape shaft.
But the second firing was different.
For the second firing, I was in the LCT (Launcher Control Trailer). The LCT was across the road from the missile bunker and up the hillside several hundred feet. This time, we fired at night. There were road guards posted on the road to prevent vehicles from passing through when we went to red alert.
We were in red alert and nearing countdown to launch. Several of us were in the LCT with the door shut. One of the roads guards reported that the other guard was letting vehicles through. The other road guard didn't reply to our calls, so the warrant officer yelled, "Eichenlaub, get down there and seal off that road!"
I jumped out the front door and ran full-speed down the hill. After being in the lighted trailer, it seemed to be pitch black outside. I could see nothing, but down the hill I went. And it was going pretty well, until I got to the road.
Well, almost to the road. I had forgotten that there was a drainage ditch next to the road. It seemed like I was flying for a second or two. Then I hit the other side of the ditch. I laid there for a few seconds, taking inventory of my moving parts. Then I started crawling up toward the road, yelling for the missing road guard. I heard him yell something back. And then the world came to an end.
At least it seemed so. The missile launched, maybe a couple hundred feet away from me. The roar was enough, but in the darkness it seemed like the whole world was on fire. I got to my feet and watched the missile.
I had seen several Nikes blast off from a distance (in daylight). When the booster separated from the missile, try as I might, my eyes always followed the booster back down. I could never keep sight of the missile.
But on this night, I watched the booster come ALL THE WAY back down. And it was headed straight for me. You know those pictures where the eyes follow you all around the room? That's the way it was with me. I was running around in circles like a cornered rat, but that ball of fire was going to fall on my head. It finally did hit the ground, maybe a hundred feet from me.
I walked over and was watching the remains of the booster burn, when my lost friend came up and said, "Don't try to put that out, that's magnesium." Yeah, right. Like I was gonna try that, just after recovering from the certainty that I was gonna die....
My memory is not as good as it used to be. I've forgotten a lot of things over the years. But I'll never forget my night with the Nike booster.
I'll send some more stuff later.
What the world didn't know ...
We had no idea that if, in the
event we were not able to blow up missiles that we couldn't launch,
our Air Force would do it for us thus leaving us with our field gear,
an M-14 and ammo to fight who? Defend what? We had 11 nukes per
section, 3 sections to a firing battery or team if you will. I shiver
at the thought of what could have happened and at times nearly did
happen. If you add up all the fire power there was in Europe,..... MY
GOD.....
And we worked each day, many times under manned, and so dependent on
our host nation for support. Lots of times, guys would go off the
deep end, go out and get drunk, I mean drunk, cry for home, puke their
guts out then wake up the next morning and face the reality. If they
weren't stuck in Germany, it could be the Nam thing. See, a lot of
the guys were US not RA. That means they were drafted. If you were RA
and complaining about being in Germany, hay, you enlisted, you let
someone else think for you!
What the heck, the food was good, we could have our eggs cooked the
way we wanted. living standards were good, and lots of hot water and
we didn't go out into the field. The herc for us wasn't mobile. I
heard stories come out of Turkey where Artillery units did pull field
duty. My brother Frank was Hawk, and he saw plenty of field duty. For
the person reading this who has no idea what field duty was for an
Artillery man, let me just say, " as I understand it, it's kinda like
camping with BIG RV's".......
ED, Great site, and I hope to see lots of others check in who served
under USAREUR and SASCOM during to 60's, those of us who are
left........
Germany - Ajax to Hercules
Germany we had Ajax and herc... In late 65 the Germans took their
Ajax back to Bliss and fired them. On return we were kept busy
training the Germans on assembly of the Herc.
In the warhead building
we, the Americans were busy making ready for the day we were stocked
with Nukes, then all hell broke loose.
2 man rule went into effect,
film badges and pocket docemeters were the order of the day, and we
all became known as custodial agents. We even got the new M-14 issued
to us. The M-1's were retired and I guess were all sent state
side.That was the same year we were told to cut the long sleeves off
our Kaki's. The nex funny looking boots were issued too, no toe like
the conkrins.....
R Rivenburgh
Nike Sites Germany
I was assigned to A 5/6 in Schonburg, Germany from late 70 to mid 73. I
was trained at Ft. Bliss as a Scope dope but when I arrived on site in Germany I
was converted to a launcher rat. Our launchers were all above ground in earthen
mounds that we had to mow the grass on in the summer.
Three BHE rounds were on
the pad in each section(A,B,C, and D) there were an additional seven rounds in
each barn to bring the battery to a total of 40 rounds. The nukes that we had we
of two variations: one was a small nuke warhead and the other type a larger
warhead. In the battery, out of the total rounds 12 were nukes. We were told by
on of the section sergeants that there was enough fire power in one of our sites
in Germany to level all of Europe. there were four such sites in our BN.
Today I
look back and think that I was playing catch with the guys using these warheads
like footballs. We use to have Huey gunships accompany the chopper that brought
us fresh warheads every three months. I am sorry that I am rambling on, but
they were some great memories of Germany in my earlier 30 years of service.
I
visited the site in 2000, but it was turned over to the Germans and the radar is
gone but the mnt, ready bldg, generator bldgs, launchers mounds, and the
barracks are all standing stil fenced in and guarded by German civilian police.
I wanted to take my family in and show them but we were not allowed, so now that
I know that you have a similiar site out in Ca, I will come and visit.
...
Sincerely
Western Electric stories
LOPAR story: In Pittsburgh: An ordinance tech was working with the LOPAR and disconnected the
high voltage line between the BCT and LOPAR. He insisted that it be turned on while he was
holding the cable. The Warrant Officer warned him, but the Ordinance Officer insisted. Suddenly
he became a purple shaft of light. They turned it off immediately, and the Warrant Officer was
scared but unhurt.
Ah - those big cables, and the big cable connectors - I forgot to get pictures of them.
Will do so next time I'm at SF-88 - Thanks for the idea
I was there for the change from analog to digital for the Nike system. It was part of the
upgrade from vacuum tubes to solid state devices. Installation crews took out the analog out
and put in the first military approved mini computer. If it didn’t work, I had to find out
why. Sometimes a wiring problem—one time-if we connected a capacitor on wires leading into the
computer it worked better.
A Little on the Rowdy Side ;-)
Dispatch from a fallen soldier
Post closing unauthorized visits - Nike Site D-51
I read with great interest tonight your very comprehensive history of the Nike Ajax Missile Installations, and I felt compelled to write, and add a little insight and my own personal history involving Site D-51, right in my own backyard, so to speak, here in my hometown, Grosse Ile, Mich.
I have lived here since 1969, when I was barely 8 years old, and incidentally, that was the same year that the Grosse Ile Naval Air Station was officially decommissioned.
For years following, there was virtually no activity at the "Navy Base" as we called it, and little by little every one of the buildings fell rapidly into a state of disrepair. One by one, the buildings burned, fell down, or were demolished. I have quite vivid recollections of "exploring" in these various different buildings throughout the early to mid 1970s.
It was quite the popular hangout for us kids, as one might imagine, and we often were removed from this building or that by the local representatives of the Grosse Ile Police!!!
The "Nike Site" was always a mystery to me as a kid, and my father only referred to the (now as I have learned it is called) the "IFC" center, which was on Groh Rd, and all that remained then was the large concrete platforms. This was what i thought, all there was to the Nike Site. It was 1980 or shortly thereafter when a few friends asked us to go "exploring" with them, down in the abandoned missile silos. I was quite intrigued by this, and went along for the ride. Of course, this was done in the dark of night, as not to bring attention to our presence, as the former Grosse Ile NAS had been converted to the Grosse Ile Municipal Airport by the mid seventies, and there was still sporadic light plane traffic on the runways at all hours. We also knew we could get ourselves into quite a predicament with the law if caught, because this was federal property, and we were most definitely trespassing.
I still remember parking our vehicles at the Elba Mar Boat Club, on East River Rd, basically directly across from an access gate into the Nike Silo installations. We would sneak across the road, through the ditch line, and sneak under the gate to gain access. After a short walk to the west and south, we would come into a basically open area, with three large and completely separate installations. There were three large diamond plate steel doors, possibly 30 ft long by 8 ft. wide. These doors were split down the middle, and obviously were both dropped downward by hydraulic rams. There were also three large raised berms (asphalted) with three large spring loaded double doors (6' x 6') angled upwards at maybe a 15 to 20 degree angle. These three identical doors, I gathered were the main personnel entrances into each installation. The interesting thing about these doors were that they were heavily (rubber) gasketed as to seal, and heavily spring loaded to shut automatically, and each door was marked with the "conelrad" "Fallout Shelter" insignia, and painted yellow and black.
These doors had been hastily welded shut several years before, so no access was possible here. We found access to the western most installation through the "escape hatchway" as i have now learned it was called. This was a large metal tube ladder vertically mounted inside in a tall (30 to 40 ft deep) boxed concrete enclosure, with another smaller steel spring loaded hatch cover, possibly 3' x 3'. Someone had either broken the welds, or possibly jimmied this hatch cover off, making access possible for us. I distinctly remember descending down this ladder to what seemed forever, and finding that my small flashlight was very inadequate for the job. Also, it was so dark, damp, and musty smelling, almost overcoming us. There seemed to be 2 to 3 inches of water on the floor, with a permeation of red hydraulic fluid blobs everywhere floating around.. I don't think we went too much farther that first visit....re-thinking that we had better prepare ourselves for a real expedition in the near future.
It must have been very shortly thereafter that we once again trekked down to the "Nike Site", this time armed with hip waders, Coleman Lanterns, and other accessories....I am imagining that a few six packs of some cold brewed beverage may have found its way into our knapsacks too!!!
The trip back through the woods, and into the site was again, uneventful, as we were not seen by anyone, and we began our descent down into this dark abyss.
As a footnote, I could kick myself roundly, and repeatedly for not taking a camera, for these sights were truly fascinating to many. But as a young "punk kid", I suppose documentation was not too high on my list of priorities at this time.
Anyways, i remember exploring the three or four various rooms down in this western most installation, and was just fascinated by what i was seeing. The "platform" used for transporting these Nike Ajax Missiles to the surface was removed from over it's "pit", and was laying diagonally, on it's side in the western cormer of the largest or "main room" Because of the couple inches of water and hydraulic fluid on the floor, I was not aware that there was a rather large, and deep "pit" that was right in front of me where this platform would have normally sat. I took one step too many, and at the very last second, my friend grabbed me by the back of my coat, and stopped me just before I tumbled right into this watery mucky pool. needless to say, we all walked a little more cautiously after that!!
There was a sign stenciled on the cinder block walls just to the immediate south of this "pit" that reminded the servicemen or "technicians" (??) to "Make sure JATO fins are not extending over platform before raising platform to surface" This intrigued us greatly, as to just exactly what the hell was a "JATO" fin?????? I asked around shortly thereafter (remember this was loooong before "Google" :^P ) I found out that JATO stood for "Jet Assisted Take Off"..... (how cool, we thought!!). There was also a three buttoned control station electrical box laying on its side next to this pit, and it said "Raise" "Stop" and "Lower"....obviously for the operation of said platform.
From underneath, you could easily see the several hydraulic cylinders used for opening and closing these huge long steel access hatches. Obviously a hydraulic fluid storage tank, had ruptured, or the rams had blown their seals, or something of this nature, because there was quite an abundance of hydraulic fluid floating around on top of this water.
Immediately to the east of this largest room was a long conventional type stairway, leading to the surface, and these aforementioned spring loaded gasketed personnel access doors were located there. I am assuming this was the main access-- ingress and egress for Navy Personnel. There was even a conventional bannister and hand rails leading up to the ground level. East from this stairway, I vaguely remember was either one or two smaller rooms, I am recollecting this may have been filled with ventilation type machinery, or filtration devices, or equipment of this general nature. I also vaguely remember a "locker room" of sorts somewhere down there. The walls were still painted white, and were all in near pristine shape, considering this was around 1980 to 1982, and these installations had been basically abandoned, and decommissioned as i was told in the fall of 1962. Matter of fact, I still have somewhere around my junk collections, a couple of the large red glass light bulb covers and aluminum protective screw on covers that I "absconded" with back in the day. One of us from the old gang may still have the three button "Control Box" for the raising of the platform. It had been disconnected, and was laying on it's side, and one of the guys grabbed it.
I think we must have visited this particular silo three or four times, and unfortunately, word spread to a few of the less careful people we knew, and before we knew it, some of the "stoners" and "burnouts" from the island were partying down there, and being less than discreet about their treks back there. Before we knew it, these guys got busted by the Grosse Ile Police for trespassing, and it even made the front page of the local GI paper. These idiots had the guts (or the stupidity) to just drive their vehicles right down the (active) runways at night, and drive right into the Nike Ajax site, just like they owned the place!!!! Pretty soon, some of the maintenance guys from the Grosse Ile DPW came down, and welded all the access doors shut.
I remember going down there at least one more time after that, as the challenge of welded doors was too much for a couple of the more innovative gentlemen whom i made acquaintances with.... (?????) and one rather resourceful fellow brought down a mini cutting torch one day, and unceremoniously just cut the piss poor welds, and voila!! we were "back in bidness"
I remember that the middle and the eastern Nike installations of the three were inaccessible, as one was full right to the surface with water, and the other one (middle, i believe) had about 5 ft of water in it. Needless to say, we never did venture down any farther than the bottom of the escape hatch ladder on that one.
I am thinking that this was probably the last time I ever ventured down into the "D-51" Nike site. I can still distinctly remember that acrid musty smell, and the chill in the damp air down there. The entire compound and all the "out buildings" were still intact in those days, and I believe the Grosse Ile DPW used one of the storage or maintenance garages on the immediate site for storage of snow removal equipment.
I was witness to the abrupt demolition of this entire compond about 1992 or thereabouts. I was told by a past director of the Grosse Ile Airport Commission that Federal Monies had been allocated to completely remove, and remediate this former Nike Site. I remember that whole summer the large tanker trucks that hauled away all the water, and contaminated sludge from those three pits. I was told that every trace, above, and below ground was removed, and all filled in with clean brown clay, and seeded over. This area is now deeded to the "Grosse Ile Nature Land Conservancy" or some similar horsepucky. .....me myself, I would have much rather seen some kind of remedial restoration to the site somehow, and it be preserved for future generations to see. The cold war days of the fifties and sixties are certainly a harsh reminder of just what might have been if one country or another had a hair trigger finger on the "button".
It is amazing, the lack of documented information on this site "D-51" down at the Grosse Ile Township Hall. A couple of the old farts that were there back in the day are kind of foggy about the whole place. I am wondering how secretive this whole program was back in the day. If indeed this was kind of a "hush-hush" installation, to keep prying eyes away. Maybe this is why not many islanders really know the story of the missiles that were virtually right in their own backyard.
Anyways, i hope i haven't bored you to tears with my recollections tonight, it is indeed fun to recall those days so long ago.
Feel free to write back anytime.... I would enjoy the conversation.
Scott C. Anderson
Colonel Mendheim, of Red Canyon Range Camp
Bat Guano - from J. P. Moore October 2006
I'm sending the WSMR Gift Shop copies of my book, The Malpais Missiles, next week. Please check back with them in about a week.
I did explore a cave located on the western edge of the Carrizozo Malpais several times (55-57), although I don't think it had a name back then. Maybe Craven was the name of the old sourdough hermit who had a small ranch abutting the west side of the Malpais? Or was it Prather? Been too long to remember. Whatever his name, he is the one who told me where the cave was.
We soldiers were not supposed to go there, which meant we all did,of course. I got lost inside it once, scared the hell out of me before I got out. I've heard stories of a GI truck being accidentally driven into the deep opening. Which, by the way, was rattlesnake headquarters on a hot day.
After listening to me tell of the cave and its rooms deep with guano, our Nike site Warrant Officer secretly dispatched me and a couple of buddies to the cave with several canvas sandbags to fill with guano. He took the guano to Soccorro for assay of nitrogen content, hoping to be able to sell large quantites and planning to have it mined for free by us peons. Luckily for us it assayed very low grade because it was old and too dry. Project Bat Guano never saw daylight, thank goodness.
In my book, First Sergeant Johnnie Nale of Red Canyon Range Camp (RCRC) tells of exploring a cave at the Malpais which had running water in it. I am sure there was no water in the one I explored extensively....it was dry as a bone. Unfortunately Johnnie died a few years ago, so he can't help on this story.
I am sending this message to several RCRC and Oscura Range Camp (ORC) vets as a BCC. I'm sure some will be able to tell you more about the cave(s).
Please let me know what else you learn about the cave.
Attn: RCRC/ORC vets, please make me BCC on any cave stories sent to Craig. I was fascinated by the place.
Best wishes,
Round Engines
Hurry up and wait - oops, outa here!
- from Paul Koko July 2006
Here, in a nutshell, is my military history.
I was drafted in August 1963 and started basic at Ft. Knox, KY in Sep
1963. After Basic, I was sent to Ft. Belvoir VA for "Engineer Missile
Equipment Maintenance" School. We were in a class when the news of the
Kennedy Assassination was sent down. We weren't told what had happened,
only to report back to our units immediately. Back in the Barracks, we
were issued full battle-dress, and the then brand new M-14 rifles and
told to be out in formation in 10-minutes. Once there, we were told
that there had been an attempt on the President, and we were to be
stationed in a defensive perimeter around Washington. We stood in
formation for about an hour, waiting for the trucks to show up. About
the same time the trucks arrived, the C.O. came out to tell us the alert
had been canceled, and to stand down. We then learned that Kennedy was
dead. By that evening, we all had passes, and headed in to D.C. proper
for what turned out to be a very long weekend. I was in the crowd
outside the White House gates when the hearse arrived bringing his body
back to the White House.
Following the completion of our AIT, I received orders to USARYIS, and
departed for the west coast. After spending two weeks milling around
the Oakland Army Terminal, I finally received orders for Okinawa, and
lucked out on a Transport Plane instead of the old troop ship, the
Gaffney. Upon arrival in Okinawa, I reported to the transient barracks
at Kadena, and found that I still had to wait for the rest of the
company to arrive by ship (about two weeks later).
During that time I
had processed through the various levels of beurocracy at 30th Brigade,
and a personnel officer, after reviewing my records asked me "Can you
type?", I said yes, and he had me tested. I guess I did OK, as the next
thing I knew, I had been assigned a temporary MOS of 716, and was
assigned to C-Battery, 1st Missile Battalion (N-H), 65th Artillery
Regiment. The 1st Sgt. took me under his wing, and had me work with his
current clerk, Sp4 Angel Carbajal who showed me the ropes. Within a
month, Angel was gone, back to ARADCOM, and I was promoted to PFC as the
Battery Clerk. Within a few months, a second man joined us, Sp4 Sam T.
Johnson and we shared the duties in the Orderly Room.
Life at site-7 was no picnic, but it wasn't too bad either. There was
the unfinished Swimming Pool which never held a drop of water, as there
was a water shortage on the island, and the filtration equipment was
surplus and was all rusted and corroded. We tried for months to restore
it, but it was hopeless. The pool was used for dead storage. Having
the Hq of the 65th Artillery Brigade on Site, meant there was more spit
& polish than usual at a Nike-Hercules site, but having a Great
Chef/Mess Sergeant, an EM club, an AAF/MPS theater (which I later
managed), etc all made life more pleasant. It was at Site-7 that I
first discovered that the Phil Silvers character "Sgt. Bilko", was for
real! I could tell some great stories about some of those men, Bilko's
exploits didn't even come close to reality.
The C.G. at Brigade was great for parades and ceremonies, every Friday
Afternoon, there was a formal Dress Parade & Retreat Ceremony held at
Brigade HQ, and the duty roster passed among the 4 N-H sites. Being a
clerk meant that you were non-critical personnel, so I ended up in
dozens of those parades, by this time I had made SP4. Our Qualification
firing at Bolo Point was a rousing success, C-Battery had a perfect
score that year (1965), and I was able to take some great 8-mm color
movies of our launches and strikes..
By August 1965, it was evident
that things were heating up in Vietnam, and the recruiters were
canvassing the sites for volunteers to go to 'Nam. A friend at Brigade
HQ, saw to it that my (and his) rotation orders were processed on time,
and we returned to the USA on the very day that Pres. Johnson issued an
order extending all active duty enlistments in the Pacific Theater for a
minimum of 6-months. It took another week and a half to process out of
Oakland, and I spent the rest of my time in the Active and then Ready
Reserves. I was Honorably Discharged in September 1969.
Setting up C-41, and my 50 year old secret goof
- from Ed Thelen July 2006
The mobility implied that everything came on wheels or could be loaded on to
and off of normal sized trucks with reasonable cranes. Our Nike site,
C-41 traveled from El Paso, Tx to Chicago on flat bed rail cars. I presume
the wheeled vans and equipment held down by straps or chains.
Contractors?? or Ordinance? or ... offloaded the flat bed rail cars
and got the mobile Nike equipment to C-41 (Jackson Park) for us to deal with.
And there was a contractor with a crane on site to help unwheel things.
All the concrete for the antenna pads, vans, and a "ready building"
was already in place when we arrived.
Basically we supervised and did the grunt work (cables and all)
and the contractor handled the crane to off load the tracking
antennas and vans (Battery Control van, Radar van, Maintenance van) from various wheeled contraptions.
The inter-area cable was buried/entrenched by a guy with the first rotary trencher I had ever seen.
I presume the same basic plan was in effect in the launcher area.
The wheeled contraptions were to go to Ft. Sheridan (north of Chicago)
for storage or re-use moving other Nike systems.
Green Horn me was sent to supervise the convoy from the
IFC area. Some of the truck savvy troops drove,
and had fun turning the ignitions ON and OFF
to make the trucks "backfire" - explode unburned
gas and air in the exhaust systems.
We were tooling along Chicago's Outer Drive when we came
to a low bridge. I said "I think this will be no problem."
That street smart Chicago gangster type who suggested that I check anyway saved my butt.
"D K" relates a related reverse story:
The "Secret?" Shoulder Patch?
I was assigned to A Team, 509th USA Arty Det NH, Handorf, Germany in 1970 after
a stint at C Btry, 4 BN, 65th Arty, Los Angeles.
At the time I arrived in Germany, the Army had just changed the shoulder insignia
from the US Army Europe Path (Rainbow over sword) to the new SASCOM (Special
Ammunition Support Command with emphasis on "Special") patch. The new patch
was even featured with other new Army insignia on the cover of the Army Digest.
The Command was so impressed with their new insignia that they had all of us
memorize and recite the hearldry that made up the thing, "...Blue and white
are the NATO colors, the red is for artillery, the starburst represents a high-trajectory
round piercing the stratosphere, while the white represents a mushroom cloud..."
and so on. We were all running around practicing this thing until the brass
figured out that the description of the patch was classified "Confidential"
at the lowest and probably at least "Secret!" They quickly collected all of
the printed descriptions and told us not to talk about the patch!
Tim Smith
After a long and frequently frustrating life, I have come the the conclusion that
I spent a career trying to fix flawed hardware and to make flawed software
from flawed specifications and ... ;-))
and puppy dogs aren't so perfect either.
Cheers - Ed Thelen -- ed@ed-thelen.org
Red Canyon Range Camp's Grassy Knoll
from J.P. Moore April 2006
I had left the army by then, but heard stories about the Lt. stepping on Battalion Cmdr. Lt. Col. McCarthy's toes once too often. Fed up, the Col. assigned the Lt. as groundskeeper of a small, maybe 20' X 20' patch of green grass near the Camp HQ. This was the only green grass in the Tularosa Basin, possibly the entire state of New Mexico, and it required constant watering, care and prayer by the Lt.
Today I had an e-mail from RCRC Vet, Lt. (then) Spivey, giving some details on the special assignment. Not sure if No Gal is Nogales, TX or where.
GRC-19 Radio Sets - Radio Amateur patch to folks?
from John Litzendraht January 2006
I told
our platoon leader that I could rig it up for amateur radio
communications, and maybe patch the guys to folks back home. He
eventually went to HQ and came back with the proper forms to fill out,
but by that time I was so short, that I had to stand on the curb to
lace my boots. And I lost interest in the whole project.
Were GRC-19's standard issue for all Nike sites, or just over seas? Or
just in Korea?
Another - did it Just Happen?
from Richard "Max" Vickroy December 2005
Kind of strange that I later ended up in the military working on
HERC system. I was a 24Q NIKE Radar System Repairman. In the Air Force, the
Tech's. are called Tech's and they get electronic equipment repair kits. We
were repairmen, we got hammers, monkey wrenches, etc. I guesse it's better
than MP, which is what I was enlisting for. The recruiter refused to allow
me to go that way, though, because I scored too high on my GT test.
I got
one of the last two NIKE school slots left in the Army. Oddly enough, the
guy who got the last one was in my Basic class with me. We (read I as he was
a Generals son) took a lot of flak from the DI's as all the rest of our
Basic company were headed for Benning and airborne training. I was in the
last American class at Ft. Bliss. They were in the process of closing the
U.S. side and only running foriegn classes thru Solid State NIKE systems
training. We were on a modified (chaotic) training schedule, classes
starting at 0700 to 1200, back at 1900 to 0300, back at 1200 to 1800, etc.
54 weeks of that-it's where I learned to fall asleep standing up or right in
the middle of system checks.
Did You Enlist for Nike Herc, or did it Just Happen?
Still in the Reception station at Ft. Polk, even before BCT [Basic Combat Training]. Head
shaved, scared to pieces, I had no idea of what was happening. Some how
the powers to be convinced me that if I would re-enlist for another
year, and get Stateside schooling, I would have a better Army
experience. I fell for it.
They showed me a list of maybe 8 or 10 various schools to choose from.
Some titles made no sense at all. Something about cryptographics,
en-coding, finance, and other things.
But one stood out: "Air Defense Acquistion Radars Maintenance".
But mostly it was that I lived in Texas, near Dallas, and this was a 40
week course at Ft. Bliss Texas . Never heard of Ft. Bliss, but being in
Texas, I knew at the worst, it couldn't be more than six or eight
hundred miles away from home. Very comforting in those days.
So that's how I became a 24P2H Nike Herc Acq maintenance screwball. I
later learned to become a mis-fit as well.
Hey, three years with an honorable discharge, and a letter of
commendation from my warrant offficer at my last duty station, I think
I did ok.
BrownOut
from Charlie Brough
"Brown out." By Charlie Brough Copy right 03/07/05 5263 words
Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Fire! Missile Away! Nine, highly trained
technicians in the two, Integrated Fire Control Vans, Battery Control and Radar Control,
monitored their radar screens intently while following the path of the Missile to its
intended destination. A computerized point in space.
After several minutes came the count down to burst from the
Battery Commander, "Five, four, three, two, one, burst! Right on Target,
zero miss distance." After letting out an audible sigh of relief, the Captain
announced, "Good job Men. We’ll party tonight."
Several days earlier the men from both the Integrated Fire Control
and Launcher Area had received the call to go to SNAP, Short Notice Annual Practice.
The following day, an inspection team from 6th region had conducted an Operational
Readiness Evaluation. Both the Integrated Fire Control and the Launcher Area troops
had passed the inspection, one hundred percent operational. By Saturday night, the
Missile Unit had been air lifted to Ft. Bliss Texas, where they were met and bussed
to temporary billeting at McGregor Range New Mexico.
Starting first thing Monday morning there was the weekly checks
and adjustments of the whole system, with a practice shoot that same afternoon.
Tuesday was a daily checks and adjustments followed by a readiness evaluation.
Both days went without a hitch. The entire Missile Unit was very well trained and
ready to prove their expertise. The successful firing with a live missile had been
conducted, early, Wednesday afternoon. That evening as the Captain promised
there was to be a grand party at the McGregor Range NCO Club.
That day had been extremely stressful for each and every man on
the team. The beer and hard liqueur relaxed the men and had some talking about
their passed exploits across the border in Juarez Mexico.
Gordon Latreau, having celebrated in Juarez before, sat his drink
down, and said, "Hey Brad, tomorrow night, how about coming with me and I’ll
show you around Juarez." Laughing then, he added, "If you’re on a tight budget,
you can always get a toothless old woman to give you a blowjob for twenty-five cents."
"I don’t know Gordon? I want to see Juarez, but I think I’ll
leave the toothless blowjobs for you. How many trips have you made down there?"
"This will be my third time. No one should ever go by themselves, a group
of four is about right."
An Artilleryman's Story, or Where is the Lanyard?
I was assigned to Team B, 507th USAAD, 5th USAAG, from September 1974
to August 1977. I was (am still at heart) an artilleryman. I was
trained in eight inch atomic projectile assembly and use; deployed to
the 85th USAFAD (Pershing missile) in Geilenkirchen (Teveren Air Base),
and almost immediately moved to Team B to fill an officer shortage. I
didn't know which end of the missile went up. Jokingly, I asked where
the lanyard was (a good cannon-cocker question). I was directed to the
top of the intersection between the booster and the main missile body,
whereupon I found the missile motor actuating lanyard. My education had
begun!
Richard Schleffler's account is pretty accurate, except that the TO&E
allowed for 29 people (3 officers, 26 enlisted), and we were staffed at
levels ranging from 18 to 33, never, however, with more than three
officers. For nine months we only had two officers on the kaserne, so
taking leave was impossible (though my team commande did it for a week,
leaving me alone and almost killed me in the process - a buddy came from
Team C to assist for a day so I could go home and sleep).
Team B, 507th WAS Team B, 43rd, but when 9th Wing Missile (Belgian Air
Force) expanded early in the 1970s, it was redesignated. By 1974 it was
B/507th. A/507th was colocated with Headquarters Detachment in
Grefrath. C/507th was about 25 minutes up the road in Kapellen. Team D
was added to the mix in 1975 in Xanten. All of these eventually went
away as Nike came out of the inventory.
Life there was interesting. If you had kids, they rode to school for
an hour or more. Medical support, as well as commissary and PX, was in
Brunssum, Netherlands, an hour away. My second child was born in the
RAF hospital at Rheindahlen Air Base. That was the nearest NATO
hospital. We decided to place our oldest daughter in a German parochial
school. I didn't realize it at the time, but we bumped an 18 month
waiting list because the German's took great pity on our plight and were
glad to see us trying to integrate into their community. As a result,
my daughter's German was flawless - for a four year old!
As with Mr. Scheffler, I never took a photo of the missiles....never
had a camera in the LCA or IFC. That was just not done! I do have a
number of photos of "family" events at the Team building. Life was
sparse, but we made a go of it and we became family.
I was happy to see Jim Duffy's name on the list. He was my NCO
counterpart for a year and taught me much of the code language. We
spent many an evening decoding and authenticating messages as the crew
in Heidelberg seemed to enjoy sending out a new on every 55 mintues at
night - just enough time to get it decoded, return to the team area, and
turn right around and do it again.
Thanks for the great site
And, by the way, Team B, 507th USAAD was located on the road between
the town of Kaster (as you have it listed) and Putz (it was called Site
Putz by the NATO crews). We nicknamed the place Kaputz! It was
appropriate.
Cheers
James R. Koch, LTC, FA (Retired)
Small Unit Flexibility, or HEY ARMY, Here We Are!!
For the most part, custodians were an unknown entity early in 63.
Our duties were to maintain federal custody of Nuclear weapons for the Federal Govt..
We oversaw assembly and maintained custody of the arming plugs for the missiles.
When we were assigned to the sites, there were no mess halls nor were our perdiem allowances on
our pay.
Our sergeant, being resourceful, scrounged the mess halls for any surplus they could spare.
We bought our bread from day old outlets. With a hot plate we cooked whatever our Sergeant
could scrounge for us. Generally eggs, butter, some bread, large sausages like bologna etc.,
(for which we had another expression), cheese, bacon, just anything any mess hall could spare.
Eager Beaver :-))
Great tribute to the Nike vets. Thanks. Please include my short and incomplete
memoir. (Made even shorter and more incomplete by Ed Thelen ;-))
I arrived at the D/4/6 (Balesfeld, Germany) in June, 1966 after an 8-day cruise
aboard the USS Darby. Howard Dennis and I had
both attended 16B school at Ft. Bliss. But when I got to Dog Btry it was rumored
that there was a shortage of 16C's and so he and I became drinking buddies with
the IFC Platoon Sergeant down at Elfi's Gasthaus.
Before long, we were being OJT'ed to 16C. Later we would both score high enough
on the MOS proficiency test to get pro-pay as 16C's. ...
I took an overseas discharge, so I got my walking papers at Spangdahlem
AB. I lived in Germany until August of 1980. Now I'm in Traverse City, MI.
A few names I remember, but haven't contacted [yet]: ... SP4 Gerry Goldberg, Culver City, CA.
Gerry was the IFC parts clerk. He spent a week looking, but he never did find
the fallopian tubes we had him looking for. The good news was that after that,
he knew exactly where everything else was.
Capt. Buckley was a pretty fine officer, as was Lt. Gunter. Both seemed able to
balance discipline with mercy, mission with morale. One night we had to dismantle
the target tracking radar in the middle of a blizzard. It meant removing the lens,
which must have weighed 500 lbs. It took us at least 5 hrs in the snow and ice
and we were all frozen when we finished. Capt. Buckley was with us from start
to finish, and he pitched in when we needed him. It meant a lot to the
rest of us that he was out there freezing with us too.
Jeff Howell
Four Stories - Blizzard, Dog Priority, Friendly Fire, Out-of-Touch
About 0200, I received a call from the dog handler in the launcher area.
His words were: "Sir, I just stepped over the fence." Even though I was
a clueless second lieutenant, I knew the fence was a double eight foot
chainlink barrier with a two foot barbed wire overhang. I could not imagine
how this trooper and his dog has accomplished this Olympian feat.
My inquiry, of course, revealed that the snow aided by the wind had drifted
against both sides of the fences totally covering them. Not having an SOP
for this situation, my CYA mode kicked in even though I knew a Russian attack
was highly unlikely in such miserable conditions. I ordered the dog handler
to secure his dog in the warm kennel, had the lights turned on, and had the
Quick Reaction Force to provide two man one hour patrols until daylight.
The next morning we did get a truck with a blade to clear the snow.
The
Battalion Commander actually came to the site to supervise the removal of the snow.
A few weeks later a guard dog became ill. We called the vet at Camp
Humphreys. Within an hour a helicopter landed on our pad and evacuated
the dog to receive expert medical attention.
All went well until one night, a nervous infantry soldier on the
launcher area perimeter fired a couple of rounds which were directed
toward the IFC area. The IFC infantry thought they were under attack
and returned the fire. Luckily, no one was hurt and no equipment was
destroyed. The incident was quietly dealt with. No harm, no foul.
One night A Btry was on hot status and I was in the BCO seat.
Four MIGS appeared on the scope headed due south above Seoul.
This night they did not turn away at the DMZ. They crossed the
line and headed for Seoul. Foxtrot which was located west of
Seoul about thirty seconds away by jet was screaming on the
tactical line for permission to fire. Permission to fire was denied.
I was locked up, the missiles were raised, and we needed permission
to go to red status. That was denied. The MIGS flew over Seoul and
turned west and out in to the Yellow Sea. I believe they actually crossed over
Foxtrot’s dead zone.
I heard later, true or not, that the general authorized to grant
permission to fire was at a social function and could not be reached.
William H.(Bill) Adams III
Final Training & Life on Site
Nike Ajax--1954-1957; arrived at Detroit Site late Aug/Sept 1955: Batt A, 85th Bn, the
site was about 1 mile "west" of Grosse Pointe, Mich. Bat B was about 1 mile "west"
of us. Both our launch sites were on "eastern" end of Belle Island. The two fire control
sites were right along the shore of the river. I believe you now know where Batteries
C and D were. These 4 Batteries were Package 31 -Detroit formed at the Brigade at
Ft. Bliss, TX in April,1955.
The last half of Package 29 Chicago was formed same time
as well as Package 30--Pittsburgh. Equipment from Western Electric arrived for Batteries
in the same sequence as the Packages---29,30 &31. Package 31 started getting the
sets in June 1955 !
Tests Prior to City Deployments:
" Detroit-Detroit, What A Wonderful Town" ! ! IT really was in the '50's !
B. Summer time in Detroit along the River:
Battery A Personnel- 1955-1957, Limited number
Promotions and Stuff:
Miscellaneous:
Massachusetts Guns
Randy Cabell
Well - I am happy to say that you are in luck.
Warhead Custodial Detachment, French vs Germans - posted October 12, 2004
My first assignment was as XO (Executive
Officer) of the 357th Artillery Detachment in Stetten a.k.m. (A Cold Market
in German) , FRG supporting the French Air Force in 12/1963. While I was
there we spent our time training our warhead teams and taking TPI',s
(Technical Proficiency Inspections for warhead operations) .
Since France
was in the decision process of leaving NATO, they were dragging their feet
with the total deployment of NIKE sites in Germany. There were two 4 battery
battalions and only one 4 Team Artillery Detachment. Not enough to support
fully deployed units. Why is unknown, but maybe the Team and Detachment
facilities weren't provided by the French, so the US didn't provide the
Detachment. The French wouldn't spend the money on the facilities and
equipment needed to pass the inspections or support the Teams.
These detachments had a lot of pressure on them to be outstanding, so every
little thing was a major situation. These officers and enlisted men were
probably some of the finest in the US Army if they were in the original
packages that were trained at Fort Bliss and deployed as a cohesive unit.
However, some were not deployed for various reasons and those slots were
filled after the unit arrived in Germany. The replacements sometimes were
not as top notch, even though they had the qualifications and were in the
reliability program and of course were not 'members of the team'.
I think
the situation with the French was even worse because the frustration level
was so high. Higher HQ wanted us to get the French to provide all the
facilities, equipment, etc. and become proficient enough to pass the TPI/NSI.
That was the Detachment Commander, XO and the Team Commanders daily task,
meet with the French, influence the training schedule and the facility and
equipment situation. So these well trained Teams were becoming more and more
frustrated each day. I am sure the French units wanted to do well, but were
not allowed to by France. A political situation. In fact, I believe the
French units had no idea they were leaving NATO and they were as surprised
as we were when it happened. If you look at the time frames, you will see
that Bottengen passed the inspections, was stocked and almost immediately
thereafter the French left NATO.
I was transferred North in late 1964 and I was the Team Commander of C Team,
42d Artillery Detachment located in Lohne, FRG in 1965-66. The 42d Arty Det
was another matter. High morale and we supported an excellent German Air
Force Battalion and it was a race between us and the German batteries to
pass every inspection and evaluation. The difficult terrain and climate of
Northern Germany where our launching site was sinking was our only downfall.
We were the first units to successfully complete the TPI/NSI (Technical
Proficiency Inspection/ Nuclear Security Inspection) . Our Team was very
good at the TPI and our German Battery passed their portion, the NSI, with
flying colors. After passing, we were stocked with the warheads and the
business of 24/7 began.
Later, we were the first to perform a real NATO
convoy when we had to remove all the warheads to Soergal because our
launching area was sinking. One difference in our set up was we had a
complete cooks section and our people prepared and served three meals a day
and of course when we went on 24/7, a fourth meal at mid-night. We also had
a small beer club in the basement of the building for our troops. We were
also authorized to live in German Military housing which was located in
Deipolz, FRG. All others lived in the Team facility. We had excellent
soldiers and absolutely no disciplinary problems.
Joe
Joseph R Williams
From: Alex Purcell
January 11, 2004
Subject: Nike web site: HA-25
And when pulling targets in the pits at say 100 yards,
the *CRACK* of the supersonic (say mach 4) slugs
going by 6 feet above your head was very unpleasant.
It was much better at 500 yards -
I can't imagine what it was like for the armored infantry
with those big tank guns going off next to you!!!
It isn't that I'm a super whimp with guns.
I grew up in a rural community. A nice weekend
activity was to take my 22 rifle up or down the
local river and shoot much too much. I regarded
myself as reasonably accurate "offhand" with a 22 rifle
or pistol. But military weapons were something else
BatMan ???
from Richard Turner
Wouldn't
you know it....an ORI team hit the unit and during the wring out of the radar,
our computer operator pulled the plotting board paper out to have a clean board
and lo and behold...BATMAN.
I was called on the carpet for that little escapade.
I was known for this kindof thing however and I think everyone had a laugh, perhaps in secret later on.
This happened on Site 61 Vashon Island Washington State probably about 1970 or so.
'Friendly' North Korea
We were on the coast just below Inchon on White Tigar Mountain (Camp Sarafi)
Sak Son Ni and the North Koreans had a bad habit of coming in at night to
assassinate the local politician or anyone who got in their way.
When they did that, the whole coast line would be as bright as day with all
the flares going off. I was there when the North Koreans shot down the recon
plane (B-47) and we went to Red Alert.
Thanks again!
Menu for Red Canyon Range Camp for Christmas 1957
If you were at Red Canyon Range Camp for Christmas 1957, you probably
received one of these special mess hall menus, personally signed by Lt.
Colonel John J. McCarthy. He was so proud of his troops that he signed
every single menu.
Menu courtesy of Mary Elliot, daughter of Lt. Col. McCarthy, who sends best
wishes to you this Christmas of 2002.
Wishing each of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
JP Moore
The Big E at SF 88 IFC
from Eshleman, John
The "E" wasn't just large, it was very large and thick. I ask SFC
Herrin (Maint Sgt) "What's with the big E parking space?" The reply,
"Chief, that's your parking space, you're the only Big "E" in this IFC."
In the painting process, the paint can was sitting in the middle of a
parking space when one of the troops kicked the paint can over and paint
was running. Another troop grabbed a paint brush and directed the flow
of the spill into the letter E
I visited SF88 in Oct of '86 and was bearly able to drive up to the IFC
and sure enough, some one had painted the big E over with black (tar)
paint, but big as the nose on your face, the "Big E" was still there.
Should they ever reactivate that NIKE site, I will always be there.
They came into our building to get water and when they came out, the 3
prisoners made a break and scattered. The guard yelled, 'HALT". They kept
on running. We all just kinda stood there not believing what we were seeing.
He yelled, "HALT" again and the third time he leveled his carbine and killed
one of the prisoners. The other 2 stopped and were gathered up by a few of
us gawkers. I still can't imagine that they thought they were really going
to escape.
I was stationed at Jacobsville [BA-43]C36th the summer of 1956. One day I was assigned to
take two men and go to the ships store at Annapolis to pick up surplus material for
construction of a PX
.I and the two met a Navy Chief who directed use to the material we were to receive .
One of the men I took with me noticed several old canon in the yard and asked
the Chief if he could have one and the answer was that of course a strong no way .
Well it seems that when no one was looking one canon was loaded on the Deuce
and a Half and covered and we left with material plus a canon.
As we neared Jacobsville we dropped the canon on a field to be retrieved later.
Sometime later one Saturday morning the Company Commander called me
and told me to get the truck and some men and report to the orderly room.
When we arrived at the orderly room we met with the company commander
and were advised that a farmer had found the canon in his field and we were
to go with the farmer and retrieve it.
Well to shorten this story a mount was made and it was placed outside the orderly room
by the flag pole and there it remained. The men that went with me were the ones who
loaded the canon that day at the ship yard. I have often wondered about that canon
and where it ended up. Needles to say I had visions of repercussions for a long time after.
SAC Perspective
We were just a small SAC
detachment of about 50 men. Our equipment at the RBS sites across the
nation was very similar to your NIKE Ajax and Hercules. We had a
trailer (MSQ-1) with a computerized X-Y plotting board in it, along with
the radio communications for communicating with aircraft using the the
bomb plot - assigning bomb release times, taking crew info and bomb run
information (type, ECM activity, post-release maneuvers, IP inbound, 50
mile call, 25 mile call, bomb release tone, and then transmitting the
encoded bomb run and ECM scores).
There was a separate ECM trailer, and the automatic tracking radar
(MPS-9). This was very similar to what the Army had, so since the Air
Force needed fresh targets provided by larger cities (surrounded by NIKE
sites), and the Army needed live "targets" for practice, the two
branches got together............and we got TDY assignments in our
assigned cities of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit to do the training
and handle the communications - at first.
I can share with you now, Ed, that in my experience, had our bombers
been from Russia, they would have walked right through us in the
beginning. We knew the azimuth, altitude, and bomb release times, and
we had so many "aborts" that the Army was embarrassed, and we got our
asses kicked by the Air Force for not doing a better job of training.
Eventually, we got it worked out.
I noticed a big difference in how the Army functioned during these bomb
runs and how we in the AF functioned. The Army was much more "by the
numbers" and more rigid in how they allowed their men to operate. We
were all cross-trained and could do all jobs, plus maintain the
equipment. Once they let the men use their heads a little more, they
did much better. But until then, they were more robotic in their
assignments. This is not mentioned as a slur against those Army
personnel, just our observation.
My son, Jeff, was born while I was on assignment in La Porte, Ind (or
near there, anyway) at a NIKE site. It was the furthest from my home
town, Woodstock, Illinois, where my wife was in the hospital. I arrived
after the birth. She was NOT happy.
I really enjoyed working with the Army guys during those 3 month
assignments. The father of one of the guys was a Vice-President at
Magnavox at an Illinois plant. I got a job interview with him when I
got out, but ended up working for Sundstrand Aviation in Rockford,
Illinois on the XB-70 supersonic bomber (the Concorde equivalent), then
went to college, graduated, went to work for IBM as an engineer, and now
I'm retired. But those years in RBS and working with the Army will
always be important years for me. Ain't it always that way, huh?
...
Regards,
Happy Ramblings
I assume all US units that had Missile Masters had a FUIF system installed. The reasoning was to
control which battery was targeting which target(s) within the range of all the Nike sites. As an example,
the Missile Master in Omaha was operated by the Air Force who operated the radar at Missile Master
used to identify all flying aircraft. Target information from Missile Master was sent via phone lines to
each battery FUIF system, allowing selective targeting, i.e., avoiding two or more missile sites locking
on and firing at the same target(s). I'm not sure when FUIF equipment was 1st installed at sites...I do
know the system I worked on was there in 1961.
I did visit the "Blue Room" in the Missile Master in Omaha...it was blue or had a blue lighting cast over
it and was big, many displays, large plotting boards, a big computer room.
Looking at my orders for the FUIF training at Pedricktown, NJ I notice several others attended, looks like
two people for each site in the Philadelphia area...but I never did run into anyone else who was trained
to fix FUIF, at least Army people.
Oh, also I remember during the Cuban Missile Crisis while stationed at Swedesboro, NJ, the Army had
Juliet Prowse visit the site. We all went to the mess hall, they handed out those sample pack of cigarettes
to us. I assume this was for a morale builder. Yes, she was good looking!....I think at the time she was
going with Frank Sinatra.
Another time the Battery Commander loaded us in an Army bus, took us to the Jersey shore, we went
clamming (sic). A
I was stationed at red canyon from june or july 1959 to 28 nov 1959....I worked as a construction machine mechanic mos 621.10...in the engineer shop for sgt campbell...I remember sgt sidel and nike the burro...
Hello Ed Thelen
Thanks
Bill Shaw - ex SP6 radar and computer techy
I have a couple of stories about Red Canyon.
We were sitting on enough nukes to turn the world into a cinder. For
the most part, had we launched our missiles there wouldn't be enough
remaining to worry about fighting for.
- Ed responds -
Yes - the world was/is a dangerous place !!
with no change in sight - even/especially the U.N. is a mess.
It would seem nice if the
Stalins, tigers, rattlesnakes, microbes, typhoons, ...
would let "the rest of us" be -
But that does not seem to be the way the world works. :-((
Even chickens, cows, crows want to compete/boss/eat-other-things.
Even plants crowd up to catch more sunlight than the other plant.
Even stars gobble stuff up, and explode.
Bumber !!
I was plenty worried with non-nuke Ajax in Chicago -
I notice that old folks tend to lose their optimism -
Wife and I are getting older :-|
The world seems both savage and the wonderful
The suicide bombers and the Internet
Seems to have been this way for at least 300 million years -
Some strange little fossils now regarded as hard parts of early predators.
A tired cheer
Ed Thelen
Boy, now you do make me feel old....
Hi Ed:
My name is Larry Sheesley and I worked with LTC Randy McConnnell who lives
near the site in Washington State. I served with him in the 3D COSCOM for
several years. We were both in Germany for several years, he was in Fa and I was
in ADA.
Larry Sheesley
SFC, USA, Retired
as told to his daughter - his eyes
from Hugo L. Klee Febuary 2007
Dear Ed,
Please allow me to give you an update of my experiences at the Marlton site.
We had taken package training at Ft. Bliss in 1953-54. We were package 8,
which was to convert units in the Phila. defense, from 90 MM, to Ajax.
We were stationed at a temporary site at Ft. Dix waiting for construction
completion. We finally moved to our home. My routine was blessed with
guard duty, KP, and manning the radars. I was an operator trained on all
aspects. We held our own with ORE's etc.
We had two Lt's, Boudrie and Brimberry. The latter being from Texas A&M.
He told me to never ask an officer for a cigarette light. A real dork.
We were cutting up in the barracks after lights out, and in the dark queried
"who was making all the noise'? One of the guys, Absher by name, from NM,
told the darkness voice to go get ---------.
The Lt fell us all out in the snow, and marched us to the LCA.
When we got back, no one would tell him who had cussed him,
so he took all of our passes.
Next morning 1st Sgt Stanley told him to keep his hands off the
pass box, and we could go out again. The platoon Sgt, Botticher and I
fed the A&M Lts dog exlax, and paid him back in full. We last saw him
chasing the dog toward the LCA.
In 1956, My time was up, I was an SP-3, and left the military.
As I left the unit, the guys bade me farewell,
with all middle fingers extended, all in fun.
I came back in 2 weeks, Lt Boudrie had picked me up at the Phila train station.
I was met with extended middle fingers, once again all in fun,
but now they knew I was crazy.
I always showed an interest in electronics, was always bugging the maint.
personnel with questions like, what is the purpose of a computer differentiator
scale factor test, How does an AFC work etc. I got promoted to Staff Sgt,
and went to Maint school. I had now decided to make the Army a career,
and tried to keep my act together.
We had an RU worker on site named Pearly Morris, an ex policeman
in Newfoundland. He helped get my butt out of trouble with the
local police magistrate, as did the local red cross lady.
I think I went through Marlton >100 MPH. Got off with a $25 fine.
Any more would have squelshed my WO application.
I can remember the CO sending me to Riker's Island to return an awol to Marlton.
Quite an adventure. Staff car, train, subway then ferry, pick him up, then return.
A few names I remember were Hegler, Joe Moretti, Absher and Joe Enwright.
Pop Becker always got us up, he was a great M/sgt, and leader, as well as
Chief FC mechanic. Would you believe that we worked together at the Pitman
site, and I outranked him. Needless to say that never came to pass with me
telling him to do anything. He was my mentor, rank be dammed.
One funny thing I remember was this, I was on KP, as an E-4. Would always ask for
pots and pans. A cook decided to punish me for reasons unknown, and had
me clean the grease trap with a toothbrush. As this was taking place he
decided to drop an evaporated milk can in the muck. After cleaning off my
face, I grabbed a meat cleaver and chased him to the orderly room, where
he cowered behind the 1st Sgt. My explanation was sufficient, and top
took me off the KP roster, praise the LORD.
My memory is still great, long term.
The RED CROSS lady, named Bagely or Mosely was a boon to the GI's,
with tidbits to eat, dances with the local ladies and many other morale plusses.
Well Ed, just wanted to give you an insiders view of the site. Hope I made
you and others laugh. I am now 71 years of age, and still remember my
couple of years at Marlton.
Respectfully,
Hugo L. Klee
7526 38th Dr. S.E.
Lacey, WA 98503
from Jim Warren January 2007
> Hello Mr. Thelen,
>
> I have a son who is with a signal company in the 4/1 Cav at FOB Marez,
> Mosul, Iraq. I follow the web log in the El Paso Times for first hand news
> and insights by the men and women over there. There is a post on the "blog"
> from 2nd Lt. Mark Daily who lost his life recently. It's quite insightful
> and remarkable considering the young man was only 23 years of age. I
> thought you might like to read it. Here is the link:
>
> http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/longknife/
local copy
>
> My father, on numerous occasions asked me "Did anyone ever tell you, you
> would make a good 2nd Lieutenant?" I always thought this was a derrogatory
> comment but after reading the post on the aforementioned log, I think
> perhaps a 2nd Lieutenant would not be a bad thing to aspire to.
>
> Take Care
> Jim Warren
I have added the URL to near the top of my salute to
folks who risk life and limb ...
Thank you
About 2nd Lieutenants
I hardly ever tell folks, but I too was in the ROTC -
and (justifiably) found wanting at the end of my second year -
I have great sympathy for the difficulties of 2nd Lieutenants
- interesting influence and power
- usually too green to do an optimum job with it
Several years later, as a non-com, I had the opportunity to
help young 2nd Lieutenants get more savvy,
as I too was getting more savvy.
Interesting world
--Ed Thelen
Hello,
Grosse Ile, Michigan
For those of you who met and/or knew this man I hope, I believe, this will kindle
some fond memories. Once in a great while there comes along
a person who, with his, or her, personality, changes your life forever in some way. This was such a person.
____________________________________
Back in those times - it was circa 1957 - I was a lowly Private ( not even a PFC mind you! )
right out of boot camp, as were my closest buddies, so
when "The Cap'n'' showed up in the "Commo Shack" on occasion we'd immediately
snap to attention and sort of stand there in awe as he took over the place.
The Commo Shack, for those of you who never got to see it, was a scrawny
little wooden building perched on the highest hill on base overlooking
the missile firing range and was right next door to the Range Control building
where the officers etc. running operations for the missile launches were
based.
On very rare instances we were paid a surprise visit by "the brass" and
I recall two such instances quite vividly. Almost 50 years have now passed
but I can still close my eyes and be standing in that little building as though it were yesterday.
Those of us who were assigned the duty of running the RCRC telephone switchboard
tended to be slightly less than dedicated military types in make up.
That is, we were in the service to be sure, but we consisted mostly
of draftees who were simply serving our required time and getting by as best
we could without any tremendous amount of enthusiasm. We were in the
Signal Corps mind you which, at Red Canyon, was almost like not being in the
military at all. We pulled no duties; no KP, no formal inspections, no
drills, parades etc., had our own new pickup truck, and were pretty much on
our own as long as we worked the long, tedious hours required to man the "board"
which, in turn, kept communications on the base humming and maintained all
contact with the outside world twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
Things,
as was usual, went suddenly quiet; all was normal, we thought...
Well, all of a sudden we hear boots pounding on the wooden steps that led
up to the shack door and Cap'n Mendheim crashes through the door screaming
"GET OUT- GET OUT! RUN! GET OUT! - IT'S COMING STRAIGHT DOWN!!"
and he turns and takes off for who knows where, like a Rhino in full charge!
Well, we didn't have to ask what he meant - we'd just heard the missile roar off,
and so, with absolute terror gripping our hearts, we scrambled out the door,
literally tripping over each other in our panic, and yeah, we ran alright!
- but pretty much in circles - because actually there was really nowhere we
could run to! I mean, as far as we know this deadly thing is
coming straight down out of the beautiful blue New Mexico sky and is going to hit
- where? We have no idea - nobody does - so we just sort of dance around
out there on the hill top and ----- nothing happens!
We look up, we look at each other, and we hold our breaths. ---- Nothing!
---- The minutes tick by - still nothing... It must have either been
a dud or got lost up there or something. I have no recollection of the
missile ever landing and certainly not of it exploding and blowing us all straight
to Hell and back. Later, when all the ruckus had finally died down the
Cap'n came back into the shack and explained that they'd successfully fired
the thing and it had somehow suddenly gone completely out of control and, as
far as could be at first determined, it had headed on a straight downward course
that would have taken the entire top off Commo Hill; Range Control, Commo
Shack, Privates, Captains, Colonels and all! And with all that,
( this is what I find amazing to this day ) he thought, not to run off and
save his own tail, but to race over to our building and warn us of the
impending disaster. That took a gutsy guy.
Capt. Mendheim
My first experience with the Captain was on a sizzling hot day when they
were gearing up for a missile launch and things were pretty much going along
as they usually did on any given launch day. The board was extremely
busy, as it invariably was when they were prepping to fire, with phone calls
flying between Range Control, Oscura and all the other critical areas involved
in the operation, so we were totally engrossed in our duties, sealed off in the
small, semi-air conditioned room and, aside from doing our routine
job, bored with it all. We noticed the heavy, distinct, muffled rumble of
a missile being launched in the distance and then not much else.
The other brief time I was exposed to his impressive personality was, again,
at the switchboard, on a similar day when things were beyond frantic.
The board was lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree and we were having
an awful time trying to keep up with the sheer volume of calls. They may have
been firing that day as well, I'm not sure, but I suspect so because it was
non-stop activity and we took turns in the 'hot seat' for as long as we could
handle it, and when we felt it was getting beyond our ability, we would warn the
relief guy to get ready to slide into the chair and clamp
on the headset so there'd be no break in the operation. You had to get a bit
fired up before you were ready to take over because it was plug-in, "operator",
trip the ringer and on to the next call as fast as you could make your hands go.
It literally fried our little draftee brains.
Now, I understand that this isn't on a par with being in a fire fight
in Iraq or anything like that, but they tell me that we handled all communications
between RCRC and pretty much the entire world, so that probably holds some special
minute significance somewhere in the annals of military procedure.
Those of us who ran the switchboard like to think so anyway.
So ok, here we are, racing to keep up with the load and in strolls ( once in a while
he would actually calm down ) Captain Mendheim. ( we knew him simply as "Cap'm-Manhime"
...all one word - I mean that's the way we pronounced his name/title ) He just
walks through the door, kinda John Wayne-like, steps to the board and says "Here,
let me try that thing, I want to see what it's like." And he says "Move over son"
and sits himself in the "hot seat" while we stand around him thinking, "Geeze,
he's gonna blow it - it's running too fast!" and we sure don't want to
miss the show. Well, ( maybe you know what he does already? )
the guy reaches over with both hands and grabs every one of the patch cords
( this is the old fashioned board with pull-out cords, open sockets, toggle ringers etc.
) and he yanks them straight out of the panel! Disconnects every
single connection with one swipe! So now there's nothing but red
lights flashing all over the board! I never saw it lit up so bright
in the shack as at that one time. It was spectacular! Our chins
must have dropped to our polished brass belt buckles and no one knew
quite what to think or how to react. It was ( to me ) like watching a recruit
in boot camp intentionally drop a live grenade on the ground in front of himself
and then look at the Sergeant to see what was going to happen next.
( I did see that )
Does he get flustered? You guys know better than that, right? He sits back and smiles.
SMILES!! And, very slowly, and very methodically he picks up one plug,
slips it into the socket under one flashing light, puts on the headset,
listens a minute and then says in his crisp, quiet, authoritative voice
"This is Captain Mendheim, may I help you? And the light blinks out
- immediately! He proceeds to go right across
the entire board - both banks of lights - one by one by one - and every one
of them goes out - every last one! And then he turns around to us and
with that big handsome smile he says "Heck, this isn't so hard after all" and
he gets up and walks out. So we went from absolute pandemonium
to absolute peace and quiet in the space of maybe ten minutes. Of course,
we were right back to pandemonium in another half hour but we had been
given a memorable lesson in the true value of rank and authority that day. I
never forgot it and if there was any way to convey my thanks to him for making the
long, dry, dreary days at Red Canyon a bit less tedious, I would extend to him
my heartfelt gratitude. Who knows, perhaps, wherever
he is up there, he can take incoming e-mail.. I hope that's the case.
At any rate, that remarkable man, with his inspiring personality and charisma,
gained our respect simply by being himself. We admired
him greatly.
Alan Graham
From Ed Thelen
Hi Craig,
This is a little like Hercules vs. Patriot arguments ;-)
I would do substitutions in the following text
"turbine" to be replaced by "integrated circuits"
"round engines" to be replaced by "tubes"
"aviation" to be replaced by "rocketry"
;-))
Ed Thelen
Courtesy of Charlie Oricco:
DEDICATED TO ALL THOSE WHO FLEW BEHIND ROUND ENGINES
We gotta get rid of those turbines, they're ruining aviation and our
hearing...
A turbine is too simple minded, it has no mystery. The air travels
through it in a straight line and doesn't pick up any of the pungent
fragrance of engine oil or pilot sweat.
Anybody can start a turbine. You just need to move a switch from
"OFF"
to "START" and then remember to move it back to "ON" after
a
while. My PC is harder to start.
Cranking a round engine requires skill, finesse and style. You
have to seduce it into starting. It's like waking up a horny mistress.
On
some planes, the pilots aren't even allowed to do it...
Turbines start by whining for a while, then give a lady-like poof
and start whining a little louder.
Round engines give a satisfying rattle-rattle, click-click, BANG,
more
rattles, another BANG, a big macho FART or two, more clicks, a
lot more smoke and finally a serious low pitched roar. We like that.
It's
a GUY
thing...
When you start a round engine, your mind is engaged and you can
concentrate on the flight ahead. Starting a turbine is like flicking on
a ceiling fan: Useful, but, hardly exciting.
When you have started his round engine successfully your Crew
Chief looks up at you like he'd let you kiss his girl, too!
Turbines don't break or catch fire often enough, which leads to
aircrew boredom, complacency and inattention. A round engine at speed
looks and
sounds like it's going to blow any minute. This helps concentrate
the mind !
Turbines don't have enough control levers or gauges to keep a
pilot's attention. There's nothing to fiddle with during long flights.
Turbines smell like a Boy Scout camp full of Coleman Lanterns. Round
engines smell like God intended machines to smell.
Pass this on to an old WWII guy (or his son, or anyone who ever flew
them)
in the "Greatest Generation".
And not every one is equally skilled in things. I was hot on circuits, and many things
mechanical (I had overhauled - new rings, main and rod bearings, ... my car engine while
in the year long Fire Control school in Texas :-)) - but with Dilbert like people skills :-((
I was assigned to C41 between 8/60 and 1/62. When the high pwr radar was brought down from Ft Sheradin the base ( with dish removed ) was hauled on a flat bed. You guessed it, it didnt clear one of the over passes. A SP 5 named Toby Bradshire was a maintenance type assigned to do the report of survey. I moved out for Korea before it was all resolved. I finished up retiring as an SFC E7. All of us who spent long periods in the military could write a book.
I have a story the Nike boys might find amusing-typical Army!
Those of you who were at the US Army's Nike Ajax Missile firing range, Red Canyon Range Camp, New Mexico, remember the harsh desert conditions, rocky caleche soil. The only green to be seen was cholla cacti and low lying brush. In late 57 thru 58 there was a Lt. Westberg assigned to RCRC.
"Westberg was the man assigned to keep the grass
green. I now remember what he did to irk the Colonel. Among his other
jobs Westberg was the Mess Officer. He seized on that as a way not to
pay for his meals. Said he had to sample the food! He was tight as a
tick. Would charge the soldiers to ride with him to El Paso on weekends
and would bitch if the wind was against him as, he claimed, it cut down
on his gas mileage.
Now you know the rest of the story. Does anyone know the purpose of the grassy knoll? Was it for camp mascot Nike the Burro to graze? Maybe some of the camp staff officers had a dog that liked grass? If you can help solve the grassy knoll mystery, lemme know.
When I was at Delta IFC in Korea in 1968/69, we had a GRC-19, but it
was never used . I used to turn on the R-392 receiver once in a while
and listen around sometimes. One day I heard some W6 guys from
California on ten meters and it did make me a bit home sick.
Mr. Thelen,
Richard "Max" Vickroy
from John via
groups.google.com/group/nike-missiles November 25, 2005
Well,
********************************
Need a gift or a good book to read. Try my award winning Thank God for
Pigs, $19.95 or
Allison's Wedding Dress book. $17.95 incl Tax and shipping. Email me
---cbrough2@juno.com
Or write Brough Books, P.O. Box 614 East Olympia, WA 98540
from Jim Koch
I thoroughly enjoyed scrolling through the Nike site. It brought
memories rushing back.
2LT - Security Officer (Sep 74 - Feb 76)
1LT - Assembly and Monitoring Officer (Feb 76 - Apr 77)
1LT - Team Commander (Apr 77 - Aug 77)
------------------------------------------------------------------
James R. Koch
Business Manager
Indian River Central School District
32735B County Route 29
Philadelphia, New York 13673
(315) 642-3441
from Ronald De Luco
(First a bit of background - Nike Hercules sites could have nuclear weapons.
At U.S. Army Nike Hercules sites, the war heads were guarded/controlled by the on site
Army people. On Nike Hercules sites with National Guard or foreign
troops manning the equipment, a small detachment (say 20) U.S. Army Custodians
controlled the warheads of the missiles. See
Custodians. Ron is talking about site D-58 near Carlton,
Michigan in early 1963 when the U.S. National Guard took over operating the
site from the U.S. Army.
from Jeff Howell
Hi, Ed.
from Bill Adams
Blizzard
Dog Priority
Friendly Fire
Out-of-Touch
Warner Robins, GA
from Thomas Lundregan
--Batt A,85th Bn, Nike site D-23, Foot of Lenex St/ Detroit River.
Hello from Tom Lundregan: Here some data, and some "color"/ stories.
Also see map that Doyle provided a few weeks ago.
Battery A Highlites :
Hi Ed.
Good Hunting
and
I just read the excellent article about the Nike Warhead Detachments
supporting the NATO Forces.
LTC (Ret), Field Artillery
> and if there were indoor
> ranges on Nike housing sites elsewhere in the country.
[response by Ed Thelen]
I REALLY doubt it. The Army, in my day, seemed to
regard shooting as an outdoor activity,
and besides they saved money and fuss on ear protection
I used to chew toilet paper into wet "spit-ball wads"
and stick them into my ears when we went to the range
Except the 30 caliber carbine was kind of a pop-gun.
Hi Ed...enjoy your website.
from Bob Sykes
Us Nike guys may not have fired a Missile in defense of our location, but we
did serve our Country and my Korean experience did make me sleep with my 45
and M-16.
from J.P. Moore
Dear friends,
Shreveport, Luzianna
Visit my HomePage website at
http://home.sport.rr.com/nikeajax/rcrc_welcome.html
One week end in '71 the troops were given the order to repaint the lines
in the small parking area at the IFC area. I returned Monday morning to
find this one lined parking space with a very large "E" painted in the
middle of it.
HALT! from Bruce Graydon via J. P. Moore
Someone mentioned area 5000 the other day and that reminded me of the time
just before we packed up to head to RCRC for our attempted firings. We were
hanging out in front of our building waiting to go to mess. A guard from the
stockade was wrangling a detail of prisoners who were planting the tree's
around the buildings.
Statute Of Limitations from B R Blaydes
It has been a long time since this happened , I wonder if it is worth telling.
from Dick Roush
I was one of many from our Air Force Radar Bomb Scoring site in
Ironwood, Michigan who trained Nike personnel in Chicago, Milwaukee and
Detroit in 1961, and 1962, right when the joint AF/ARMY project first
started. Just thought I'd make contact.
from Chuck Zellers
Ed,
