Conten
ts
1 Follow-On to Redstone 3 Pershing 1 is Born 4 Orlando Development 6 Flight Tests at Cape Canaveral 6 Battalion Activation
7 Ice. Snow. and 50 Below 9 Panama
9 White Sands Testing 11 Deployment in Europe 13 Pershing Improved for QRA 14 Eglin Environmental Testing 14 Orlando Environmental Tests 14 Green River Road March
16 Operation SWAP - U.S. Preparation 18 Operation SWAP - Delivery in Germany 21 P1 -A in Europe
Pershing
1 1s Born
1958
Pershing 1 . as conceived in 1 958 by the Advanced Ballistic Missile Agency. weighed
10.000 pounds at liftoff. The 2-stage solid propellant missile had a range of 400 miles and was guided to the target by jam-proof inertial guidance.
A complete firing unit was composed of an erector-launcher to transport the missile to the launch site and serve as a launch pad. a programmer-test station to preset the missile trajectory and test missile electrical systems before flight. a power station to supply required electrical power to launch the missile. a radio terminal set to communicate with higher headquarters. and a warhead carrier. Four modified M-113 tracked vehicles transported the missile and launch equipment to the firing site.
Pershing Missile and Erector-Launcher 2 Radio Terminal Set 3 Warhead Carrier
4 Programmer-Test/Power Station
2
A member of the Pershing team checks out the azimuth laying device used to accurately target the missile.
Orlando Development
1958-60
In March of 1958 the Army Missile Command awarded the Orlando Division of Martin Marietta a contract to design and develop the Pershing system. Soon after the award the new
Army-Industry team entered the initial design and development phases of the program. Engineers. designers. planners. logistics experts.
and technicians all pitched in to get the program
off to a good start.
Eventually Pershing equipment. mounted on modified M-113 tracked vehicles. was tested in mud-filled swamps. bounced over rugged terrain. assembled. erected. and disassembled several times in preparation for the first flight
at Cape Canaveral. Technicians gave
Pershing a hard pounding
Flight Tests
at Cape Canaveral
1960
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63
An early configuration R&D round blasts off at Cape Canaveral.
By January 1960 the first Pershing missile was ready for launch. Facilities at Cape Canaveral were activated by the Army Corps of Engineers. and the test vehicle was fired February 25 on a 30-mile trajectory out over the Atlantic Test Range.
This initial flight marked the beginning of many successes for Pershing. In June of the same year. another successful launch tested erratic motion programmed into the missile's flight path to prove stability. In February of 1961. Pershing was launched and successfully demonstrated its inertial guidance system. January 1962. Pershing traveled downrange 400 miles over the Atlantic for its first full flight. And so it went until the Cape Canaveral test program ended in April of 1963.
Pershing had performed well ... so well in fact that it had scored more successful launches during a development program than any previous major missile system.
Lt. Col. Patrick Powers. first Commander of a Pershing battalion. summarized the Army's feelings about Pershing when he said, "From the standpoint of the troops. we are highly pleased with the Pershing Weapon System ... We think Pershing will be a giant on the nuclear
battlefield."
Lt. Col. Patrick J. Powers
receives the 2nd/ 44th's colors from Dr. Finn J. Larsen during an
organization ceremony at Ft. Sill. Oklahoma.
Battalion Activation
1962
While flight testing continued at the Cape. Pershing troops were being trained. In
September of 1961. the first of 2 50 key military and civilian personnel from Redstone Arsenal and Fort Sill arrived in Orlando to receive 16 weeks of training in 12 different Pershing specialities.
In June of 1962 the first Pershing battalion. the 2nd/44th. was activated at Fort Sill. and in July classes opened at Fort Sill to familiarize the troops with the new Pershing system. By October the men were ready. and on the 13th of that month the 2nd/44th was formally organized. Dr. Finn J. Larsen. Assistant
Secretary of the Army. was on hand to present the unit colors to Lt. Col. Patrick J. Powers. Commanding Officer of the new Pershing unit.
Next. Pershing troops and Martin Marietta engineers would take the system to Alaska for environmental testing.
Ice, Snow, and 50 Below
1962
Alaska with its ice. snow. and 50 degree below
zero temperatures poses a formidable
environmental challenge to any weapon system.
The question was. then. how would the Pershing
system's 10.000 pounds of missile and tons of support equipment perform in this environment?
Would system lubricants remain fluid at these temperatures. and could rubber-coated cables and tubing stand the extreme cold? How well would the tracked vehicles perform on Alaska's frozen slopes?
In December of 1962. test engineers and troops of the United States Army went to Alaska to find the answers.
While in Alaska the Army-Industry team
performed normal assembly. erection. checkout. and countdown procedures to determine system
performance in this environment. When the Arctic tests were over. Capt. Warfield Lewis. Testing Chief of the Test and Evaluation Branch of the Pershing Project Manager's Office. announced that the system had performed successfully in the Alaskan environment.
Troops and engineers tested Pershing equipment in subzero weather at Ft. Wainwright. Alaska.
Panama
1963
A few months after returning from Alaska test engineers and U.S. Army personnel were on the road again. This time they headed for Panama to test Pershing's performance in a tropical environment.
Once in Panama. the missile and ground support equipment were subjected to heavy rains. mud. high humidity. and oppressive heat. Exhaustive tests were conducted to identify and correct any problems induced by this tropical environment. In August of 1 963 Pershing was successfully demonstrated at Fort Sherman in the Canal Zone for Major General T. F. Bogart.
Commanding General. U.S. Army Southern Command. By September all tests were completed and the Pershing team began packing for home. Tests in Panama had further demonstrated Pershing's rugged all-weather capability.
White Sands Testing
1963
After Panama. the Pershing system was ready for its final tests ... tactical firings onto White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The plan called for U.S. Army artillerymen to fire Pershing overland onto the White Sands Range from launch sites in Texas. New Mexico. and Utah ... the four Corners area of the Southwest. Troops of "A" Battery. 2nd Battalion/44th Artillery. under the command of Capt. Donald Phipps. opened this series of tests with successful launches from Heuco. Texas. on August 20. 1963. In October the unit traveled 630 miles into the rugged desert and mountain areas near Blanding, Utah. where. in a period of one week. they successfully fired five
Pershing missiles over three states to impact on White Sands Missile Range nearly 400 miles to
the south. This marked the first time Pershing was fired over populated areas to test the full range of the missile.
The White Sands test series ended late in 1963 with launches from the Devil Mountain area near Gallup, New Mexico. by the 2nd/44th and the 4th/41 st. the second Pershing unit to be activated. With the successful completion of this phase of the development program. the
Pershing system was now ready for deployment.
Pershing round No. 32 blasts off from Heuco Range. Texas. and heads for a target area on the White Sands Missile Range. A second Pershing missile (foreground) has been counted down and stands ready for launch.
Deployment
inEurope
1964
In the Spring of 1964 the Pershing system was
deployed in Western Germany. Tested in Arctic
and tropical extremes and launched from rugged terrain under simulated combat conditions.
Pershing was now ready to assume its tactical role in the European theater.
Taking the new missile system to Europe was the 4th/41 st. later to be joined by the 1 st/81 st and the 3rd/84th. The 4th/41 st is now the 1 st/41 st. Meanwhile. the 2nd/44th. today known as the 3rd/9th. took up its home station at Fort Sill. Oklahoma.
Pershing troops undergo
a combat-readiness check at a firing site in Western Germany. These troops
return to the United
States annually for
operational test firings
onto White Sands Missile Range. New Mexico.
Pershing
Improved for ORA
19
6
5-6
7
The Pershing system had come a long way since
the first 30-mile test flight at Cape Canaveral early in 1 960. The Pershing Project Office. first under the command of Col. 0. M. Hirsch
followed by Col. Edwin I. Donley. had developed Pershing into a rugged. reliable. all-weather
weapon. But late in 1965. Pershing was given an additional role called Quick Reaction Alert. requiring new improvements to the system. The improved system. called Pershing 1-A. included a new programmer-test station with a digital computer for self test and fault isolation. a battery control central to coordinate
commands from headquarters to individual firing
batteries. and a new erector-launcher with fast erection capability and a faster rate of fire.
Additionally. the improved system was mounted on wheels instead of tracks to speed Pershing
to the firing site faster and with fewer
maintenance problems.
With these improvements. Pershing would
assume its new ORA role. prepared to serve as
a nuclear deterrent in support of NATO as well
as perform its basic mission of providing massive firepower in support of the Field Army.
2
By early 1967. the new Pershing system was
successfully demonstrated for Army officials at
Martin Marietta's Orlando facility. and P1 -A was on its way.
Programmer-Test/Power Station
2 Radio Terminal Set 3 Battery Control
Centra I
4 Pershing Missile and Erector-Launcher
Eglin Environmental Testing
1967
-68
Late in November 1967, a 13-vehicle Pershing convoy rolled through early morning fog to begin a road march from Martin Marietta's Orlando
Division to Eglin Air Force Base in northern
Florida where Pershing would undergo severe environmental testing in a mammoth climatic laboratory.
For 12 weeks the missile and ground support equipment were subjected to temperatures ranging from 1 50° F to -55 ° F. In addition. rain. snow. ice. and sleet were hurled at the system and rapid temperature changes were set up to
induce thermoshock in vital electrical and mechanical components. A countdown and
simulated launch followed each temperature change.
With the successful completion of these tests. all P 1-A equipment returned to Orlando.
Orlando Environmental Tests
1
968
Once back in Orlando. the P1 -A system was subjected to another series of rigorous
environmental tests. P1 -A equipment mounted on M-757 trucks was driven through mud.
Green River Road March
1968
Early in August 1968, men of the 2nd
Battalion/44th Artillery under the command of
Capt. Thomas Fitzgerald. left Fort Sill.
Oklahoma, and road-marched Pershing to Gilson Butte near Green River. Utah. There. under simulated combat conditions. P1 -A underwent its first service test firings when
troops successfully launched three missiles to
impact on White Sands Missile Range. P1 -A firings were conducted as a combined effort of the Army Test and Evaluation
Command. Aberdeen Proving Grounds. and the Army Artillery Board at Fort Sill.
tested on a rugged road course. and frozen in an environmental test chamber. A simulated countdown and launch followed each test to determine system integrity. 14
Operation SWAP
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U.S. Preparation
1968
Once the P1 -A system had been developed and
tested. there was the problem of supplying
troops in the field with the new gear while maintaining combat readiness.
In July of 1968. Martin Marietta. working closely with the U.S. Army Missile Command. solved this problem through a massive logistics program to supply Pershing units in Europe and the United States with the new P1 -A ground support equipment. This program. called Project SWAP. centered around Hanger N of the Air
Force Eastern Test Range at Cape Canaveral.
The mission was to exchange. item by item. the new equipment for the old in a direct
contractor-to-troop delivery system. bypassing the traditional Army supply line.
By April of '69. the first of several trainloads of
missile and launch support equipment for the new P1 -A system was on its way to Fort Sill.
Oklahoma. to equip the 2nd/44th. In August of the same year. the Adm. William Callaghan. the
world's largest dry cargo vessel. shipped out of
Port Canaveral with the first battalion-sized
package of new P 1 -A gear for troops in
Germany.
U.S. Army and Martin Marietta representatives at Cape Canaveral prepare documentation for new P1 -A equipment shipped to Europe under Project SWAP.
Operation
SWAP-Delivery
in
Germany
1969
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71
From Port Canaveral the shipload of new ground support equipment headed for the North Sea port of Bremerhaven. Germany. There. P1 -A rolled off the Callaghan and headed for a staging area at Fischstein. Germany. where old P1 gear was swapped for the new Pershing 1-A
equipment.
One by one Pershing firing batteries moved into Fischstein. exchanged their equipment and. after a concentrated training period. returned to their firing sites in the forests of Western Germany. Three such SWAP shipments were completed by mid-1970. and U.S. Army Pershing missile units were then fully equipped with the new fast-reacting Pershing 1-A system. By early 1971 Federal Republic of Germany Air Force troops had also received the new P1 -A gear through the same contractor-to-troops SWAP program.
U.S. Army troops check Pershing equipment lists after delivery to
Fischstein. Germany.
P1-A gear was shipped to West German Air Force troops early in 1971.
P1
-
A
m
Europe
1970
In October of 1972, Pershing marked its tenth year of active duty. Deployed in Europe with
troops of the U.S. Army and the Federal Republic of Germany Air Force. rugged.
reliable Pershing with its massive. mobile firepower is playing a major role in defense of the free world.
At sites throughout
Western Germany troops
keep Pershing ready to meet any threat.
Pershing Project Managers
Col. Oliver M. Hirsch (1962 - 1963) Col. Edwin I. Donley (1963 - 1966) Mr. Carl A. Pinyerd - acting - (1966) Col. Edwin A. Rudd (1966 - 1969) Col. Rutledge P. Hazzard (1969 - 1970) Col. Samuel C. Skemp, Jr. (1970
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