Training Pershing Crews

A n17Y Instruct ion on Nuclear Weapons

raining Pershing Crews

The U , 44th Artillery Re:1iment\ 2ml Missile Batw linn at Fort Sill, OklahomJ, was recently the fir, r Lmit in the American Army to receive Martin Per.')ling il)ng-range nuclc;1r missile,.

A fe w months ago tht: 2nd M issile Battalion of the U Army 4 4 th A rt illery Regiment at F ort Sill n::cl:iwd Vlar tin Pershing inertial-!!uidcd nuclear ml~s il es . T his put the Amcri-Cil n Army in pn'>Sc ~ion or a new weapon . yste m wh ich rs the m,lst r wL:rfu I it has ever had.

It W3\ n I nll:rl: cha oLl' the 2nd Missile Hil ttalinn wa,' thl: un it ~ekcte lL As early as I1J5!S, when the Jevelo pment contra t was a warded to the Mart in Company's O rlando

Divi~ ion _ Fort Sill wa~ planned as the base for tbe firs t opera tional f'e rshing batteries , For Fort Sill, In the tatc of O klahoma,is in a ce rtain senSe the headquarters of the S Army Artillcf). T he major tenan ts ll f Fort Sill incl ude the US Army A rtille ry B,)ard and thl: US Army Artillery and Mis ilc C~nler, a~ well a~ the first Field A r ti II ~ ry M is ilc Brig.lde (rcferrcu til from now on (i s th . B ri-galle) anll , particularl} important he rt: , thl' US Army Artillery .lOU Missi le SchOll (rek r-n:d to helow as the School) .

rhese and other co-operat ing age ncies have, from the very start, played a major part in the d\.:vdopmcnt of the Pershing weapon y tern. For instance, variou~ "m ilitary cha-

racter istics" wefe written by the US Army Artillery Bo;:nl, with contributions from the School and from Ordnaoce , E nginea , and Signal group~ . To reduce to minimum the perioll of time between the supply of liw missiles to the gunm:rs an d Ule ir op -rat ional readiness, the resrnn~ihle authorit ie ' m ade an early start on tIn: trdining at the p .... rsonnel destined for future Per..,hillg uni ts , T his was ma inly a maller of li mi ng th variou~ ins truc-

tion courses in such a way as to allow all pu-pils to complete their individual training at roughly the same time, and then to continue exercises on a unit basis until they had been brought up to fuIJy operational standard.

The Brigade, and of course, the School at Fort Sill arc concerned primarily with the personnel training aspect. Officers, non-com-missioned officers, and men, all of whom have to be thoroughly familiarised with the entire Pershing weapon system to equip them for their later duties in the battalion, com-

Instructors oC Field Artillery Missile Training Command dcmon

Automation notwithstand ing, the handling of modern weapons sys tems demands extensive specialist knowledge. The Pershing Battalion 's training programme covers lectures on theory, practical laboratory work, and simulated launches during manoeuvres. Left: Training with the missile in the US Army Artillery and Missile School, which is also a t Fort Sill. Right: One of the "pupi ls" in this picture is the Commander of the Pershing battalion , Lieut-Col. Patrick W. Powers (front row, right) .

What should the table of organisation for a Pershing unit be, i.e. the number of per-sonnel, and type and quantity of equipment necessary for an optimum operational establishment?

How should the Pershing system be used in operation, and what training programme must be worked out for this purpose?

What facilities are necessary for the train-ing of officers and men (from housing to training equipment)? The task of planning was made more diffi-

cult by the fact that answers had to be found to these questions while the Pershing weapon system was still in an early stage of develop-ment. A preliminary outline programme was first drawn up at Fort Sill, in order to give a

Martin Company technicians test Pershing weapons system equipment befo re delivery to the Army. Maintenance is also being carried out by the manufac turers for the time being, since the Ordnance Corps personnel have not yet completed their training.

This older photograph was taken duri ng the tri al launching of a Pershing. T he cable tower through which the electrica l and pneumatic power for pre- launch testing and ignition is carried is swung aside shortly before launch. I t is specially designed so as not to be damaged by the rocket exhaust, and can be used several times. The Pershing Weapon System

Type: Highly mobile artillery missi le with nuclear warhead.

Missile: Main contractor: Martin Company Solid motors: Thiokol Chemical Corp. Inertial guidance system: Bendix Corp . Length . . . . . - 32 It Diameter . . . . - 3.3 It Lau nch weig ht. - 10,000Ib Range . . . . . ~ 300 miles

Transporter-Erector-Launcher Main contractor: Thompson Ramo Woold ridge Length . W idth . Height . W eight.

X M 474 tracked vehicle

- 19.3 ft - 6.5 It - 8 .6 It - 5,800 Ib

Main contractor: Food Machinery and Chemical Corp.

Length .... . . Width . . ... . Height . . . .. . Grou nd clearance Max. weight ... Max . speed on level ground Max. gradient. .. .. . . Fords water to a depth of .

16.8 ft 8.3 It 6.3 It 1.3 It 11,000 Ib 40 m.p.h . 60 in 100 3.5 It

rough basi~ tur p lanning. Since no practical I.!xperil:ncl.: was a vadabl ', Ih is had to be based em paper informati n. i .e . . r ecifications and design drawings. When it had more or less been .:stabhshed how train ing should be or-ganiseu. personnel requi reme nts were calcu-lated both as ttl the type of men required and the numhers . In this way, the foundation of a prel iminary training pr gramme was laid, anJ the equipment was pb nncd accordingly.

t the same time, prop o"als were accumu-laling a!: to how the tra ining programme CQukl take accoun t of possi ble later changes In dt: ign , with the resu lt that the initial draft tHlining plan was inevita bly it copious docu-menl But lhis cautious planning was just i-fiet! , for the first launch tests proved various mudifications tll be mdispensa ble. These af-fected partly equipment and components on which the future servicing per-onrre! had al-feady bl'en drilled . In order to be :1ble to keep fully abr~ast of th design modifications, the Artillery School d legated ,