NIKE MISSILE BATTERY MS-40 County Road 260

1 arrnington 1akota County ,innesota

)

HAER NO. MN---100

PHOTOGRAPHS WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIEE DATA

HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD National Park Service

Midwest Regional Office 1709 Jackson Street

Omaha Nebraska

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HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD

NIKE MISSILE BATTERY MS-40 HAER NO. MN-~ 100

Location:

UTM:

USGS Quadrangle:

Nike Missile Battery MS-40 is located 3.5 miles south and 2 miles east of Farmington, Minnesota near Highway 260 in rural Castle Rock Township.

15/4935314/494440 l 5/4935320/494445

Randolph

Date of Construction: 1958-1959

Engineer:

Architect:

Present Owner:

Present Use:

Significance:

Submitted by:

United States Army Corps of Engineers with Contractors

United States Army Corps of Engineers with Contractors

Launch Site: U.S. Bureau of Mines

Launch Site, not in use

The Nike missile system, first developed in the 1950s, was the United States' first and most widely deployed air defense missile system. Nike installations were a critical element in national air defense during the Cold War. While the U.S. military deployed on number of air defense systems during and after the Cold War, Nike was the most assessable to the public because of its numerous installations in close proximity to major metropolitan areas.

Nike Battery MS-40, in Farmington Minnesota, is the best-preserved Nike installation in Minnesota. After decommissioning, missiles, fueling and guidance systems were removed but the remaining buildings provide a rich level of material. The Farmington site typifies the Nike system in its technical, operational and architectural elements and is a physical manifestation of American military history and of our nation's involvement in the Cold War.

Daniel J. Hoisington, Historian, Hoisington Preservation Consultants

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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TABLES .................................................................................................. 3

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 4

THE COLD WAR ..................................................................................... 4

American Defense Strategy in the 1950s ..................................................................................... 5 Nuclear Deterrence ...................................................................................................................... 5 Missile Based Defense ................................................................................................................. 7

THE NIKE MISSILE PROGRAM .............................................................. 8

Nike Ajax: The First Nike Missile ............................................................................................... 8 Nike Ajax Technical Specifications ............................................................................................. 9 The Nike Hercules Missile ......................................................................................................... 10 Hercules Technical Specifications ............................................................................................. 12 Subsequent Missile Defense Systems ........................................................................................ 13

COMMAND AND STAFF ORGANIZATION ............................................ 14

Army Air Command Organization ............................................................................................ 14 Nike Command .......................................................................................................................... 14 Nike Battalion Organization ...................................................................................................... 15 Army National Guard ................................................................................................................. 15

CONSTRUCTION OF NIKE SITES ......................................................... 16

The Army Corps of Engineers ................................................................................................... 16 Real Estate Acquisition .............................................................................................................. 16 Design of Nike Installations ....................................................................................................... 17 Underground Missile Storage .................................................................................................... 18 Nike Missile Deployment .......................................................................................................... 19 Nike Hercules Deployment ........................................................................................................ 20

A TYPICAL NIKE SITE ......................................................................... 22

Administration and Housing ...................................................................................................... 23 The Launch Area ........................................................................................................................ 23 The Control Area ....................................................................................................................... 24

TECHNOLOGY OF NIKE SITES ............................................................ 25

Training Programs ...................................................................................................................... 25 Nike Operations ......................................................................................................................... 26

MINNESOTA DEFENSE BATTERIES ..................................................... 28

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Defense Area .................................................................................... 28 The MS-40 Missile Site ............................................................................................................. 30 Life at the Nike Site ................................................................................................................... 34

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The Base and Community Relations .......................................................................................... 3 5 Decommissioning ....................................................................................................................... 35

SIGNIFICANCE ..................................................................................... 36

FIGURES ............................................................................................... 37

FIGURE I: Minneapolis-St. Paul Defense ................................................................................ 3 7 FIGURE 2: Nike Ajax and Hercules Missiles ........................................................................... 38 FIGURE 3: Nike Ajax and Hercules Missiles ........................................................................... 39 FIGURE 4: Improved Nike-Hercules Guided Missile System ................................................. .40 FIGURE 5: Nike Missile Site MS-40 ....................................................................................... .41

ENDNOTES ........................................................................................... 42

TABLES

1. Nike Missile Installations in the United States

2. Nike Hercules Sites: City Defense Areas 3. Nike Hercules Sites: SAC Bases 4. Air Defense Sites in Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin

Nike Missile Site MS-40 HAER NO. Page 4

INTRODUCTION

Situated in a quiet cornfield near Farmington, Minnesota, Nike Battery MS-40 seems an unlikely defense outpost against a Russian air attack. Yet, in its twelve years of operation, the site was part of a nationwide network that protected the security of major metropolitan areas in the United States. The stakes in the Cold War were high. Speaking of the Twin Cities, Lt. Col. Roland Jensen, the first commander of the Third Missile Battalion, said, "Carrying a very large share of the responsibility for defense of more than one million people is not a task to be taken lightly." 1

The Nike system, developed in the 1950s, was the United States' first and most widely deployed air defense missile system. Most batteries were placed in close proximity to major U. S. cities, making them the most accessible physical manifestation of the Cold War to the general public. The Farmington Nike Launch Site is one of the best-preserved Nike installations in the upper Midwest. Although the Anny removed missiles, fueling and guidance systems, the remaining buildings provide rich interpretative material. The site typifies the Nike system in its technical, operational and architectural elements and is a physical representation of our nation's involvement in the Cold War.2

THE COLD WAR

At the end of World War II new challenges confronted the United States. With the victory, the nation became one of two "superpowers" in international affairs. As a military power, the United States stood preeminent, controlling the world's only atomic arsenal. As a peacetime leader, American initiatives helped to organize the United Nations and assisted Europe and Japan as they rebuilt their shattered economies.

However, relations with the Soviet Union rapidly deteriorated after the war. The situation was especially tense in Europe, where the United States faced a strong military challenge from Soviet forces. Unable to match the conventional military might of the Red Army on the ground, the United States chose to protect the beleaguered nations of Europe by extending its nuclear umbrella overseas through strategic alliances such as NA TO. 3

This political, military, and economic confrontation came to be known as the Cold War. The term originated because most actions of the opposing groups fell just short of a "hot," or shooting war. The struggle between the two superpowers dominated international affairs, with the world seemingly divided into two armed camps: the United States and its allies against the Soviet Union and the communist bloc. 4

The Cold War was engaged on many different levels- in regional conflicts such as Berlin and Vietnam, in intelligence gathering operations, even sports. No aspect was more visible, more consistent, or had a greater impact on the United States than the arms race. Between 1945 and 1989, the United States committed massive scientific and economic resources to the development of the military. The aims race was a battle for technological supremacy; a battle that was waged in laboratories and factories across the country, encompassing the entire spectrum of military

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technology from conventional arms to nuclear weaponry. As the arms race unfolded, a new class of weapons- guided missiles armed with nuclear warheads - emerged as the defining weapons technology of the Cold War.

The Cold War was played out on the American home front as well. Political races turned on the country's response to the fall of China to communism, the resolution of the Korean War, and a "Missile Gap." Joseph McCarthy built his career around a search for shadowy communist sympathizers - reinforced by the well-publicized trials of Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs. At home, a major national defense campaign led to the construction of fallout shelters. At school, children crouched under their desks during air raid drills. In many town, a nearby Nike installation pointed its missiles into the air, reassuring the citizens that Pearl Harbor would not reoccur in the Cold War.

American Defense Strategy in the 1950s

The international balance of power shifted dramatically on 2 September 1949 when the Soviet Union detonated an atomic bomb. After a steady diet of news proclaiming the scientific superiority of the United States, the Soviet atomic bomb shocked the country. The jolts continued over the next decade. In 1953 the Soviets exploded a hydrogen bomb. In 1954 the USSR unveiled its first long-range bomber, the M-4 Bison. The Russians announced that they had an operational ICBM in the summer of 1957, followed by the launch of the satellite "Sputnik." This heralded the ability of the enemy to launch powerful rockets aimed at the heart of North America. 5

For the first time, American defense strategists faced the prospect of immediate annihilation - a vast change from the nation's comfortable isolationism of the 1930s -in fact, a military challenge unparalleled in history. This shift prompted a reevaluation of U.S. objectives and strategic plans. This reevaluation, documented in NSC 68, recommended boosting military expenditures. The policy paper, dated 7 April 1950, warned that the Soviets would have a fission bomb stockpile of 200 by 1954. NSC 68 "estimated that the Russians could deliver between 75 and 125 atomic bombs on targets in the United States, unless defenses are greatly increased."6

The 1950s saw a flurry of writing and debate about nuclear weapons and national strategy, leading to a two-pronged defense strategy. 7

Nuclear Deterrence

The first strategic goal was that the United States should develop the means to survive an attack from the Soviet Union. Second-strike deterrence theory reduced the problem of nuclear strategy to the technical problem of maintaining an invulnerable retaliation of sufficient size to inflict unacceptable damage on an enemy even after absorbing its first strike. 8

The strategy was formulated through a series of policy reports between 1952 and 1957. Albert Wohlstetter's study of the Strategic Air Command vulnerability, completed by the RAND Corporation, argued that SAC would not maintain sufficient second-strike capability in the event of a surprise Soviet attack. His recommendations were that (a) long-range bombers be based in

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North America rather than overseas, allowing for more time to reach full alert; (b) the number of bases be increased and dispersed to make it more difficult for a single strike to eliminate forces; and (c) that a portion of the force be kept on alert status at all times; and (d) that bases be hardened to increase survivability, including bomb-proof hangars for aircraft.9

These recommendations became part of national policy when further supported and expanded by the Killian Report (1955) and the Gaither Report (1957). The Gaither Report, in particular, was alarmist in tone and gave impetus to the debate over the "missile gap" that became a key issue in the 1960 presidential election. In fact, Kennedy received advice from W ohlstetter and other RAND theorists.

These reports led to the dispersal of military bases throughout the United States, especially in the Midwest and Plains states. Previously, military strategy dictated that supplies and support be directed to forward lines. Under this approach, bombers were stationed in Europe. With the change made possible by advances in aircraft technology, the military moved bombers to American airfields. This placed a premium on the ability to refuel a bomber while in flight.

The alert program was another response. Plans called for one-third of all SAC bombers and tankers to be airborne within fifteen minutes of notification. General Thomas S. Power, the new SAC Commander, was the driving force behind this concept, implementing it at selected bases. In his November 1957 memorandum announcing the policy, Gen. Power wrote,

We no longer have a monopoly in nuclear weapons and long-range bombers. Our own strike forces are no longer immune to destruction before they can be launched and continued improvements in the Soviet's aerial defenses make successful counterattacks more difficult. The only way of insuring the survival of some of SAC's combat capability, even in case of the most unexpected and massive attack, is our Alert Force. As long as the Soviets know that, no matter what means they employ to stop it, a sizeable percentage of SAC's strike force will be in the air for the counterattack within minutes after they have initiated aggression, they will think twice before undertaking such aggression. 10

The third response was a rapid deployment of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Atlas was a liquid-fueled missile with a range of approximately 5,000 miles. Begun in 1955, the Atlas was given a high priority by the Eisenhower administration and placed into operational status in three years. The Atlas stood 82 feet tall, was ten feet in diameter, and powered by three large liquid-fuel rocket boosters. Depending on the propulsion system and payload, Atlas had a guidance system accurate enough to land the warhead within two nautical miles of its target. Flying at nearly 16,000 miles per hour, a flight of 6,750 miles took just forty-three minutes. Moreover, once in flight, the ICBM was virtually impossible to intercept. 11

The Atlas was not the only ICBM program underway in the late 1950s. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the Air Force, Army and Navy developed eight different missiles. In 1955 the Air Force began work on a second ICBM, the large liquid-fuel Titan, as a hedge in case the Atlas failed. Three years later it started work on a third ICBM, the solid-fuel Minuteman.

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Beginning in June 1959 the Air Force, in conjunction with its European allies, deployed seven squadrons of Thor and Jupiter intermediate range ballistic missiles (I RB Ms) in Europe. The IRBMs had a range of 1,500 miles and were based in Great Britain, Italy, and Turkey. Within the United States the first Atlas ICBMs went on operational alert in September 1959, followed by the first Titan squadron in April 1962, and the first ten Minuteman missiles in October 1962. The Air Force continued to deploy ICBMs throughout the decade, and by 1969, 1,054 missiles stood poised in their underground silos.

Although deterrence was relatively simple in concept, the exact composition of the American arsenal was subject to considerable debate. The Eisenhower administration, anxious to trim defense expenditures by reducing conventional forces, fonnulated a new defense policy called the "New Look" based on the concept of massive retaliation. In essence, this doctrine stated that the United States would respond to communist aggression anywhere in the free world with atomic strikes on the Soviet Union and China. A number of influential critics found significant flaws in the concept of massive retaliation. First, it was based on the assumption that U.S. strategic forces would survive a Soviet first strike with the ability to retaliate; second, it seemed unlikely that the United States would risk a nuclear war over disputes in Asia or the Middle East. During the Kennedy administration, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara embraced the strategy of "Flexible Response." This approach included multiple levels ofresponse, ranging from full war to small unit engagement on a theater level.

Missile Based Defense

The second paii of U. S. defense strategy was to develop a missile based defense system capable of shooting down enemy airplanes and ICBMs. Using technology developed in Russia, the first flight of a liquid fuel rocket took place in Auburn, Wisconsin, on 16 March 1926. World War II firmly established the role of rockets and missiles in warfare. 12

The Gennans, who were the first to use missiles guided by radio transmissions, pioneered much of the work. In addition, the United States military experimented with missiles and rockets. In 1943, the United States Army established the Rocket Branch within its Ordnance Corps and in 1945 assembled Bell Laboratories and the Western Electric Company into the team that developed the Nike program. 13

The missile defense system was not a radical new concept in its basic principles, but an outgrowth of the traditional "point defense" antiaircraft capability to protect troop concentrations and vital installations on or near the battlefield. When the Army demobilized after the World War II, it placed the vast majority of antiaircraft artillery (AAA) units in reserve status under the control of the six continental armies. 14

With growing concerns for a possible attack from the USSR, the Joint Chiefs of Staff handed primary responsibility for protecting the nation against air attack to the Air Force in March 1948. At that time the Air Force was working with the Ground-to-Air Pilotless Aircraft (GAPA) surface-to-air missile system, intending to place it around America's key military, industrial, and urban centers by the mid-1950s. But with defense dollars tight, the Air Force invested its money in developing strategic bombers and long-range missiles. Thus, GAP A missile funding was cut and a radar net to detect an air attack remained only in the planning stages. 15

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Almost by default the Army was given the role of providing point air defenses for America's strategic targets during a time of elevated tensions. The first AAA battery arrived at Hanford, Washington, in March 1950. Soon the Army activated and deployed additional 90mm and 120mm guns (and their associated troops) around the outskirts of areas identified as having

· l 16 strategic va ue.

The Korean War reinforced the recommendations for increased spending to include improved air defenses, and the Depaiiment of Defense (DoD) consequently initiated steps for better coordinated air defenses to include antiaircraft missiles. In July 1950, the Army established the Army Anti-Aircraft Artillery Command (ARAACOM) to command all of the activated gun batteries, coordinating directly with the Air Force's Continental Air Command (CONAC). 17

THE NIKE MISSILE PROGRAM

As part of these military and political strategic initiatives, the Army established a nationwide defense system to protect against Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles. The first step was creation of the Nike air defense system, a system of underground surface-to-air guided missiles (SAMs) placed in critical positions around major urban centers within the continental United States, Hawaii and Europe. The installations were also placed near strategic military installations such as Air Force bases or arsenals. The Nike Ajax, an air-defense missile designed to attack incoming airplanes or missiles, used conventional warheads. Its successor, the Nike Hercules, was built on the same general model, but with the capacity to carry a nuclear warhead. The transition from the Ajax to the Hercules was the impetus for the construction of the Fannington Missile Site. 18

Nike Ajax: The First Nike Missile

As the United States entered the last year of World War II, the Army authorized studies to study the need for a "major caliber anti-aircraft rocket torpedo." Based on these reports, the Army Chief of Ordnance issued a contract in February 1945 for Western Electric and Bell Telephone Laboratories (BTL) to detern1ine the feasibility of such a weapon system. Western Electric and Bell Army Ordnance were well-placed for the contract, with experience in the development and production of gun directors and tracking radars. 19

In mid-1945, Western Electric/BTL proposed the outlines of a system remarkably close to the Nike program. The Army selected Western Electric as the prime contractor to develop the missile system. Subcontractors were given specific projects. For example, BTL maintained control of computer and radar development and worked with the Ballistics Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, to determine the optimum shape of the warhead. Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, received the contract for developing the HighExplosive (HE) fragmentation device that would be placed in the warhead. The Frankford Arsenal, Pennsylvania, created the fusing device. The Douglas Aircraft Company was responsible for aerodynamic studies on the interceptor missile. Aerojet Engineering supplied the liquid-fueled sustainer engine and the solid-fueled booster rockets. 20

By 17 September 1946, the prototype missile was ready for its first static firing at White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico. A week later, the first actual launch of a missile occurred at White

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Sands. Several other "uncontrolled flight" launchings occurred that fall. These missiles carried on board cameras to record instrument readings throughout the flight. 21

Based on these successful test and other technical advances, the Defense Department's Director of Guided Missiles, K.T. Keller, recommended acceleration of the program in October 1950. A few months later, in January 1951, the Army contracted with Western Electric, BTL, and Douglas Aircraft to produce 1,000 Nike Ajax missiles and sixty sets of ground equipment.

On November 27, 1951, a Nike missile successfully engaged a QB-17 drone over the skies of New Mexico. In the following months, further tests, using live warheads, bolstered the program. By July 1952, the first production-line Nike was launched. Testing continued to evaluate the missile and improve the reliability of the production models. In the summer of 1953, the contractors turned over a complete missile battery to the Army Anti-Aircraft Command (ARAACOM). 22

With consistent testing successes, the Army turned its attention to the manpower needed to deploy the new weapon. Training was conducted at Fort Bliss, Texas, and at the newly established Red Canyon range in New Mexico. Fort Bliss remained the primary training site for Nike crews. Every year, batteries returned to Texas to fire additional missiles during Annual Service Practices (ASPs).

The first Nike Ajax battery was put into operation in April 1954. Soon after, Nike Ajax batteries replaced gun units around cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and San Francisco. By 1958, the Army deployed nearly 200 Nike Ajax batteries around the nation's cities and vital military installations. In that same year, the Army began deactivating the Nike Ajax batteries and replacing them with the longer-range nuclear-capable Nike Hercules. The Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM) deactivated the last Nike Ajax batteries guarding the Norfolk, Virginia, area in late 1963.

During the course of its history, the Nike Ajax contractor, Western Electric's Bell Telephone Laboratories, teamed with numerous subcontractors to produce 350 missile batteries for domestic and overseas deployment. The primary subcontractor, Douglas Aircraft, built 13,714 missiles at its Santa Monica plant and at the Army Ordnance Missile Plant located at Charlotte, North Carolina.23

Nike Ajax Technical Specifications

The Ajax missile was capable of maximum speeds of over 1,600-mph and could reach targets at altitudes of up to 70,000 feet. Its range was only about 25 miles, which was too short to make it a truly effective air defense weapon in the eyes of its many detractors. Its supporters countered that the new missile was markedly superior to conventional antiaircraft artillery, and that it was, significantly, the only air defense missile actually deployed and operational at that time.24

Nike Ajax was armed with three individual high-explosive, fragmentation-type warheads located at the front, center and rear of the missile body. Although the Army considered arming the Ajax with a nuclear (atomic) warhead, it canceled this project in favor of developing a totally new, much-improved Nike missile.25

• Length: 21 feet (34 feet 10 inches with booster) • Diameter: 12 inches

• Wingspan: 4 feet, 6 inches

• Weight: 1,000 pounds (over 2,455 pounds with booster)

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• Missile fuel/oxidizer: M3, a combination of JP4 jet fuel and starter fluid consisting initially of aniline/furfuryl alcohol, later dimethyl-hydrazine, and finally, red fuming nitric acid (IRFNA)

• Booster fuel: Solid propellant • Range: 25 to 30 miles

• Speed: Mach 2.3 (1,679 mph)

• Altitude: Up to 70,000 feet

• Guidance: Command by electronic computer and radar

• Warhead: Three high-explosive fragmentation warheads mounted in the nose, center, and aft. • Contractors

o Airframe: Douglas Aircraft Company, Santa Monica, California o Propulsion: Booster: Hercules Powder Company, Radford Arsenal, Virginia o Sustainer: Bell Aircraft Company Buffalo, New York o Guidance: Western Electric Company, New York

The Nike Hercules Missile

The Army began work on a successor to the Ajax before deployment of the first missiles. It was apparent that the Ajax had drawbacks. First, the radar system was inaccurate when tracking incoming formations. In particular, "the limited resolution of the Ajax target tracking radar ... tended to wander between planes in a formation, resulting in the missile passing between two aircrafts [sic] and detonating without causing damage .... " Second, newer supersonic aircraft and tactical ballistic missiles proved faster and smaller targets, requiring greater speed and

· · 26 prec1s10n.

In 1952 the Army initiated feasibility studies for the Nike II or Hercules missile. Western Electric was again the primary contractor. Bell Telephone Laboratories provided the guidance systems and Douglas Aircraft served as the major subcontractor for the airframe. In the design, development, test, and evaluation of the Basic Hercules, the contractor made maximum use of components, equipment, and techniques already developed and tested as part of the Nike Ajax system. The basic philosophy of the Ajax -that of a completely integrated battery using command guidance control of the missile-was also maintained. Briefly, the system consisted of an acquisition radar for continuous surveillance of all targets within range, and of means for designation of target location to the target tracking radar. 27

On 16 July 1953, the Secretary of the Army formally established the Nike "B" program with the intention of obtaining a weapon capable of intercepting aircraft flying at 1,000 miles per hour, at an altitude of 60,000 feet, and a horizontal range of 50,000 yards. The primary role of the second­generation Nike system was to attack, with a single atomic warhead, formations of aircraft flying at speeds up to 870 knots (1,000 mph), at altitudes up to 60,000 feet, and at a horizontal range of 50.000 yards (110,000 yards desired) from the launching site. In addition to the primary warhead for engagement of multiple targets, the weapon system was to be supplied with an alternate conventional warhead for use against single aircraft or missilcs. 28

Competing characteristics, in the order of priority, were as follows. 29

1. Antiaircraft effectiveness. 2. Reliability of system.

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3. Safety of friendly population and installations from accidental high or low order atomic detonation.

4. Immunity to countermeasures. 5. Ruggedness. (Ability to give trouble-free operation during, or after, exposure to extreme

environmental conditions.) 6. Ease of maintenance. 7. Safety of friendly population and installations from any portion of the rocket which may be

discarded in flight. 8. Effectiveness in a surface role. 9. Mobility. 10. Standardization of major and minor components. 11. Low maintenance costs. 12. Low silhouette.

13. Small required battle crew.

In 1955 Western Electric, BTL, and Douglas conducted test firings at White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico. To build the new missile, the Nike Hercules design team simply took the components of the Ajax missile and multiplied by four. Four solid booster rockets were strapped together to push the missile into flight. Once the booster rockets fell away, four liquid-propellant driven engines carried the warhead to the target. Unfortunately, this design, dependent on multiple systems, hindered reliability. Of the first twenty flights, twelve were terminated due to malfunctions. On 30 September 1955, tragedy struck at White Sands when a liquid-fueled engine undergoing static testing exploded with such force that the protective bunker sustained damage. This explosion killed one worker and injured five others. This incident convinced designers to consider a solid propellant engine for the sustainer missile.30

The Nike Hercules successfully intercepted a drone aircraft on 31 October 1956. On 13 March 1957, the first flight test to use the new solid propellant sustainer engine was conducted at White Sands. During the following summer, a test called Operation Snodgrass conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, demonstrated the ability of the missile to single out a target within a formation of aircraft. By this time, the first of several Nike Ajax sites had been converted to accept the new missile. 31

Originally designated as "Nike B", the Nike "Hercules" was a far more capable missile than its predecessor in nearly every way. With a maximum range of about ninety miles, maximum speeds of over 3,200 mph, and the ability to reach targets at altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet, the Nike Hercules was a very potent air defense weapon. The Hercules missile lacked most of the complex, miniaturized vacuum tubes utilized by the Ajax, and employed solid rocket fuel in its "sustainer" motor which made it easier and safer to manage than the Ajax which employed highly caustic liquid fuel components.

Unlike the Ajax, the Hercules was designed from the outset to carry a nuclear warhead. Designated "W-31" the Hercules nuclear warhead was available in three different yields: low (3-Kilotons); medium (20-Kt.) and high (30-Kt.). For purposes of comparison, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, near the end of the Second World War had a yield of approximately 15 Kilotons.

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JOO Armed with its nuclear warhead a single Nike Hercules missile was capable of destroying a closely spaced formation of several attacking aircraft. This warhead enabled the Hercules to destroy not only the aircraft, but also any nuclear weapons they carried, preventing them from being detonated. Some of the first Hercules missiles deployed in the United States were initially equipped with the heavier "W-7" nuclear warhead. 32

The Hercules could also be equipped with a powerful, high-explosive, fragmentation-type warhead designated "T-45". The warhead provided a useful alternative to the W-31 (particularly for use against a single aircraft and for low altitude use in proximity to populated areas) and was deployed at many overseas sites. Additional warhead designs, including "cluster" type warheads containing numerous submunitions, were developed although not deployed operationally on the Nike Hercules missile.

More sophisticated radar and guidance systems were also part of the Hercules package. These made the Hercules system more accurate and effective at longer ranges. During the early sixties, an "improved" version of the Hercules system, utilizing ABAR (Alternate Battery Acquisition Radar) or HIP AR (High Power Acquisition Radar) was deployed. The improved radar capabilities and other advanced electronic features of the Improved Hercules system made it more effective against small supersonic targets including aircraft, aircraft launched "stand-off' missiles, and tactical ballistic missiles.

There was one more round of technological development to the Hercules system. The "Improved Hercules" incorporated three significant improvements. First, the Improved Hercules sites received the HIP AR L-band acquisition radar to detect high-speed, non-ballistic targets. The other two improvements included improving the existing Target Tracking Radar and adding a Target Ranging Radar operating on a wide-ranging frequency band designed to foil attempts at electronic counter-measures.

The Improved Hercules demonstrated its potential on 3 June 1960, when a Nike Hercules missile scored a direct hit on a Corporal missile in the sky over White Sands. Beginning in June 1961, Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM) phased in Improved Hercules to selected batteries.

In 1958, the Nike Hercules stood ready to deploy from converted Nike Ajax batteries located in the New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago defense areas. However, as Nike Hercules batteries became operational, the bitter feud between the Army and Air Force over control of the nation's air defense missile force flared anew. The Air Force opposed Nike Hercules, claiming that the Army missile duplicated the capabilities of the soon-to-be-deployed BOMARC. Eventually, both of the competing missiles systems were deployed, but the Nike Hercules would be fielded in far greater numbers over the next six years.

Hercules Technical Specifications

• Length: 41 feet

• Diameter: 31.5 inches

• Wingspan: 6 feet, 2 inches

• Weight: 10,710 pounds

• Booster fuel: Solid propellant

• Missile fuel: Solid propellant

• Range: Over 7 5 miles

• Speed: Mach 3.65 (2,707 mph) • Altitude: Up to 150,000 feet

• Guidance: Command by electronic computer and radar • Warhead: High-Explosive fragmentation or nuclear • Contractors

o Airframe: Douglas Aircraft Company

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o Propulsion: Booster: Hercules Powder Company Radford Arsenal, Virginia o Sustainer: Thiokol Chemical Corporation, Marshall, Texas o Guidance: W estem Electric Company

Subsequent Missile Defense Systems

Nike was the first and only system built on an extensive basis and used to defend major cities, strategic locations and specific population targets. After 1960, advanced technology in ballistic-missile defense (BMD) made the Nike system obsolete, although it was not completely decommissioned until 1974.

The Nike Zeus missile was the final phase in the Nike program. Development began in 1958 and a finished version of the rocket was completed in 1964. It had a more sophisticated radar system than the Ajax and Hercules. Although the Zeus was never activated, many of the systems developed in its research were used in later, anti-tactical ballistic missile (A TBM) systems.33

In 1959, the Air Force developed the BOMARC- a surface-to-air weapon. It was a pilotless interceptor, used for defending wide areas, and could be launched from large shelters with sliding roofs. It used either a conventional or a nuclear warhead. The BOMARC was continually being revised, necessitating constant modification of launching shelters. "Among the most hastily constructed project[ s ], the Bomarcs were also among the most ephemeral of Cold War installations. They were hardly completed, when like the Nike batteries, they were made obsolete by Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM's)."34

The Army developed another interceptor, the Spartan, by 1965. The Spartan could detonate a nuclear warhead above the atmosphere, generating intense X-rays capable of knocking out several incoming missiles. While the system was highly effective against other weapons, it had the potential to wipe out civilian populations. The public reaction forced the program to be scrapped. 35

In 1972, the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (SALT) limited the production of nuclear weapons as well as restricting the deployment of Anti-Ballistic Missiles. The treaty was renegotiated in 1979, but the United States refused to sign it. 36

In 1983, the Reagan administration pushed for a new missile defense system, the Strategic Defense Initiative, commonly called "Star Wars." The system called for the development of ground- and space-based weapons designed for the destruction of enemy warheads from space.37

As the "Cold War" came to an end, the nuclear arms race slowed and the Star Wars system, the last of the defensive programs developed, is currently undergoing modification and may never achieve actual deployment.

COMMAND AND STAFF ORGANIZATION

Army Air Command Organization

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The Army reorganized its command structure following the development of a missile-based air defense system. As a first step, artillery units were placed under a new continental air defense system under the U.S. Army Antiaircraft Command (ARAACOM) in 1950. As construction of the Nike System began, the Army further refined its command strncture. In 1954, ARAACOM and corresponding units in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy were combined to form the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) at Colorado Springs under the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Interservice rivalries developed between the Air Force, Navy, and Army over the ultimate control of missile defense systems. The Air Force argued that they were airborne and better suited to its command. The Army countered that missiles simply were the modern equivalent of artillery commands. In 1957, the Department of Defense settled on a structure that gave the Army the responsibility for point air defense by missiles fired from the ground to aerial targets not more than 161 kilometers (km) away. This specific mission - point air defense - was defined as "geographical areas, cities, and vital installations that could be defended by missile units which received their guidance information from radars near the launching site, and included responsibility of a ground commander for air protection of his forces. 38

Since the command system was fluid, there were frequent changes in the number of commands., with approximately I 00 commands in the continental United States. The Army's missile mission was renamed U.S. Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM). In the same year, the United States and Canada established a combined air defense under the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). All Army ARADCOM units were thus placed under NORAD and NORAD commanders reported directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.39

Nike Command

Initially, the Nike system was placed under the command of the Office of the Ordnance Corp (OCO). In 1951, the Army transferred portions of control to the Redstone Arsenal, including monitoring, coordinating, and technical sections, and contractor/government coordination. Still, the OCO held responsibility for direction and decision making on policy, scope, goals and significant modifications to missile design, performance and operation.40

The Army established the U.S. Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) at Redstone Arsenal in 1958. under AOMC, combining the U.S. Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency (ARGMA), the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, White Sands Proving Grounds, and Redstone Arsenal. Under the command of AOMC, ARGMA developed the Hercules systems and the conversion of Ajax sites to Hercules sites. 41

With the introduction of ballistic missiles in 1961, the Army disbanded ARGMA and ABMA and formed two new groups, one for ballistic missiles and the other for guided missiles, which included the Nike program. In 1962, the army established two new commands, the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC), which replaced OCO, and the U.S. Army Missile Command (MI COM) which eventually replaced AOMC. MICOM commanded the Hercules program until

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1971 when it was turned over to Air Defense Special Items Management Office (ADSIMO), which was part ofMICOM.42

Nike Battalion Organization

The battalion was the basic operational unit of the Nike system. Each battalion contained a headquarters and headquarters battery, four firing batteries and a medical section. Approximately 400 personnel were needed to operate each battalion. The majority of personnel were untrained in technical services but were necessary to the functioning of the installations. These men worked as sentries, provided maintenance of the grounds and buildings, worked in the mess hall and kitchens, and in offices, mail rooms and supply rooms. Technical specialists were responsible for manning radar units, missile maintenance, and launch activities.43

A missile battery was composed of six elements. These are listed below, followed by brief mission statements:

1. Headquarters Section: The responsibility of the headquarters section was essentially the operational and administrative control of personnel and equipment.

2. Communications Section: This section was responsible for installing and maintaining noncommercial communication nets and operating the commercial communication nets within the battery.

3. Fire Control Platoon: The fire control platoon was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the fire control equipment in the battery control area.

4. Launching Platoon: The launching platoon consisted of one launching platoon headquarters and three launching sections.

5. Launching Platoon Headquarters: The launching platoon headquarters which was responsible for the operation and training of the three launching sections, contained personnel who assembled, tested, and perfonned organizational maintenance on the Nike missile and maintained the rounds at the launching section.

6. Launching Section: The three launching sections were responsible for the preparation of the missile and booster for firing after they were delivered to the launching section from the assembly and test area. In addition, they performed routine non-technical tests, checks, adjustments, and organizational maintenance. 44

Army National Guard

Regular Army units manned the Nike batteries until the conversion of the sites to Hercules missiles in the late 1950s. At that time, the Army National Guard (ANG) took command of the sites. Between 1953 and 1957 the U.S. Army and Air Force, working together, undertook a study "to make more efficient use of our inactive National Guard anti-aircraft aiiillery [forces]." The study developed a system to man the newly constructed Nike missile sites using National Guard forces. With rapid deployment of the Nike system, the Army was having difficulty providing enough trained personnel.45

National Guard units were deployed at Nike sites for more than twenty years and giving the Guard a specialized mission in the U.S. By 1961, ANG were stationed at 82 batteries within the continental U.S. (CONUS) and six in Hawaii. By 1962, 17,000 Guardsmen were in the Nike

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program, 4,936 of them trained technicians. The ANG remained operational until the Nike program was phased out in the mid- l 970s. Regular Army units, however, staffed the Farmington Nike Launch Site.46

CONSTRUCTION OF NIKE SITES

The Army Corps of Engineers

The primary responsibility for the design and construction of the Nike Missile Sites fell upon the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps of Engineers (COE), founded in 1802, is the planning, engineering and construction arm of the United States Army. The original mission of the COE was to design and build fortifications, roads and bridges while the Quartermaster Corps (QC) built any facility used for sheltering and supplying the Army. However, during World War I, the sheer scale of the war and need for rapid mobilization of thousands of personnel overwhelmed the QC. To meet this demand, a separate construction division of the QC was established.47

When mobilization for World War II began in 1939, the Construction Division of the QC was unable to keep up with the demand. In 1940, all Army and Air Force construction was transferred to the COE. The following year, all "Army construction, and responsibility for maintenance and real estate as well, [ was placed] under the Corps of Engineers."48

During the 1940s, the COE built many of the major Air Force fields in the United States, paying particular attention to a "comprehensive program of camouflage and concealment." [30] This was achieved by designing air fields to fit into their surroundings, via careful building placement and landscaping, and by cutting the minimum amount of vegetation. After World War II ended, the COE returned to its primary peacetime commitment to navigation improvement and flood control. 49

The Cold War, and particularly the North Korean attack across the 38th Parallel, had an enormous impact on the COE, as it did on the entire Armed Forces, and it resulted in the COE's undertaking a massive building campaign to ensure U. S. air defense readiness. As early as 1952, the COE met with the Ordnance Corps to develop the initial design concepts for the Nike Program.

Real Estate Acquisition

In addition to planning and construction of these sites, the COE was charged with real estate acquisition. The Nike Ajax system was designed to supplement and then replace gun batteries deployed around the nation's major urban areas and vital military installations. ARAACOM's original basing strategy projected a central missile assembly point from which missiles would be taken out to prepared above-ground launch racks ringing the defended area. However, ARAACOM discarded this semi-mobile concept because the system needed to be ready for instantaneous action to fend off a "surprise attack." Instead, a fixed-site scheme was devised. 50

The criteria for site selection dictated that sites "must satisfy the tactical requirements of the appropriate AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery) Commander," who was the commander for each defense area. Site locations were also based on lessening the impact on the public. When determining locations, priority was to be given to placing an installation on an existing Army

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post. If that was not possible, then other government-owned land would be acquired. If that was not feasible, then land owned by government entities such as states, counties or cities would be acquired, and as a last resort, privately owned land would be procured by purchase or condemnation. 51

The placement of Nike Ajax batteries differed at each location due to geographical factors. Within each defense area, ARAACOM planners analyzed possible enemy aircraft approaches. At first, the planners chose fixed sites away from the defended area, dictating that the Corps of Engineers Real Estate Offices acquire land in rural areas. However, in late 1952, the planners decided that close-in perimeter sites would provide enhanced firepower. Staggering sites between outskirt and close-in locations gave defenders a greater defense-in-depth capability.52

Publicly-owned lands were used to minimize land acquisition costs, even at the cost of tactical considerations. Occasionally the Army had to confront local citizens who opposed the use of parkland and voiced concerns about public safety. Usually, the Army had no choice but to acquire private property. Occasionally, local opposition succeeded in getting the Army to move a planned site to a new location.

Design of Nike Installations

With the completion of real estate acquisition, local Corps of Engineer Districts contracted with private construction firms to execute construction plans.

The Army, along with other military branches, has a long tradition of standardization, creating a general uniformity for posts throughout the country. As Army publications state, "From the Army's point of view, such standardization of design, detail, and finish promoted construction efficiency and cost economy." This method extended to the Nike sites. While variations exist for each site, mostly due to the strict demands of site location, generally construction, materials and general layout are comparable.53

Leon Chatelain, Jr., an architect of Washington, DC, working with a Falls Church, Virginia firm, Spector and Montgomery, Architects, designed all Nike facilities. The COE used these core plans and then worked with local architects and contractors to customize designs to site-specific conditions.

Leon Chatelain, Jr. ( 1902-1979), a native of Washington, DC, began his architectural career in 1930. During his career, he worked for Georgetown University, the federal government, and the Smithsonian Institution. The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company was a key client whom he maintained an association for forty-five years. He designed a number of churches, private-school buildings, office buildings and private residences. 54

In addition to his architectural work, Mr. Chatelain was an active participant in the local Washington, DC, business community, was Chairman of the President's Committee for the Employment of the Handicapped under the Johnson administration, and was President of the American Institute of Architects from 1956-1957. 55

In 1953, Chatelain designed and produced drawings for the Underground Missile Storage Structure - Type "B" and Mess Halls. In 1954, the firm designed the Missile Assembly and Test Building, Acid Storage Shed, Acid Fueling Station, and Generator Building for the Launch Area, and produced drawings for the Underground Missile Storage Structure- Type "C".

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The same year, Spector and Montgomery, designed the Enlisted Men's Barracks and Officers' Quarters. In 1955, Spector and Montgomery designed the Interconnecting Corridor and, in 1959, additional facilities for Missile Storage Structure - Type "C".

Nike sites were built under Modified Emergency Construction (MEC) guidelines, which specified masonry for exterior walls. Emergency construction was generally of the prefabricated wood-frame type. MEC materials called for concrete slab on grade floors with integrated concrete column footings, concrete block walls with no interior finishes, wood-frame 2/2 horizontal muntined windows, interior columns and beams made up of built-up standard sized lumber, and wood roof construction.

Nike installations had a higher grade of modified emergency living and working quarters than typical MEC structures. for example, interior wall partitions were masonry and concrete floors were covered with asphalt tile. "This [asphalt-tile flooring] is not authorized under modified emergency construction. This was introduced solely to provide a more livable structure and required special authorization from Staff, .... "56

The basic plans were subject to frequent modification, either as a result of field experience or specific needs of a site. One 1953 report stated:

It was thought at that time the job was finished and military construction personnel could tum to other things, yet it is of interest that the job is not yet finished as of this date, .... The reason the job is not finished is that the Missile Program is one of constant change [author's emphasis]. Beginning with the missile and the associated hardware, improvements are being made constantly, and these changes, of course, must find reflection in the fixed installations that accommodate them to insure compatibility. Further the conceptions of usage change. The requirement of the Using Service change, ranging all the way from one of complete austerity, using prefabricated structures to one where justifications of permanent standards of construction are attempted. These fluctuate with the passage of time, and as new military personnel are assigned; new people generate new ideas. Other factors become important from time to time and sometimes disappear. 57

In 1957, another document stated:

Even today after five years experience with the program, the drawings cannot be considered in final form. There has never been a period wherein accommodation to changing technical criteria, or changing user or staff requirements has not been necessary ... .in some cases it has been possible to anticipate the not yet authorized changes thus preventing obsolescence.58

To illustrate the flexible nature of site construction, it was decided in 1955 that pilasters were not required in exterior walls of the Enlisted Men's Barracks if a cross partition was added in the middle of the building. This was "suggested by South Pacific Division. "59

Underground Missile Storage

In its initial plans, the Nike program was envisioned as an aboveground system of mobile defense, moved from place to place with extensive earth moving and berm construction. Land requirements for each site were substantial - nearly 104 acres. One analyst stated that the Army quickly learned the most serious obstacle to construction of Nike missile system:

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The big impact of attempting to use a field weapon in the United States was on real estate acquisition and quickly it became apparent to everyone that something had to be done to reduce the number of acres required for emplacement. 60

The Army decided to deploy Underground Missile Storage Structures at all Nike installations based on two factors. First, underground storage provided better protection of the missiles in case of enemy attack. Second, it greatly reduced the acreage required for a Nike site. This was especially important since land acquisition costs were rising due to the dramatic growth of the suburbs following World War II. 61

The Army constructed a prototype magazine at White Sands in June 1953 and fired missiles from the magazine elevator platform to demonstrate the design's practicality. Following the successful test, Chatelain, along with the architectural firm of Spector and Montgomery, prepared standardized drawings for all Nike sites. On 28 October 1953, ARAACOM approved the standard use of the underground magazine design.

Originally, each site had three underground installations per battery, each subsurface magazine consisting of one launcher on an elevator and two above-ground satellite launchers. The original Type C magazines were designed specifically for Nike Ajax and, because of the size of the structure and elevator, would accept only Ajax missiles and launchers. The Type B magazines were somewhat larger and would accept Hercules launchers and either Ajax or Hercules missiles; however, some modifications of the elevator were required to fire Hercules missiles. The improved Type D magazines, later produced by the Corps of Engineers, incorporated modifications to allow installation of either Ajax or Hercules equipment and provided increased access to missiles and section equipment. The Farmington Nike Launcher Site has a "Type D" Magazine.59

Nike Missile Deployment

The first Nike Ajax unit deployed to an above-ground site at Fort Meade, Maryland, in March 1954. Over the next four years, the Army constructed nearly 200 batteries around the majority of America's major northern tier and coastal cities. In June 1958, the Army began to convert site to the longer range Nike Hercules missile. Subsequently, the Nike Ajax batteries were either modified to accept the new missile or deactivated. The last Nike Ajax site was deactivated in November 1963 - Site N-63 guarding Norfolk, Virginia. However, the Nike Ajax missile continued in overseas service with the U.S. Army and with the allied armies for many years.

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TABLE 1: Nike Missile Installations in the United States Source: Whitacre, et al, Last Line of Defense

• Abilene, Texas • Los Angeles, California • Albany, Georgia • Miami (Homestead AFB), Florida • Anchorage, Alaska • Milwaukee, Wisconsin • Austin, Texas • Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota • Baltimore, Maryland • Mountain Home AFB, Idaho • Barksdale AFB, Louisiana • New Haven, Connecticut • Boston, Massachusetts • New York, New York • Buffalo - Niagara Falls, New York • Norfolk, Virginia • Chicago, Illinois • Oahu, Hawaii • Cincinnati - Dayton, Ohio • Omaha - Lincoln, Nebraska • Cleveland, Ohio • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Detroit, Michigan • Providence, Rhode Island • Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota • Robins AFB, Georgia • Fairbanks (Fmi Wainwright), Alaska • San Francisco, California • Hanford Reservation (Dept of Energy), WA • St. Louis, Missouri • Hartford, Connecticut • Seattle, Washington • Kansas City, Missouri • Spokane, Washington • Key West, Florida • Walker AFB, New Mexico • Loring AFB, Maine • Washington, D. C.

Nike Hercules Deployment

While Nike installations were built for Ajax missiles, they were easily converted to Hercules since these rockets were designed with conversion and reuse in mind. Because of the Hercules' larger size, underground storage racks and launchers needed to be modified, as did the elevators.

The shift from a conventional to a nuclear warhead necessitated several changes to the basic site plan. It changed real estate acquisition, making sites located further from target areas more desirable, as they placed the nuclear warheads away from large urban areas. A separate Warheading Building was constructed at the Launch Area. Many sites, such as MS-40, had a fallout shelter.

The presence of nuclear weapons led to an increase in security. Most installations installed a double row of barbed wire surrounding the Launch Site. Guard dogs were assigned to Launch Areas, requiring the construction of kennels. The extent of the use of nuclear warheads is unclear, since information as to which batteries were armed with atomic warheads remained classified. Decontamination showers were added to all launch sites at the underground storage area. 62

The Army also authorized thirty-five new sites. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, surface-to-air missile batteries were placed for the first time around such cities as St. Louis and Kansas City and around several Strategic Air Command (SAC) bomber bases. These sites avoided the retrofitting problems of the older Ajax installations.

Nike Hercules first entered service on 30 June 1958 at batteries located near New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The missiles remained deployed around strategically imp01iant areas

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within the continental United States until 1974. The Alaskan sites were deactivated in 1978 and Florida sites stood down during the following year. Although the missile left the U.S. inventory, other nations maintained the missiles in their inventories into the early 1990s and sent their soldiers to the United States to conduct live-fire exercises at Fort Bliss, Texas.

During the course of the Cold War, the Army deployed 145 Nike Hercules batteries. Of that number, thirty-five were built exclusively for the new missile and 110 were converted Nike Ajax installations. With the exception of batteries in Alaska and Florida that stayed active until the late 1970s, by 1975 all Nike Hercules sites had been deactivated.

The Farmington Nike Site is one of the installations built for the Hercules batteries. These installations include:

TABLE 2: New Nike Hercules Sites for Urban Defense Area

Source: Mary T. Cagle, History of the Nike Hercules Weapons

Defense Area Site No. Construction Period Oper. Date

St. Louis SL 10 June 1958 - Oct 1959 18 May 1960

St. Louis SL40 June 1958-0ct 1959 26 May 1960

St. Louis SL 60 June 1958 - Oct 1959 25 May 1960

St. Louis SL 90 June 1958 -Oct 1959 19 May 1960

Minneapolis-St. Paul MS 20 June 1958-0ct 1959 14 March 1960

Minneapolis-St. Paul MS40 June 1958 -Oct 1959 14 March 1960

Minneapolis-St. Paul MS 70 June 1958 - Oct 1959 2 April 1960

Minneapolis-St. Paul MS 90 June 1958 - Oct 1959 29 Feb 1960

Kansas City KC 10 June 1958 - Nov 1959 6 May 1960

Kansas City KC 30 June 1958 - Nov 1959 6 May 1960

Kansas City KC60 June 1958 - Nov 1959 12 May 1960

Kansas City KC 80 June 1958 - Nov 1959 13 May 1960

Cincinnati CD27 June 1958-Nov 1959 19 April 1960

Cincinnati CD46 June 1958 - Nov 1959 25 April 1960

Cincinnati CD 63 June 1958 - Nov 1959 24 March 1960

Cincinnati CD78 June 1958 - Nov 1959 27 March 1960

Dallas-Fort Worth DFOl Oct 1958-June 1960 10 Sept 1960

Dallas-Fort Worth DF 20 Oct 1958 - June 1960 20 August 1960

Dallas-Fort Worth DF 50 Oct 1958-June 1960 19 August 1960

Dallas-Fort Worth DF 70 Oct 1958-June 1960 10 Sept 1960

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In addition, new Nike Hercules sites were constructed to protect vital bases of the Strategic Air Command.

TABLE 3: New Nike Hercules Sites, SAC Bases

Source: Mary T. Cagle, History of the Nike Hercules Weapons System

Defense Area Site No. Construction Period Oper. Date

Turner AFB TU28 Aug 1959 - Sep 1960 1 Nov 1960

Turner AFB TU79 Aug 1959 - Sep 1960 1 Nov 1960

Robins AFB R28 Aug 1959-Sep 1960 1 Nov 1960

Robins AFB R28 Aug 1959-Sep 1960 1 Nov 1960

Barksdale AFB (LA) BD 10 Aug 1959 - Aug 1960 1 Nov 1960

Barksdale AFB (LA) BD 50 Aug 1959-Aug 1960 1Nov1960

Dyess AFB DY 10 Aug 1959-June 1960 15 Oct 1960

Dyess AFB DY 50 Aug 1959 - Aug 1960 15 Oct 1960

Bergstrom AFB BG40 Aug 1959 - Aug 1960 2 Nov 1960

Bergstrom AFB BG80 Aug 1959 - Aug 1960 2 Nov 1960

Lincoln AFB (NE) LI 01 Aug 1959 - Oct 1960 15 Dec 1960

Lincoln AFB (NE) LI 50 Aug 1959-0ct 1960 15 Dec 1960

Offutt AFB (NE) OF 50 Aug 1959 - Oct 1960 15 Dec 1960

Offutt AFB (NE) OF 50 Aug 1959 - Nov 1960 15 Dec 1960

A TYPICAL NIKE SITE

There are only minor differences between Nike Missile sites. In 1954, the Corps of Engineers directed that construction of Nike sites work within the basic plans, stating, "Typical site layouts are schematic and will be used as guides in preparing site plans adapted to topography and local condition. "63

The Department of Defense saw the missile defense system as a national emergency and gave priority to the construction of "on-site facilities for Surface-to-Air Missile Battalions" over all other Army construction with the exception of manufacturing ammunition. To expedite construction, the Army issued contracts on a separate project basis.64

Faced with this rapid building schedule, the COE used private contractors for much of the work, then employed troops for clean-up work. A 1954 memo outlined the proposed division of labor. It stated that contractors would be responsible for installation of utility systems and government-furnished equipment, as well as construction of all roads and buildings, including the removal of any obstructions to construction. Troops would be responsible for clean-up work after construction, clearing and topping of trees to obtain lines-of-sight and eliminate "tree mask," fencing, landscaping, and erection of any prefabricated structures. 65

Initial site work consisted of removal of vegetation and existing structures and contouring work, with considerable concern for camouflage because of the sensitive nature of the installations.

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lOc:>

While the characteristics of these installations and their requirements for efficient operation makes [sic] concealment of Nike sites extremely difficult, any practical means of making them inconspicuous from above should be considered. Measures that might help included protecting, with a view of preserving, existing trees and other vegetation, careful fitting of construction to topography to avoid grading scars; and removing construction scars by appropriate planting, or otherwise harmonizing the developed areas with their surroundings.66

Installation plans strongly urged, on the basis of practical considerations, that buildings should be grouped together for "easy administrative control" and near the entrance to the site. Structures needed to be a minimum of 40 feet apart for fire safety, and 30 feet from the site boundary for security. The fueling station needed to be at least 140 feet from the missile storage facilities, and housing and administrative structures needed to be located away from these areas and upwind.67

Installations were subject to geographic restrictions that required them to be located within a predetermined distance of each other and of the defended city. Land surrounding the site was often placed under a restrictive easements to prevent access to the sites and for fire breaks, as well as for line-of-site links between control and launch installations and cable laying.

Administration and Housing

Each Nike missile battery was divided into three principle areas; the administrative area, integrated fire control area (IFC), and the launch area. The administrative area could be located within either the IFC or launch areas. This required an additional four or five acres. The IFC and launch areas were separated by at least 1,000 yards, often over a mile, but were within visual sight of each other.

Initial site specifications stated that housing facilities, if necessary, for married officers' families, were to be not over 500 yards from the entrance to the site being served. All basic electrical service would be obtained from the commercial grid. Sites needed to be located on or near all-weather public paved roads, since these would be consistently maintained. The COE summed up the criteria as follows:

Each battery location will pose a separate and distinct problem of fitting the standard battery equipment into the terrain. In working out siting problems, it will be impractical to modify Special AAA equipments to satisfy individual or local situations. Therefore, it is necessary to find workable solutions based upon the criteria contained herein.68

The recommended scheme of Launch Areas resulted in a three-part arrangement whereby the area closest to the main access gate contained barracks, mess halls and administration facilities. The mid section, often separated from the other areas of the site by an earthen berm, contained the Missile Assembly Building, Generator Building and Fueling Station. The last third contained the Underground Storage Structures.

Typical layouts of Control Areas were divided into two sectors with Barracks, Administration Building and Mess Hall grouped together and radar facilities grouped together on the highest elevation available and separated from the other structures.

The Launch Area

Typically, a typical launch site required about forty-five acres in a roughly rectangular shape. Of that, fifteen acres were developed with the other thirty acres reserved for an additional battery of

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missiles and launchers. It also provided safety space between living quarters, the missile preparation area and the actual launch site. Most important, the Launch Area needed to be within 1,000 to 6,000 feet from the Missile Tracking Radar at the Control Area because of the range of the radar and the practical problem of laying the cable required to link the two areas. 69

The standard Nike Launch area site contained the following structures:

• Underground missile storage structures (2 or 3) • Missile assembly and test building

• Generator building • Acid storage shed

• Acid fueling station with earth mound • Enlisted men's barracks and officers' quarters

• Pump house - water; water tank if required • Paint and oil storage

• Sentry box

• Water supply, electrical distributors and sewage disposal systems

• Security fencing

Typical authorized improvements included four NCO rooms in barracks, combination athletic court , a ready building where required to maintain a ten minute alert status, a generator building of masonry construction with operators shed ( originally designed with sheet metal construction), medical aid room added to missile assembly and test building, classroom and theater building (in launching or control area), a 1,000 gal. underground fuel oil storage tank, some improvements in underground missile storage structure and an additional pad at the fueling area.70

The Control Area

The Control Area needed to be roughly rectangular or L-shaped and approximately 6 to 8 acres. Control sites needed to be located away from radio interference.

Radio interference to be expected from certain nearby electrical installations would be sufficient to eliminate from further consideration sites otherwise satisfactory.71

In addition, the Control Area needed to be radar-accessible to the Launch Area, and at such an elevation as to avoid the effects of "tree mask" for the three radar components required. During a launch, when the missile was in an erect position, it was vital that the antenna of the missile be on a line-of-sight to the Missile Tracking Radar at the control site. 72

The standard Nike Control Area contained the following structures:

• Radar pads or towers if required

• Mess hall • Enlisted Men's Barracks and Officers' Quarters • Administration, recreation and storage building • Security fencing

• Pump house • Water tank if required • Water supply, electrical distribution and sewage disposal systems

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As sites were constructed, several improvements were typically approved, including an interconnecting corridor, a Generator building with l 000 gal underground storage tank, an additional Sentry box; paint and storage shed, combination athletic comi, and NCO rooms in baiTacks. 73

Again, as confirmed by COE documents, typical facilities were modified throughout their entire existence through change orders, updated technical manuals, and internal memos and directives. A 14-page list of improvements for Nike installations, compiled in 1957, listed such changes as "added entrance and vestibule to mess hall; toilet facilities added in Missile Assembly and Test Building replacing an outdoor Pit Latrine; added coffee table and coffee maker to Missile Assembly and Test Building; added NCO rooms in EM barracks; added hydraulic-mechanical system as an alternate to the pneumatic system previously provided."74

Decommissioning

Nike sites were decommissioned between 1964 and 1975. In 1963, there were 164 active Hercules firing batteries; by 1975, only four batteries remained active. The last operational battery, at Fort Bliss, was decommissioned in 1983. The sites were dismantled in a carefully orchestrated sequence of fifty-two steps over a period of six months. Buildings and missile magazines were often left in place and sold as surplus real estate (some magazines having been sealed). Missile components and supplies were returned to the depot-supply areas from which they were originally shipped. The launcher area was drained of fuel and hydraulic fluids, as were the acid fueling pits. Missiles were taken apart, put back in their shipping containers, and returned to the arsenals where they had been constructed. Some silos were sealed, their hardware and elevators remain in place and in some cases are operational. 75

TECHNOLOGY OF NIKE SITES

A Nike site was a technologically advanced installation manned by well-trained military personnel. As a contemporary account said,

On many of the hilltops surrounding the industrial and strategic centers of the United States fenced-in assemblages of whirling radar antennae, small buildings, and olive drab trailers have appeared. Giant white darts may occasionally be seen to rise out of underground chambers nearby and stand side by side with their points elevated skyward. Such an installation is occupied by a battery of an Army antiaircraft missile battalion, a select, highly-trained group of specialists who control a deadly weapon of defense, the Nike. 76

Training Programs

Nike battalions were, indeed, highly-trained specialists. Crews received extensive education and practice before deployment, then continually tested while stationed at their sites. Several veterans noted that the men were so well trained in electronics that they easily moved into higher paying civilian jobs. Training followed the general standards:

Key Personnel Training. The key personnel training phase began in February 1956 and continued on an intermittent basis until about the end of 1957, at which time training courses were initiated on the Improved Hercules system. Training of key personnel, which was conducted at the Ordnance Guided Missile School at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, consisted of courses for

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selected depot and field maintenance personnel and served as a means of training school specialists for the operational training center at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Air Defense School Training. The service school training, which marked the start of the deployment phase, was composed of formal classroom study for military personnel who eventually were to operate and maintain the deployed system. Formal training of specialists began in November 1956, about sixteen months before the start of package training. The lead time involved in this phase was based on the longest course offered by the Army Air Defense School at Fort Bliss; i.e., maintenance of electronic equipment. This training continued until about August 1961, when the specialists were integrated into the last package unit.

Troop Trained Specialists, The enlisted men who were to operate the equipment (as distinguished from maintenance personnel) were trained in both classroom and on-the-job study at the First Guided Missile Brigade at Fort Bliss. Classes started in late March 1958 for the first package of the conversion program, and continued into the third quarter of FY 1961. The period covered by this phase varied from four weeks for conversion packages to 8 weeks for new packages.

Package Training. Package training activities, which included missile firings, required 8 weeks of instruction at the First Guided Missile Brigade at Fort Bliss. At this point in the training cycle, troop trained specialists and school trained personnel were combined into a unit through formal and informal training on their own battery equipment just before deployment to the completed tactical site. Package training for U. S. batteries started in April 1958 and continued until about September 1961, at which time the equivalent of 191 battery packages of active Army units completed courses at the Fort Bliss facility. Package training for MAP batteries commenced in October 1958 and continued into 1962.23

Nike Operations

The Nike missile system used a guided missile, directed to its target either by a guidance system in the missile or by radio command from outside the missile. Usually, this type of missile has a trajectory entirely within the earth's atmosphere and is guided along its entire flight. The Ajax's missile (the first of the Nike system missiles) mission was to "destroy, nullify, or reduce effectiveness of attack by hostile aircraft and missiles after they are airbome."77

The Nike Ajax command guidance system received guidance information from a computer on the ground. Designed to engage faster and higher-flying aircraft beyond the range of conventional antiaircraft artillery, the Nike system depended on technological advances in radar and computers made during and after World War II.

A series of events preceded any missile launch. First, an Air Defense Command Post sent warning to the battery of an imminent attack. Sirens alerted personnel to rush to their assigned battle stations. As personnel readied the missiles, long range acquisition radar would pick up the incoming aircraft. For the Nike Ajax system, this radar was known as LO PAR for "Low-Power Acquisition Radar." The LOPAR search radar antenna rotated constantly at a predetermined speed. When targets appeared on the scope, the battery commander used "electronic interrogation" to determine if the target was friend or foe.

If the LOPAR operator designated a target as hostile, then the target-tracking radar (TTR) was activated. The TTR calculated the target's azimuth, elevation, and range, and sent the data to a

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computer for use in guiding the Nike Ajax missile. The guidance computer received a running account of the target's changing position. Adjacent to the TTR, the missile-tracking radar (MTR) locked onto the missile selected to perform the intercept. 78

The Launch Area contained the missiles and warheads. Missiles needed to be assembled, armed, inspected, maintained, stored and launched on site. Constructed at arsenals around the country, missiles were shipped by truck, with individual components in specially designed containers in which they were stored until needed. At the Missile Assembly Building, the rockets were put together; fins were attached, electrical systems connected and hydraulic fluids added. From the Assembly Building to the Acid Fueling Area and Launch Magazines, they were manually wheeled on large dollies along concrete walks specifically constructed for the purpose. The missiles were then loaded into the underground magazines. 79

The typical Launch Area contained three magazines, each containing four rockets with one missile in position and three reloads for each launcher. The underground launch facilities contained a storage magazine, an elevator to carry missiles to the surface to be fired, operating panels, and missile storage racks. After assembly, missiles were stored on the racks. When ready to be fired, they would be rolled to the elevator and onto the elevator launcher.80

Each launcher loader included a launcher and five sections of loading racks. Three sections of racks were on the left side of the launcher and were used for storing missile-booster combinations. The sections on the right side of the launcher were used for storing empty launching and transport rails or rejected rounds ..... The entire unit was equipped with electric and hydraulic systems for testing and erecting the round prior to firing. 81

When the hostile aircraft came within the battery's range, the battery commander launched the missile. After producing 59,000 pounds of thrust within three seconds to push the missile off the launch rail, the missile booster dropped away. Having ignited, the missile accelerated through the sound barrier. Once the missile was in the air, the MTR received continuous data on the missile's flight. In tum, by receiving updates from the TTR, the computer generated course correction information that was transmitted to guide the missile toward the target. At the predicted intercept point, the computer transmitted a burst signal that detonated the three high-explosive warheads. The system was designed to have one missile in flight at a time. Average flight time from launch to target was one minute, therefore an entire battery could be launched within one hour. 82

A major flaw of the Ajax guidance system was that it engaged only one target at a time. Also, when the system first deployed, there was no provision for coordinating fire between multiple batteries. Thus, several different batteries could engage the same target and allow other targets to pass through. To alleviate this problem, ARADCOM established command centers where incoming targets were manually plotted and engagement orders were passed to the batteries. However, the inadequacies of this voice command and control system became immediately apparent during defense exercises, which sent the Army scrambling for a new solution. 83

Introduced in the late 1950s, the Interim Battery Data Link (IBDL) provided a "real time" target data link between the batteries so that battery commanders could readily see what targets other batteries were actively engaging.

While IBDL was being deployed, the Army tested a successor system called "Missile Master" at Fort Meade, Maryland. After this system was proven within the Baltimore-Washington Defense

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Area, other major defense areas began receiving the Missile Master (AN/FSG-1) systems. Missile Master was the first truly integrating command and control system featuring automatic data communications, processing, and display equipment. By eliminating voice communications, this Martin-built system allowed an area commander to use all his batteries to engage up to 24 different targets. Smaller defense areas with fewer batteries received another command and control system called the Battery Integration and Radar Display Equipment "BIRDIE" (AN/GSG-5). 84

MINNESOTA DEFENSE BATTERIES

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Defense Area

In the new age of long-range aircraft and missiles, Minnesota was considered of prime strategic importance. The Twin Cities, with important defense related industries, such as Honeywell, Sperry-Rand, and 3M, was selected along with five other cities for expansion of the Nike system in 1957. In July 1957, the Army Defense Command issued an official announcement of the proposed Twin Cities defense plan. The ADC assigned the Third Missile Battalion, 68th Artillery, to handle the Defense Area, with headquarters at Fort Snelling. Manpower requirements were as follows:

The missile artillery battalion is organized with a headquarters and headquarters battery and four missile batteries. The headquarters and headquarters battery is charged with command functions, administration, operations, maintenance and supply, and communications. Each missile battery consists of two platoons, the battery control platoon, and the launching platoon. Each battery is presently authorized four officers, four warrant officers, and

. . 1· d 85 nmety-s1x en 1ste men.

During the Cold War, four Nike missile sites were constructed to defend Minnesota from Soviet attack. The "Missile Master" or "BIRDIE" command and control systems were installed at Fort Snelling to ensure a coordinated defense against attacking aircraft. In addition, the Air Force built a BOMARC missile site near Duluth.86

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ICO

TABLE 4: Missile Sites in Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin

John C. Lonnquest and David Winkler, To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program

Site Name: Duluth AB Location: Knife River Squadron: 74th ADMS Branch: Air Force

Missile Type: Bomarc B

Dates of Active Service: Apr 1, 1960 to Oct 30, 1972 Current: Currently under private ownership by a wood products and marble manufacturer.

Site Name: MS-90 Missile Type: Nike 3D/18H/12L-U Defense Area: Minneapolis-Saint Paul Site Location: Bethel/Isanti, 4.0 miles north and 1 mile east of Highway 56 near Bethel, Minnesota. Branch: Army Dates of Active Service: 1959 to Jun 1971 Control Site Condition/Owner: Isanti County Sheriffs Department Launch Site Condition/Owner: Private ownership

Site Name: MS-40 Missile Type: Nike 3D/l 8H/12L-U Defense Area: Minneapolis-Saint Paul Site Location: Farmington, 3.5 miles south and 2 miles east of Farmington, Minnesota near Highway 260. Branch: Army Dates of Active Service: Oct 1959 to Jun 1971 Control Site Condition/Owner: USAR Center Launch Site Condition/Owner: FDS

Site Name: MS-20 Missile Type: Nike 3D/18H/12L-U Defense Area: Minneapolis-Saint Paul Site Location: Roberts, 2.5 miles north and I mile west of Roberts, Wisconsin near Highway 12. Branch: Army Dates of Active Service: Oct 1959 to Jun 1971 Control Site Condition/Owner: Bureau of Outdoor Recreation to Saint Croix County Launch Site Condition/Owner: Bureau of Outdoor Recreation to Saint Croix County

Site Name: MS-70 Missile Type: Nike 3D/18H/12L-U Defense Area: Minneapolis-Saint Paul Site Location: Saint Bonifacius, 3.0 miles north and 1 mile west of St. Bonifacius, Minnesota on Highway 7. Branch: Anny Dates of Active Service: Oct 1959 to Jun 1971 Control Site Condition/Owner: Private ownership Launch Site Condition/Owner: FDS

Nike Missile Type Key Missile Storage: C=Ajax only, original design; B=Ajax or Hercules, some modifications were required for the elevator to handle the Hercules launcher; D=Either, increased access room in the magazine.

Missile/Launcher: A=Ajax; AA=Double Ajax launchers; AG=Above Ground; H=Hercules; L=Launcher; K=Unofficial designation for Alaskan above ground launchers; U=Universal launcher; UA=l/2 Universal and 1/2 Ajax launchers; UU=Double Universal launchers

The MS-40 Missile Site

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The initial process simply chose four general locations for the prospective sites, leaving the specific location for property acquisition teams. These teams surveyed properties, conducted soil tests, and managed relations with owners. The Army also held several public forums in Farmington, calming potential fears among the local citizens. Colonel Leslie Staub declared, "It will be as safe as a well-operated gas station ... Our own houses will be located alongside the launching station." In addition, the Colonel assured the community that no missiles would ever be fired except during a real attack.87

Following several months of intense speculation, the Army announced that it had selected property on a high ridge in Castle Rock Township, acquiring 1312 acres from Peter Lynch for the control site and 33 acres from Mrs. Frank Astroth for the launcher site. Although negotiations were kept private, the Army announced plans to expedite the acquisition through the process of condemnation. The local paper noted that "at Mrs. Astroth's place, the area includes some of the best land." In addition, the COE acquired easements on an additional 100 acres from Fred Lau and George Holmberg. The project also required a road from. The COE completed land acquisitions for the right-of-way for a hardened road linking State Highway 3 and the launch site. The government funded the additional $100,000 needed for road construction. 88

In June 1958, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened bids and awarded the contract for all four sites to the Steenburg Construction Company of St. Paul and Minneapolis for $5,883,851. Within weeks, Bolander and Sons Company was completing site grading at Fannington. Steenburg completed site construction in August 1959 and the first detachment arrived in early September. The Farmington base did not become operational, however, until January 1960, since production of Hercules missiles was delayed due to a major steel strike. 89

The layout of the base was similar in plan to other Nike sites but the buildings were arranged to be site specific. The Fannington missile battery had three parts, the Control Area, the Launch Area, and the Sewage Treatment Plant Site. The Control and Launch Areas were about three-quarters of a mile apart. The Sewage Treatment Plant was comprised of a parcel of land just south of the Launch Area. Sewage lines ran from the Launch Area to a secondary settling tank and pump pit structure. The structures were principally made of cinder block construction. 90

The Farmington Control Area was situated on a hill off Alverno Ave on 12.49 acres that the Army Air Defense Command bought on June 30, 1958 from Harris and Esther Ehlers and Peter and Eileen Lynch. The Farmington Control Area was comprised of seven buildings. The structures included: generator building or electrical power plant, shop, pump house and well, a small missile control building or ready building, and interconnecting corridor and radar building with a long-distance radar antenna housed in a 35 foot canvas dome on top of it which was used for detecting and identifying a target or ABAR Tower. There also was a small guardhouse at the front gate. Sometime after the original construction, a fallout shelter was added to the facility. 91

The Farmington Launch Area was located southeast of the Control Area on a hilltop along County Road 80 and purchased in June, 1958 from the estate of Frank B. Astroth. The Farmington Launch Area consisted of 34.20 acres and was comprised of two distinct areas, a launcher area and a administrative/residential area. The launcher area was comprised of a Missile Assembly Building, the Warhead Building and three underground launch pads covered by a large rectangular concrete slab. Although the Army never announced whether the Farmington Nike site

Nike Missile Site MS-40 HAER NO. MN-n 31

had nuclear warheads or not, interviews with former personnel suggest that the site was so . d 97 eqmppe . -

Each building was designed to provide "ideal living conditions" to the men who manned these isolated Nike missile posts. All standing structures on the Launch Area were constructed of cinder blocks painted a dull yellow, the floors were asphalt tiles, the walls were painted in "decorative" colors, and the ceilings were made of plasterboard. Each building had its own oil heat system and commercial electrical power provided power, although the base could instantly conve1i to their three diesel generators in times of emergency. 93

The launch site includes the following buildings:

Building #100 or the Front Sentry Box, is a square, one-story cinder block building with a gently sloped shed asphalt roof. The windows are 2/2, horizontal, and double hung with concrete sills, located on all sides. The building is entered through a one light/3 cross panel entry door. An individual fenced transformer for emergency power stands next to the building. There appear to be no significant alterations to the building's exterior since it was constructed. The Front Sentry Box stands near the front gate entrance of the missile site. Heated with an electric baseboard heater, it served as an all season Sentry Post for the missile site.

Building # l O 1, the Administration, Recreation, and Storage Building, is a large rectangular one­story cinder block building with a gently sloped shed asphalt roof. There are 2/2 horizontal paned, double-hung paired windows with concrete sills on all sides of the building. Several windows are barred. Access is gained through several doorways that have 1/1 cross-panel entry doors. On the building's west exterior wall, there is a brick chimney, along with an individual fenced transfonner for emergency power. Significant exterior details include military street lighting, flagpole, and caged exterior entrance lights on each side of the entrances. There appear to be no significant alterations to the building's exterior since it was constructed. The Administration, Recreation, and Storage Building stands near the front gate entrance of the missile site. The administration building contained a spacious recreation room, officer quarters, barber shop, post exchange store, hobby shop where men could work with tools, and a supply room.

Building #102, and or the Officers Quarters and Enlisted Men's Barracks, is a large rectangular one-story cinder block building of approximately 5,221 square feet. It was constructed on a concrete slab. The building has a gently sloped shed asphalt roof and 2/2 horizontal double hung paired windows with concrete sills on all sides of the building. The building has several entrances with 1/1 cross-panel entry door. The main entrance to the building is on the west side. Through this entrance, enlisted men and officers entered the building through paired door within an enclosed projecting vestibule. The vestibule also had a fixed glass transom and sidelight panels. On the buildings east and west exterior walls, there are brick chimneys, along with an individual fenced transformer for emergency power along the east wall. Other than these features, there are no significant exterior details to this building. However, the U. S. Bureau of Mines altered the exterior n01ih wall and east walls with the construction of two large garage doors.

Married personnel lived off-base, while the single soldiers were quartered in two barracks. The interior of the barracks were designed to be "home-like". The upper-grade noncommissioned officers had their own private rooms, while the others had room-dividers with two men to a section. For recreation, the troops had a combination tennis and basketball court. 94

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Building #103, and or the Non-Commissioned Officer Quarters and Enlisted Men Barracks, is a large rectangular one-story cinder block building. It is constructed on a concrete slab. The building has a gently sloped shed asphalt roof and 2/2 horizontal double hung paired windows with concrete sills on all sides of the building. The building has several entrances with 1/1 cross­panel entry door. The main entrance to the building is on the west side. Through this entrance enlisted men and non-commissioned officers entered the building through paired door is centered with an enclosed projecting vestibule. The vestibule also had a fixed glass transom and sidelight panels. On the buildings east and west exterior walls, there are brick chimneys, along with an individual fenced transformer for emergency power along the east wall. Other than these features, there are no significant exterior details to this building. The U.S. Bureau of Mines altered the exterior north wall and east walls with the construction of two large garage doors.

Building # l 04, or the Mess Hall, is a one-story cinder block building that has slightly pitched shed asphalt roof. It is built on a concrete slab foundation. The building has 2/2 horizontal pane double-hung paired windows with concrete sills on all sides. There is a service entrance at west side of the building and two additional entrances. One entrance is on the north side of the building with sidewalks to officers' quarters and enlisted men's barracks. A brick chimney stands on the 1101ih exterior wall. There are no other significant exterior details to this building. However, the

U.S. Bureau of Mines altered the exterior east wall with the construction of a large garage door. The Mess Hall had curtains and venetian blinds, small tables that seated four people, flowers on the table at each meal, and a neat modern kitchen complete with dishwashers. 95

Building #108, is a small paint or his oil storage one-story concrete block building with slightly pitched shed asphalt roof and a single door. Similar to the sentry buildings, it is built on a concrete slab.

Building #153, is a Water Pump house. The building is a small one-story rectangle structure with a single double-hung window, single door, and a center block chimney on the east wall. The building is slightly pitched shed asphalt roof. An individual transformer for emergency power stands next to the west wall of the building.

Building # 154, or the Missile Assembly Building, is a one-story concrete block building with a slightly sloped shed asphalt roof. It is built on a concrete slab. The building has single windows with concrete sills on the East, South and West side of the building. At one time, the building had two large garage doors on the north and south sides of the building to allow the assembled missiles to roll through the building. However, the South garage doorway has been blocked off. A small concrete block edition with a gently-pitched asphalt roofed has been made on the east wall of the building with a concrete block chimney on its east wall. There are several smaller support rooms, including a stock room, first aid room, restroom, and boiler room. A concrete pad suITounds the area.

Building # 155 or the Standby Generator Building., is a one-story concrete block building with single windows that have concrete sills on the east, north and west sides of the building. It is built on a concrete slab foundation. There are two pairs of 2/2 single panel doors on the north wall of the building. The building has a gently pitched shed asphalt roof. There are individual fenced transformers for emergency power to stand next to the south wall of the building.

Building #156, or the Warhead Building, is a one-story concrete block building with single windows with concrete sills. These are located on the north and south sides of the building. the

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foundation is concrete slab. The building has a gently pitched gable asphalt roof. The warhead building also has two large garage doors on the east and west sides of the building to allow the assembled missile to pass through the building. The U.S. Bureau of Mines replaced the original doors -which were probably similar to the garage door on the missile assembly building -with two aluminum roll-gate doors.

Building # 157, the Sentry Control Box is a small rectangle, one-story cinder block building with l /1 horizontal double-hung windows with concrete sills on all sides plus a three cross panel entry door. The Sentry control box also has a gently pitched shed asphalt roof. The Sentry Control Box stands near the front gate entrance of the launcher area, fenced in by barbed wire. Heated with an electric baseboard heater, the Sentry control box served as an all season Sentry Post for the Launcher Area.

Building #158, the Canine Kennels, is a small, galvanized chain-link fence that housed the canine control dogs for the base. There are four dog stalls roofed over with aluminum sheeting to protect from the elements. The structure was supplied with electricity for lighting and was enclosed with a barbed wire fence. The Launch Area was a maximum security area, surrounded by a wide swath of cleared land, and protected by two rows of barbed wire fence lines. Security staff was aided in guarding the launch areas - with their nuclear warheads - by three specially trained guard dogs (Z01To, Comet, and Sergeant). The guard dogs were given special all-weather kennels, and each day they went through training maneuvers for control purposes and to ensure they were not "friendly" to intruders. "The German Shepherd dogs on leash went on guard patrol duty with the men and often the sentry dogs sat near the launch area .... [And] could sense an intruder by scent long before the guards could see or hear someone."96

Building #161, the Fallout Shelter, is a one-story gently sloped gable roofed structure. Built on a concrete slab, the building has no windows and a single metal door. There is a large door of approximately ten feet by ten feet on the east elevation. Made of reinforced concrete, this door can be opened only with the use of a crane, but provides access for an emergency vehicle. Near the entrance is a decontamination shower. The interior floor plan includes one large room, a fan room for recycling air in the event of a nuclear attack, an air and heat room, and a latrine. Nike sites built after 1958 were fitted for use of the Nike Hercules missile.

There are three underground storage structures and launch pads, designated as Buildings #163-165, Underground Storage and Launch Pads "A-C". These structures were designed to hold Nike Hercules missiles, referred to as a Type D magazine, designed by Leon Chatelaine for the Army Corps of Engineers. These served as a missile storage facility below a concrete surface launch pad. The underground unit is built of reinforced concrete. The magazine has steel vents, air intake vents, and an escape hatch. Missiles were stored underground and brought to the surface using an elevator, which opened with two large hydraulically controlled steel doors. These doors dropped into the structure. A control station in the magazine room operated the process.

The subterranean vaults were accessed through steel doors leading to a descending stairway. This leads to a magazine room for storage of the missiles. A small "ready room"- approximately 5 feet by 7 feet - is reached through a narrow passage at the base of the stairs. Acoustic tiles are still in place. It has a metal ladder to a cantilevered escape hatch to the surface. There were also an elevator pump room, a maintenance room, and a storage room.

Life at the Nike Site

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The daily routine of a Nike site combined periods of intense activity with personal time at a relatively small installation surrounded by com fields. One officer described:

There is no doubt about it. Life was tough for the officers and enlisted men assigned to the ... Nike sites. The major reason for that was the tremendously long hours that they put in. Work weeks of eighty to one hundred hours were not uncommon. Of course there was the normal work day, spent training to increase teamwork and proficiency and maintaining the equipment to keep it at a high state ofreadiness.97

The normal peacetime alert status was called "A" status. This meant that 25 percent of the batteries in the defense area had to be able to launch their first missile within twenty minutes of notification. Another twenty-five percent of the batteries needed to be able to launch within one hour, and the remaining fifty had to be able to launch within three hours. These statuses were rotated on a weekly basis. There were other alert status standards, labeled "B," "C,", and "D", but normally implemented only during crisis situations. These statuses successively brought an additional 25 percent of the defense to a 20-minute status.98

As one soldier recalled,

At the battery level, alert status governed our daily lives. We lived as though we were never more than three hours from war and possible Armageddon. Our normal schedule was one week of the month on 20-minute ("A") status, one week of the month on one-hour (M-1) status, and two weeks of the month on 3-hour (M-3) status. A one-hour status battery was a "back-up" to a 20-minute status battery, should that battery go out of action for any reason. This resulted in our frequently pulling more than the scheduled one week per month of 20-minute status. 99

Colonel William Lawrence concurred:

The 15 minute status requirement applied to all defenses on the periphery of the United States. The distinction between 15 minute status and 30 minute status for a Nike site is significant. On 30 minute status you can have your equipment off while on 15 minute status, not only must the equipment be on, but maintenance checks must be run on it every four hours. Beyond staying operationally ready, much of the rest of the time was spent in housekeeping chores. There was grass to keep cut in the summer and snow to shovel or plow in the winter. 100

These work patterns were interrupted occasionally by more intensive training. These training sessions, referred to as "SNAP" drills, began with notice to a unit to pack immediately for transport to Fort Bliss. Units were required to set up a complete field installation and actually fired missiles during the drill. The Farmington unit generally performed admirably, often scoring in the top three nationally among all Nike crews. 101

During off-duty hours, the soldiers lived in the stark barracks. One enlisted man wrote:

The people in the Nike program lived (primarily) in barracks in the administrative area. Individuals with families in the adjacent city could live with their families. The barracks were warm but nothing to brag about. The lower ranks slept in large rooms, about 20 to the room. Your private stuff could be kept in you foot locker at the foot of your cot. There was a vertical locker for hanging clothing. Higher non-coms sometimes had shared or individual rooms. 102

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Since sites such as Farmington were located in rural areas, the Army provided bases with some recreational opportunities. One soldier recalled,

As a matter of policy, the Army tried to provide recreation facilities at remote sites to include most Nike IFC and launching area sites. They developed a "multi-purpose" "athletic court" that was installed at many Nike sites nationwide. Many of the maps I have of admin areas, launching areas and IFC sites from all over the United States show an "athletic court" on the site plan. These were used as basketball courts, volleyball courts, drill fields or even tennis courts. 103

In the Twin Cities defense area, the four Nike sites fielded teams that engaged in spirited competition between each other and other local teams. These included rifle competitions, as well as softball and basketball games.

The Base and Community Relations

The Farmington Nike Site stood as the most immediate connection between the populations of nearby Northfield and Farmington and the United States Armed Forces. Following the public announcement of base construction, the Army dispatched Colonel Leslie Staub to assure Farmington residents that "we want to become a part of your community and take part in community activities such as Boy Scouts, service, clubs, and help in athletics." In return, he suggested that "sometimes ladies' organizations help with curtains in the mess hall or similar projects." The Twin Cities units participated in local events, displaying a Hercules missile at the State Fair and numerous local parades. The men were encouraged to work with local clubs and churches. 104

There were concerns voiced about how an installation of Army men might effect the city. The Army boasted that the site had a payroll of $24,000 per month, with "a reasonable amount. .. spent locally." Initial plans called for the construction of some married housing to be built at the launcher area. These were quietly shelved and requests went out for housing in the surrounding area - an additional boost to the local economy. The Mayor of River Falls, Wisconsin, noted, "We hope new housing will develop in nearby communities. We welcome these men who are mostly highly educated, higher class trained technicians." Still, as one soldier said, "We were considered 'no-no's by many in the area." That soldier married a local woman, suggesting that the warnings were not always heeded. 105

Following the death of four students at Kent State University, nationwide student demonstrations protested United States military policy. Some 150 students from Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges marched two miles to the Farmington Nike Site. When they reached the Launcher Site, march leaders requested that they be permitted to speak with the soldiers. Following rejection of the demand, the marchers staged a sit-down at the entrance. The local paper reported, "They carried no clubs-just signs at least one of them obscene. Many wore red arm-bands or red headbands." The group dispersed after quietly after two hours. 106

Decommissioning

On 3 March 1971, the Army announced that twenty-seven Nike Hercules firing sites and eleven Nike headquarters in fifteen states were deemed to be obsolete and non-essential to the nation's strategic defense and ordered to be closed by June 1971. The announcement included the four

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Nike sites surrounding the Twin Cities, as well as the Nike headquarters located at Fort Snelling. A local newspaper estimated that fifty-three civilian employees lost their positions in the Twin Cities area due to the closure. 107

In response to these orders, the Farmington Nike site was closed. By May 1971, all personnel had left the facility. The subterranean vaults which housed the Nike Hercules missiles were emptied and the sophisticated electronic control and radar mechanisms from the Control Area were dismantled and packed in Army trucks, and then shipped to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin for d. · · 108 1spos1tion.

Within weeks, the Twin Cities Research Center (TCRC) of the United States Bureau of Mines took over Farmington Launch Area. Thomas Atchinson, director, assured local residents that the site would operate only on an eight-hour, daytime basis. The TCRC used the buildings, along with the three underground missile storage structures, for research activities and testing. In 1996, the United States Bureau of Mines was shut down and the site is vacant at present. 109

The Dakota County Vocational Training School expressed interest in the twelve acre control area. The property was quit claimed to the Dakota County Area Vocational Technical Institute for educational purposes on 28 August 1972, but they were unable to pay for it. It sat unused and abandoned from 1971 to 1979, when it was sold to Tom Bondhus of Big Lake, Minnesota for a farm. It remains in private ownership.

After the closure announcement, the Nike sites at Bethel and St. Bonifacius, Minnesota and Roberts, Wisconsin were either sold to private developers or local governments. The Nike headquarters on Fort Snelling, which was located in the vicinity of Ft. Snelling National Cemetery, was turned over to the cemetery. 110

SIGNIFICANCE

The Farmington Nike Battery MSP-40 is significant as a representative example of Nike batteries in the upper Midwest and Minnesota. MSP-40 is an intact, physical manifestation of American military history and, in particular, of the Cold War in the United States. As such, it demonstrates the technology and prevailing political attitudes of the 1950s.

MS-40 is in a remarkable state of preservation, which is due in part to the fact that the Launch Area was taken over by the U. S. Bureau of Mines, which carefully maintained the site and made few changes, thus, keeping the military/security feel to the area. Even spaces around the missile-storage structures, despite their current state of disuse, are regularly mowed and cleared of any debris. Overall, the site maintains a high degree of integrity.

The Control Area has suffered a loss of integrity as a result of the removal of radar equipment and

vans when the site was decommissioned. There is little evidence of the historical activities that took place there.

In its entirety, MS-40 is a significant example of an intact Nike site and, with the addition of documentary evidence, provides a complete representation of a Nike installation of the 1950s.

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Source: Christine Whitacre, editor, The Last Line of Defense: Nike Missile Sites in Illinois

FIGURE 3: Nike Ajax and Hercules Missiles

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Nike Missile Site MS-40 HAER NO. MN--mt Page 41

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Source: Amy L. Ollendorf and Anthony Godfrey, "Cultural Resource Management Investigation: Closure of the Twin Cities Research Center, U.S. Bureau of Mines, completed by Braun/Intertec for the U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1996

ENDNOTES

Nike Missile Site MS-40 HAER NO. MN-a' Page 42

100

1 Lt. Col. Roland Jensen, 'The Mission of the 3d Missile Battalion," Twin Cities Defender (October 1960).

2 Jane Carolan, Architectural Historian, "Historic American Engineering Record: Nike Missile Battery PR-79 [Foster, RI]," 1993. (HAER RI-37), Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Prints and Photographs Division, 3.

3 John C. Lonnquest and David F. Winkler, To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program (USACERL Special Report 97/01, November 1966), 1

4 Christine Whitacre, editor, The Last Line of Defense: Nike Missile Sites in Illinois (Denver: National Park Service, 1996), 13-16.

5 Lonnquest and Winkler, 55.

6 "Summary of a report on April 7, 1950 concerning a reexamination of United States Objectives and Strategic Plans" (NSC 68), Dwight Eisenhower Papers, DDE Library, Abilene. KS. Cited in Lonnquest and Winkler, 55.

7 John Lewis Gaddis, The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982), 72.

8 See, for example, Patrick Glynn, Closing Pandora's Box: Arms Race, Arms, Control, and the History of the Cold War (New York: Basic Books, 1992), 172-175; Martin Walker, The Cold War: A History (New York: H. Holt, 1993), Ch. 5; James T. Patterson, Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). In the last five years, political changes have sparked a series of historical retrospectives of the Cold War.

9 Albert J. Wohlstetter, Fred S. Hoffman, and Henry S. Rowem, Selection and Use of Strategic Air Bases, RAND-R66 (Santa Monica: Rand Corporation, 1954); John L. Gaddis, Strategies of Containment (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982), 89-127; Joint Committee on Defense Production, 94th Congress, Deterrence and Survival in the Nuclear Age [The Gaither Report] (Washington, D.C.: 1976), 22-23, 30-31. For an excellent analysis ofWohlstetter's influence, see Gregg Herken, Counsels of War (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985) and Fred Kaplan, The Wizards of Armageddon (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983).

10 Gen. Thomas Power, "Memorandum to Each Member of the SAC Alert Force," November 9, 1957 (Memorandum from 55th Wing Archives, OAFB); Also see Air Pulse, January 8, 1958; Office of the Historian, Alert Operations and the Strategic Air Command, 1957-1991.

11 J.C. Hopkins, The Development of the Strategic Air Command, 1946-1981 (Offutt AFB: Office of the Historian, Headquarters, Strategic Air Command, 1986); Jacob Neufeld, Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force, 1945-1960 (Washington, D. C.: Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, 1990).

12 Kenneth Gatland, Missiles and Rockets (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc.), 9-11; Bill Gunston, Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Rockets and Missiles, (London: Salamender Books), 8-9.

13 Roger Hatheway et al., Survey and Evaluation of the Nike Missile Site at Fort Macarthur, White Point Los Angeles County California, (San Diego, CA), 9.

14 Kenneth Schaffel, The Emerging Shield: The Air Force and the Evolution of Continental Air Defense 1945-1960 (Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1991), 116-117.

Nike Missile Site MS-40 HAER NO. MN-!SS' Page 43

llX)

15 Schaffel, 116-117; See also Richard F. McMullen, Interceptor Missiles in Air Defense, 1944-1964, ADC Historical Study 30, (1965), Office of Air Force History, Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, DC.

16 Lt. Col Steve Moeller, USA, "Vigilante and Invincible: The Army's Role in Continental Air Defense," (MA Thesis: Ohio State University, 1992), 25; Whitacre, et al, notes the continued use of90mm and 120mm guns for air defense well into the 1950s, 46.

17 Moeller, "Vigilante and Invincible,", 11-12, 15-16; Schaffel, 279-83.

18 B. N. McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System (Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD: U.S. Army Toxic and Hazardous Materials Agency, 1984), 2-1.

19 McMaster, 5-1; Lonnquest and Winkler, 56; Mary T. Cagle, Development, Production, and Deployment of the Nike Ajax Guided Missile System: 1945-1959 (Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville AL: U.S. Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency, 1959), 35-37.

20 Ibid., 56; Lonnquest and Winkler, 170.

21 Lonnquest and Winkler, 57.

22 Mary T. Cagle, History of the Nike Hercules Weapons System (Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville AL: U.S. Anny Missile Command, 1973); Mary T. Cagle, Development, Production, and Deployment of the Nike Ajax Guided Missile System: 1945-1959 (Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville AL: U.S. Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency, 1959).

23 Moeller, 47-48.

24 Mary T. Cagle, Development, Production, and Deployment of the Nike Ajax Guided Missile System: 1945-19 59 (Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville AL: U.S. Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency, 1959).

25 Lonnquest and Winkler, 165-167.

26 McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 2-2.

27 Cagle, 35-37; Mark Morgan, Nike Quick Look III (Ft. Worth, TX: AERO MK, 1990), 152.

28 Whitacre, 32-35.

29 Mary T. Cagle, History of the Nike Hercules Weapons System (Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville AL: U.S. Army Missile Command, 1973).

30 Mary T. Cagle, History of the Nike Hercules Weapons System.

31 Mary T. Cagle, History of the Nike Hercules Weapons System.

32 McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 5-1; Malevich, "Nike Deployment," 417.

33 Gunston, Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Rockets and Missiles, 171-172; McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 2-4, 2-5.

34 Gunston, Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Rockets and Missiles, 174.

35 Jane Carolan, et al, Architectural Survey: Volume I, Architectural History, F. E. Warren Air Force Base, 3:68.

36 United States Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. Ballistic Missile Defense Technologies (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office), 37, 51; Gunston, Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Rockets and Missiles, 178-179.

Nike Missile Site MS-40 HAER NO. MN-8 Page 44

37 Jane Carolan, et al, Architectural Survey, 3-69.

38 McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 3-1.

39 McMaster, 3-1.

4° Carolan, "Nike Missile Battery PR-79," 6.

41 The Stackpole Company, The Army Almanac, (Harrisburg, PA), 84.

42 McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 3-1.

43 Carolan, "Nike Missile Battery PR-79," 6; McMasters, 3-2.

44 McMasters, 3-2; Jane Carolan, et al, Architectural Survey, 3-4, 4-5.

100

45 Bruce Jacobs, A Final Report: Nike-Hercules Air Defense is Phased Out of the Army National Guard, (Washington, DC: Department of the Army and the Air Force, National Guard Bureau), 4-5, 9.

46 Bruce Jacobs, A Final Report, 9, 28.

47 Carolan, "Nike Missile Battery PR-79," 8.

48 For further details on the administration and execution of the training program for the Nike Ajax and Hercules systems, see Nike Blue Book, 220-43.

49 Carolan, "Nike Missile Battery PR-79," 8.

50 Whitacre, 39-41.

51 "Site Selection Criteria for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers," Nike-General History of Design 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Office of History, Nike Microfiche, Fiche 2: 1.

52 Carolan, "Nike Missile Battery PR-79," 8.

53 Carolan, et al, Architectural Survey, 3-17.

54 Carolan, "Nike Missile Battery PR-79," 8.

55 Telephone Interview, Leon Chatelain, III, son of architect Leon Chatelain, Jr. 13 May 1993, cited in Carolan, "Nike Missile Battery PR-79," 8.

56 "A Short History of the Corps of Engineers Participation in the Nike Program,": 3.

57 "A Short History of the Corps of Engineers Participation in the Nike Program,": 2-3.

58 "A Short History of the Corps of Engineers Participation in the Nike Program,": 3.

59 "Memo, Chief Specifications and Estimating Branch to Chief, Engineering Division, COE", Nike­General History of Design 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Office of History, Nike Microfiche, Fiche 2: 3.

60 "Memo, Chief Engineering Division to Chief, Structures Branch, COE." Magazines -"B" Box 2B Nike-Hercules 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 40, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, Office of History, United States Corp of Engineers, Nike Microfiche, Fiche 1; "A Short History of the Corps of Engineers Participation in the Nike Program," Fort Belvoir, VA, Office of History, United States Corp of Engineers, Nike Microfiche, Fiche 1: 1.

Nike Missile Site MS-40 HAER NO. MN-IS Page 45

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61 Fort Belvoir, VA, "Memo, Chief Engineering Division to Chief, Structures Branch, COE".

62 Carlisle, PA, Institute for Military History, Carlisle Barracks, Senior Officers Oral History Program, Lt. General Robert Hackett, Retired, Project 83-C, 250. During interviews with men stationed at the Farmington Nike Launch Site, they were reluctant to discuss the use of nuclear warheads, although circumstantial evidence abounds that they were indeed used at MS-40.

63 "Special Instruction and Engineering Data for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers", Planning Nike, General 2B 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, Fiche I: 3.

64 "Special Instruction and Engineering Data for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers," Fiche I: 2.

65 "Special Instruction and Engineering Data for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers" Planning Nike, General 2B 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, Fiche I: I.

66 "Special Instruction and Engineering Data for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers," Fiche I: 4.

67 "Special Instruction and Engineering Data for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers,", Fiche I: 4.

68 "Site Selection Criteria for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers," Nike-General History of Design 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, United States Anny Corps of Engineers, Office of History, Nike Microfiche, Fiche 2: 8.

69 "Site Selection Criteria for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers," Nike-General History of Design 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Office of History, Nike Microfiche, Fiche 2: 4.

7° Carolan, "Nike Missile Battery PR-79," 12.

71 "Site Selection Criteria for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers," Nike-General History of Design 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Office of History, Nike Microfiche, Fiche 2: 8.

72 "Site Selection Criteria for Nike On-Site Program, Office of the Chief of Engineers," Nike-General History of Design 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Office of History, Nike Microfiche, Fiche 2: 6.

73 "Draft, General Description of Facilities at Typical Nike Installations," General 2B 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Office of History, Nike Microfiche, Fiche I: 1-3.

74 "A Short History of the Corps of Engineers Participation in the Nike Program", Insert D. Nike-Gen. History of Design 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, Fiche I: no page.

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75 ARADCOM Argus, Unsigned article, "Generalized Sequence oflnactivation Events for Sites", ARADCOM Argus, February 1974, 12; McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 2-4; ARADCOM Argus, Unsigned article, "Generalized Sequence of Inactivation Events, 12; "Letter to Senator John Stennis from Robert T. Stevens, Secretary of the Army," Nike-General History of Design 62-A-1478 (PW) Box 38, Missiles & Protective Structures Branch Engineering Division, Milcondir, OCE Central Decimal Files, Fort Belvoir, VA, Fiche 3: n. p.

76 Steven Malevich, "Nike Deployment", Military History 320, 417.

77 McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 2-1; Macmillan Educational Corm, Merit Students Encyclopedia, Vol. 12,322; Malevich, "Nike Deployment', 417; United States Army, "Air Defense Artillery Missile Battalion Nike Ajax. Department of the Army Field Manual 44-85;" (Washington DC: Department of the Army), 3.

78 McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 4-4.

79 United States Army, "Technical Manual for Nike-Ajax. Department of the Army Technical Manual TM-9-500." (Washington DC: Department of the Army), no date, no page; United States Army, "Procedures and Drills for the Nike Ajax System; Department of the Army Field Manual 44-80." (Washington DC: Department of the Army), November 1956, 243; United States Army, "Air Defense Artillery Missile Battalion -Nike Ajax. Field Manual 44-85", 40.

80 Ibid., 55.

81 Hatheway, Roger, et al, Survey and Evaluation of the Nike Missile Site at Fort MacArthur, White Point Los Angeles County, California (San Diego, CA), 33.

82 McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 4-4.

83 McMaster, et al, Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System, 5-1.

84 United States Army. "Procedures and Drills for the Nike Ajax System. Department of the Army Field Manual 44-82." (Washington DC: Department of the Army), November 1968, 10.

85 "Guided Missile Station to Locate Here," Dakota County Times, 25 July 1957.

86 Parkman, Army Engineers in New England, 141-142.

87 "Guided Missile Station to Locate Here," Dakota County Times, 25 July 1957; "Nike Survey Team in Area," Dakota County Tribune, 5 September 1957.

88 "Nike Survey Takes Place," Dakota County Tribune, 15 August 1957; "Nike Sites Still in Preliminary Inspection Stage," Dakota County Tribune, 3 October 1957; "Engineers To Ask For Bids on Missile Sites," Dakota County Tribune, 13 March 1958; "U.S. to Expedite Nike Site Here," Dakota County Tribune, 5 June 1958; "$100,000 Nike Road Will Be Constructed," Dakota County Tribune, 21 January 1960.

89 "Nike Low Bid is Announced, " Dakota County Tribune, 26 June 1958; "Work to Begin on Nike Site," Dakota County Tribune, 10 July 1958; "Bird's Eye View," Dakota County Tribune, 18 December 1958; "Nike Sites Will Be Completed August l," Dakota County Tribune, 4 June 1959; "Missile Post Nearing Completion, Dakota County Tribune, 16 July 1959; Men Move to Nike Site, August 19-20," Dakota County Tribune, 13 August 1959; "First Troops Arrive for Nike Duty Here," Dakota County Tribune, IO September 1959; "Steel Strike Delayed Missile Base Projects," Dakota County Tribune, 26 November 1959; "Nike Base Ready to Fire Missiles," Dakota County Tribune, 7 January 1960.

90 The description of the property is based on a site visit by the author in October 2000. There have been two other evaluations of the property: Amy L. Ollendorfand Anthony Godfrey, "Cultural Resource

Nike Missile Site MS-40 HAER NO. MN-A Page 47

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Management Investigation: Closure of the Twin Cities Research Center, U.S. Bureau of Mines, completed by Braun/lntertec for the U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1996; and, Steven L. Shugart, et al., "The Nike Missile Site Investigation Program," Files of Twin Cities Research Center, U.S. Bureau of Mines, 22 August 1990. In addition, the Minneapolis Star published a photo essay of the St. Bonifacius Nike Site, "Inside St. Bonifacius Missile Base," Minneapolis Tribune, 10 January 1971.

91 "Bids Asked on Four Nike Guided Missile Stations," Dakota County Tribune, 29 May 1958; "Nike Base Sold to Highest Bidder," Dakota County Tribune, 4 January 1979; Brigadier General Jude W. Patin, "Defense Environmental Restoration Program for Formerly Used Defense Sites Findings and Determination of Eligibility, Nike Battery MSP-40," Files of Twin Cities Research Center, U. S. Bureau of Mines, 22 August 1990.

92 "Bureau of Mines Takes Over Vacated Nike Base," Dakota County Times, 3 June 1971.

93 "Bureau of Mines Takes Over Vacated Nike Base," Dakota County Times, 3 June 1971.

94 "Bureau of Mines Takes Over Vacated Nike Base," Dakota County Times, 3 June 1971.

95 "Bureau of Mines Takes Over Vacated Nike Base," Dakota County Times, 3 June 1971.

96 "Bureau of Mines Takes Over Vacated Nike Base," Dakota County Times, 3 June 1971; "Nike Base Sold to Highest Bidder," Dakota County Tribune, 4 January 1979; Wally Sapp, interview with author, 17 November 2000.

97 William Lawrence, "Life on a Nike Site," Nike Missiles & Missile Sites @ ha.fdu.edu/-bender/nike.html

98 Gary Stephens, "Three Hours to Armageddon: Life at a Cold War Nike Missile Site," Air Defense Magazine, October 1999.

99 Gary Stephens, "Three Hours to Armageddon: Life at a Cold War Nike Missile Site," Air Defense Magazine, October 1999.

10° Col. William Lawrence, "Life a Nike Site."

101 "Perfect Record of New Mexico Tests for Crew," Twin Cities Defender, April 1961; Wally Sapp, interview with author, 17 November 2000; "Bureau of Mines Takes Over Vacated Nike Base," Dakota County Times, 3 June 1971.

102 Col. William Lawrence, "Life a Nike Site."

103 Col. William Lawrence, "Life a Nike Site."

104 "We Want to Become Part of Community," Dakota County Tribune, 1 August 1957; also see the Twin Cities Defender, newsletter of the Third Missile Battalion. For example, the Battalion participated in the Isanti County Fair, August, 1961; the State Fair, September 1962; and the Centennial Day Parade, July 1965. At Christmas 1966, the Farmington unit donated presents to the State Hospital in Faribault, "Bravo Gives Gifts to Hospital," Twin Cities Defender, December 1966.

105 "Guided Missile Station to Locate Here," Dakota County Tribune, 25 July 1957; Wally Sapp, interview with author, 17 November 2000; "Army Seeks Housing for 30 Families," Dakota County Tribune, 13 February 1958. Reminiscences of crewmen from other Nike sites confirm the uneasy--but generally positive - relations between the community and the base. See William Lawrence, "Life at a Nike Missile Site," and Gary Stephens, "Three Hours from Armageddon: Life at a Cold War Nike Missile Site," ADA Magazine, October 1999.

106 "140 Students Sit-Down at Nike Base," Dakota County Trzbune, 14 May 1970.

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107 "Farmington Nike Base to Close," Dakota County Tribune, 4 March 1971; "Four Area Nike Sites to be closed: 38 Shutdowns Nationally," Minneapolis Star; 3 March 1971; "Four Area Nike Bases to be Shut," Minneapolis Tribune, 4 March 1971; "Air Defense Revamp To Eliminate Bases," Dakota County Tribune, 4 March 1971.

108 "Nike Base Awaits Future in Silence," Dakota County Tribune, 20 May 1971; "Area is Clear, Anyone for Golf?" Minneapolis Star, 13 May 1971.

109 "Bureau of Mines Takes Over Vacated Nike Base," Dakota County Tribune, 3 June 1971; "Bureau of Mines, Vo-Tech School, Bid on Nike Base," Dakota County Tribune, 9 November 1972; Brigadier General Jude W. Patin, "Defense Environmental Restoration Program for Formerly Used Defense Sites Findings and Detennination of Eligibility, Nike Battery MSP-40," Files of Twin Cities Research Center, U.S. Bureau of Mines, 22 August 1990.

110 "Six Nike Sites Are Abandoned," St. Paul Pioneer Press, 1 August 1971.