[2]:45, Approximately 25,000 Nike Hercules were manufactured. I called the number at 2:45 AM and got no answer (this was before answering machines). AADCPS | IRBMs and ICBMs were also a consideration, but these were being addressed by the Nike Zeus concept, leaving only short-range weapons as an issue Hercules might need to address. Missile Tracking Radar-Nike-Ajax Mode 126 feet Target Tracking Radar-Wide Pulse Mode 230 feet Transmitting antennas in the non-scanning mode should not be positioned so as to radiate into areas occupied by passive antennas. sargent turns white), Ending up with an eye injury Greece | LA-29 | Back 1 1/2 hrs turn in vehicle get off for payday. No damage. ammo trailer that lost three The Hercules system was compared to threats ranging from the relatively short-range Little John, Honest John and Lacrosse through medium-range systems like Corporal, Sergeant and Lance, and finally the long-range (for battlefield concerns) 200mi (320km) Redstone. BR-17 | the vicinity of the passive antennas. The project had moved several times, and was now in late development as the BOMARC. [N 4] The LOPAR provided rough range, azimuth and limited altitude or elevation information to the operators of the Target Tracking Radar (TTR), who would manually slew the TTR onto the target. A test against the much higher performance Pershing was carried out on 16 October 1963, and while the HIPAR was able to detect the missile, the tracking system was unable to track it. Poor old 5 ton got run very hard that day. It is relatively easy to jam range information on monopulse radars like the TTR by sending out false return signals. Then I remembered that the civilian said he had been in the antenna cleaning and had just left, missing a dose of thousands of watts of RF energy- a close call. ), and various related offices and communications centres for general operations. Hercules was originally developed as a simple upgrade to the earlier MIM-3 Nike Ajax, allowing it to carry a nuclear warhead in order to defeat entire formations of high-altitude supersonic targets. Sieverts or rem are used in reports on radiation disasters, because they give a better sense of how the radiation might affect human health. Engineers continued work on getting a second missile operational at McGuire, but the Air Force went ahead with plans to open the Suffolk County Missile Annex by 1 January 1960. Posterior subcapsular cataracts. Date: August 4, 2019. The guys in the bunker thought they were toast (literally). During development the Air Force continued its Project Wizard while the Army started its Project Plato studies for dedicated anti-missile systems. The resulting system used six semi-trailers: four to carry HIPAR electronic gear, one to carry the antenna, and one to carry the generators. Over the years, the vacuum-tube guidance system, as well as the complex fire control systems' radars, suffered from diminishing manufacturing source (DMS) issues. You may be entitled to disability compensation if these military exposures resulted in a disease or injury. Starting in April 1960, considerable effort was put into a fully mobile "Cross-Country Hercules" launcher based on the M520 Goer vehicle, an articulated prime mover that saw considerable service during the Vietnam War. The Captain told the civilian that he had been notified by the Army two years ago that these tests would take place and when. His Thompson went off. The former three-missile Nike Hercules base in Rocky Point is now the site of an Army Reserve Center but the remnants of the missile base remaina variety of structures and missile silos. Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2012. 2nd of the 52nd | BatteryAirlift | He was safe but tube died. From: Thomas Moorer At the same time, there were increasing concerns that higher speed aircraft would be able to launch their warheads at the extreme range of the Nike bases. [9]:6162, Eventually, in November the new Secretary of Defense, Neil H. McElroy announced both systems would be purchased. [30], The first EFS sets arrived at White Sands late in 1962 and started testing in April 1963. [N 3] The first SNODGRASS round was launched on 14 July with its warhead replaced by an instrument package and launched against a 350-knot (400mph; 650km/h) Q2A Ryan Firebee I drone. Hercules also offered the ability to attack pre-located ground targets, after feeding in the coordinates in an operation that took about five minutes. We had been working on the cable cleaning for quite some time when he came by to check on us. Acquisition Radar Systems 502-537-Non-scanning Alaska | Similar systems quickly emerged from other nations, including the S-75 Dvina (SA-2) from the USSR,[7] and the English Electric Thunderbird in the UK. Information from the MTR and TTR continued to be fed to the computer for updating the intercept point based on any actual changes in either the missile or the target location, speed or direction. 09/1963-09/1966, From: Hardy, Timothy A CIV (US) I and the Medic have to make a run to a nearby town and rescue two young troops from a mob. Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 4:38:38 PM EOD failed to come out to see, but sent instructions on what to do. [18] This forced the Army to turn its Jupiter IRBM systems to the Air Force, and to limit the range of their ABM developments. At 3:03 AM I received a call from our base switchboard. Germany Oct 1962: Frostbite while manning the perimeter during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Personnel should not be permitted to enter areas where they may be exposed to levels above 10 milliwatts per square centimeter. The NVA knew we were coming. Live in tents while they rebuilding adm/barrack. The TRR was operated by the track supervisor. The intensity of the beam from the target tracking radar in Anyway, Google searches show me that I'm not the only "missile jockey" (Nike Hercules) to be diagnosed with PTC later in life. It is not known if nuclear warheads existed at the site because the military would not release that information to the epa. Ionizing radiation is defined by the va as atmospheric nuclear weapon exposure, particle radiation, i.e., nuclear waste disposal and dirty bomb attacks. There were concerns about the possibility of Air Force fighters being attacked by Army missiles, but the two forces improved co-ordination between the Army's ARAACOM and the Air Force's Air Defense Command (ADC) to the point where it was no longer a serious concern. Solid fuel rockets can remain stored for years and are generally very difficult to ignite without an extended period of applied flame. [11], Things changed dramatically with the development of Hercules. 126 feet, Target Tracking Soviet development of ICBMs and the de-emphasis of their bomber force decreased the value of the Hercules system. Maintenance | NY56 | [21], The AMMO shot took place on 1 July 1958, successfully intercepting a simulated 650-knot (750mph; 1,200km/h) target flying at an altitude of 100,000 feet (30,000m) and a slant range of 79 miles (69nmi; 127km). He could have have protected the equipment, by pointing the antenna away from our HIPAR, a simple thing to do! We were short mechanics so we were working 24 hours on and 24 off. Avoiding the alligators on Key West when Missile Specificaitons The Hercules missile could travel 87 miles down range and 150,000 feet in altitude. The other pit rat and myself rolled a round on the launcher and I performed the stray voltage check. continually strafing the site, Icy mountain roads that automotive vehicles slide on. A Cold War Missile site on the side of a mountain in Dichtelbach, Germany Coursety of Sam Mclung RADAR DATA Increasing performance against these longer-range "theatre" weapons would require more extensive upgrades that would have pushed the time-frame out to the range when FABMDS was expected. Good luck to any fishing boats at that point of the ocean. There are certain diseases that may be service-connected if the disease occurred as a result of the radiation exposure. Hercules remained the US's primary heavy SAM until it began to be replaced by the higher performance and considerably more mobile MIM-104 Patriot in the 1980s. LaunchEquipment | [30], The primary change to create the resulting "Improved EFS/ATBM Hercules" was a modified version of the HIPAR. Because of our location, the top five channels on the HIPAR radar could not be used unless the bad guys were overhead. From: "Gerald Browning" To: webmaster@nikemissile.org Here are some dangers I encountered, some are just plain stupidity. Turn a 2 bay vehicles manit. This included about 30 seconds to develop a track for a target; 4 seconds for computer to develop a firing solution, and 2 seconds between the initial fire order command and missile launch. Deployment began in 1958, initially at new bases, but it eventually took over many Ajax bases as well. Like the Ajax, the Hercules used a transponder in the missile. This was carried out in a protected area behind a large berm, in order to protect the rest of the site from an accidental explosion during fuelling. This, in turn, required a much larger booster to loft it, but this was solved by strapping together four of the existing Nike boosters to form a cluster known as the XM-42, with the only modification to the original M5 engine design being the addition of new holes to bolt them together, creating the M5E. Oozlefinch | Like the Germans and British before them, they concluded the only successful defence would be to use guided weapons.[5]. HIPAR used its own displays and operators, and forwarded targeting information to the LOPAR operators who would then pick up those same targets on their own display. Supply Person (76Y) shot is finger in the arms room with a M1911A1 (cal.45). Boss said it couldn't be done, we said give us 2 weeks, we ran into a little trouble acquiring a power converter that we could operate off the tank system to power the radar. By making the signal wide-frequency, the jammer has to likewise broadcast across a similar bandwidth, limiting the energy in any one frequency and allowing the operator to tune the receiver to find an unjammed band. However, as rumours of a ban on atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons spread, SNODGRASS became a crash project to be completed before 1 September 1958 at any available site the Nevada Test Site was fully booked with the existing Project AMMO testing series. while on field exercises in the Primary among these was that the Ajax fuels were hypergolic, igniting on contact. A discussion about veterans health. Date: Thursday, 19 December 2013. Handling | IrwinAnger | 330 feet, Systems 538-594 and Germany 1962: As Duty driver I get a call from the CQ. Air Force call the Army about it. Then put it back in the barn. SF-51 | Those black, yellow and red Korean hornets. Battery B, 5th Battalion, 6th Air Defense Artillery: From: Jim Martensen resulting reflections may present a potential hazard to personnel workingin Any single battery could only launch a single missile at a time, due to the limited number of radars, computers and operators. RockyStovall | A similar test on 17 July against a 300-knot (350mph; 560km/h) Q2A destroyed the target with the T45. This had been done for many tests in the past in the last two years. It seeks to avoid unnecessary radiation exposure whenever possible and to minimize doses when exposure is unavoidable. Health | Smaller deltas in front of the main wings, and blended into them, provided roll control with very small flaps mounted to pivot along a line roughly 45 degrees from the line of the fuselage. Ajax's boosters were housed in steel tubes that fell near the base, presenting a serious range safety concern. I was woken at 6:30 AM by our Master Sergeant banging on my door telling me to get dressed and report to the base commander now and bring the daily log! As Hercules had evolved from the fixed-base Ajax system, early deployments offered no mobility. 7923 carlton arms rd, apt b (1,726.23 mi) indianapolis, in, in 46256. The location was downtown Huntsville, Alabama. In February, Air Force Chief of Staff Thomas D. White shocked everyone when he requested that BOMARC deployments be reduced to eight US and two Canadian sites, essentially killing the program. T he Nike-Hercules was first publicly displayed on May 18, 1957. A short period after launch the actual location, i.e. Early deployments starting in 1958 were on new sites, but Ajax units started converting as well. Service personnel records show that the veteran spent most of his active duty service at the nike missile battery in milwaukee. Tom Cluff | [36], The entire sequence of events from decision to launch to actual launch normally took about 36 seconds. 801 and above-Non-scanning NoSleep | In 1946, the USAAF also started two early research projects into anti-missile systems in Project Thumper (MX-795) and Project Wizard (MX-794). The active seeker system was later dropped to lower costs. Radio-frequency radiations from radar antennas and associated Someone did the impossible by installing the Nike's gyro backward (that was the official explanation) which caused the missile to go more south as the computer told it to go more north. Alaska | being the MP whom was moving the The Nike Hercules was a command-guided, long-range, high-altitude anti-aircraft missile. hospital (those deemed sickest ranging radar is inconsequential under operating conditions. Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2015 111 rows from web site va.gov. TTR and TRR operator console. and doing it up wind (Black HerculesMissile | We looked everywhere for the slug and SASCOM came in to search for it too. Radiation exposure High pressure hydraulic lines bursting In the danger zone of a radiating antenna Body parts sucked into cooling fans German citizens taking pot shots at the IFC due to getting tired of the constant blip-blip-blip from the HIPAR Finding a Nike Hercules' warhead armed itself after a power surge or drop. Parathyroid adenoma. It was quite a bit bigger than the Nike Ajax launcher and it weighed about 7 tons. Date: Fri, 15 May 2015, From: Don Mullis This led to the use of semi-trailer systems for the fire control systems, which could be easily moved and re-positioned as required. electricity, Caked ice on radar tower ladders and of the best DAMN people whom Then haul it to K-town so the Gen had it for display. Also conducted were tests to evaluate ECM performance, two surface-to-surface tests, and two Hercules-on-Hercules attacks with the target Hercules flying in a semi-ballistic trajectory.[27]. Radar | To address this whole range of issues, Bell proposed a series of changes:[26]. Germany police tell you have to go back on 2 lane roads. A dual-launch followed on 24 July, with the first round destroying its target with the T45, and the second with the instrument package flying one second behind. Greece | General Electric demonstrated a prototype on 11 February 1964. [9]:5657, "Nike Ajax" used a slightly modified Nike missile, largely a re-arrangement of the internal components, making room for the 15kt (63TJ) WX-9 "gun-type" warhead also being developed as an artillery round. snow on the ground, Cleaning the the red juice from control section of a Nike because the "inflight repairman" did not properly safety wire the HPU that you were performing a test on (I should have checked his work), Getting arrested and thrown into jail in Juarez. We were using trichlorethelene (but not in a well vented area). Nike-Hercules system's reliance on ground-based radar to track tar-gets and to guide missiles to an interception, this was an important finding. The LA also had a control van to control and monitor the LA activities and maintenance facilities. On 15 November 1956, the new missile was officially renamed as the Nike Hercules, as part of DA Circular 700-22, while the Nike I becoming Nike Ajax. Harold Stanford | Prior to launch, the Missile Tracking Radar (MTR) locked on to the transponder in the selected missile. Having to disarm the warhead Crests | Each wing ended with a control flap which was separated from the wing by a short distance, leaving a gap. [29] FABMDS would have performance against any credible "theatre" ranged missile or rocket system, as well as offer anti-aircraft capabilities, the ability to attack four targets at once, and be relatively mobile. [30], The first deployment of the EFS/ATBM HIPAR was carried out between February and 20 April 1963, but during this time the Army decided not to deploy these systems in the United States. Nuclear-armed Nike Hercules missiles were deployed in the United States, Greece, Italy, Korea and Turkey, and with Belgian, Dutch, and U.S. forces in West Germany. Gilbert Burke | Thule | Otherwise the LOPAR was used. range water so polluted sends MPs For years later my wife thought it was cute that I glowed at night. LOPAR was relatively small, and the TTR/MTR were always trailer based, so these systems were also fairly mobile. The Nike Hercules missile launcher was called the M-36E1 monorail launcher. BOMARC proved extremely expensive, difficult to maintain in operation readiness, had questionable performance, and was displaying a continued inability to reach operational status. BudHalsey | It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, but could also be fitted with a conventional warhead for export use. There was an American with him in the barn at the time but didnt see him lock and load a round. Getting up at 2am to drive the pay office 1 hrs to pick up pay and marks drive back 1 hrs to pay people back 1 hrs to turn in money and marks. Finding Body parts sucked into cooling fans; And memorandum to chief of engineers from dcslog. Once a month at 3 AM on the first Sunday the top five channels were tested for one minute each, timed with a stop watch. [28] HIPAR was a large system and generally deployed under a dome on top of a concrete platform that raised it above any local obstructions. Note that this has no effect on the determination of the direction to the target, which is the same for both the original and jammer pulses. and 16Bs to 5th Gen Home | The emerald that was melted was in one of the first RF laser amplifiers in the world! MS-70 | Can you say Asbestos time it was only 1974. Going to ag shack and meeting mister brown bear on the way or going to pick up mail from main post and getting run over by a moose in rut. 33 feet, Systems 538-594 and However, as it protected a much greater area, not as many sites were needed to provide coverage of potential targets. Another development for the anti-ballistic missile role later emerged as the much larger LIM-49 Nike Zeus design. "[9]:6061 By the time early Hercules deployments were starting in 1958, BOMARC was still nowhere near operational. War Veterans Assc. Radiation at the test site was. Niagara-Buffalo | Several years later I was working for AT&T when I ran across an article in an AT&T magazine about Murray Hill in New Jersey. Anyway, Dr tells me that the leading suspects are heredity and exposure to radiation in early adulthood. Reunions | Nike Site filled with constant alerts, training, inspections, Radar Bomb Patriot's much higher accuracy allowed it to dispense with the nuclear warhead, and Hercules was the last US SAM to use this option. It often had rack sections attached to it also. Other diseases associated with radiation exposure. The TRR solves this problem by providing a separate ranging system on another frequency. When the intensity is high, the radiation may produce enough heat to damage the tissues permanently. The Nike Hercules was a command-guided, long-range, high-altitude anti-aircraft missile the fixed-base system. See him lock and load a round on the HIPAR radar could not be to... New Secretary of Defense, Neil H. 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