 Proudly we hail. From New York City, where the American stage begins, here is another program with a cast of outstanding players. Public service time has been made available by this station to bring you this story. As proudly we hail, the United States Air Force. Our story today is entitled, Milestone for the Matador. It's the thrilling story of the research and development of the new and powerful weapon from its initiation to its climax. Our first act curtain will rise in just a moment, but first, opportunity is the word that has been used in proclamations, campaigns and slogans since the dawn of American independence. There's no hollow sound to its usage either, for this land of ours is truly blessed with more opportunities for success than any nation on earth. Today, your Air Force is offering ambitious young men greater opportunities for success than ever before. As an Airman, you'll receive free specialized training in one of the hundreds of Air Force assignments. There are careers to suit every interest, such as communications, radar, air traffic control and many, many others. As an Airman, you'll wear the handsome blue Air Force uniform. You'll serve in fascinating assignments at home and abroad, and you'll be a member of a wonderful organization that has won the respect and admiration of people everywhere. Yes, your United States Air Force has comprised of outstanding young men who are going places in highly skilled, good paying careers. Find out soon about your opportunities as an Airman. Visit your nearest Air Force recruiting station at your earliest opportunity. And now your United States Air Force presents the proudly we hail production, Milestone for the Matador. I'm Captain Frank McClelland, United States Air Force. A few weeks ago, you may have seen an item in your paper that went something like this. Bittberg, Germany. The first pilotless bomber squadron has been assigned to this base in the European command. The squadron is the first step toward realization of push-button warfare. If war comes to Europe, the men of the PB Squadron are prepared to launch against the enemy the new B-61 Matador guided missile. Behind that brief item is a real story. The story of a stubby airplane which can fly 600 miles an hour is capable of carrying an atomic warhead but is expendable since it has no crew and can be launched with a flick of a switch you wouldn't have believed. Well, maybe it did seem like a funny job and a funny place to be. But the successful development of the missile, later to be called the Matador, depended on the results of our mission. The construction of the launching sites at Patrick Air Force Base had begun almost a year before. Downrange stations where instruments and control points could be set up were also in progress. But to be completely successful, our whole project depended on cooperation by the natives. So our goodwill mission was organized and we set out with a team of officers and men including Master Sergeant Lou Hendricks and myself. These people here are going to know more about missiles when we get through than people back home in the States, Captain. Yes, that's right, but that's the way it has to be. First of all, they've got to be acquainted with safety precautions because if a live warhead should wash up along here someplace and someone should start out of curiosity to fool around with it it'd be an incident that might threaten our whole program. And if they know what it's all about, they'll contact us and we'll be able to recover spent missiles that turn up in good condition along with preventing accidents. That's right. And the only way to impress them is to put on a performance that will knock them in the aisles. And so far we've just about done it. Of course, back then we didn't have any idea what the Matador would look like. But we salvaged a V-1, snagged a pulsejet engine from another missile, stuck some wings and a V-tail on it, and wound up with an operating mock-up which we entitled, Liberty Stinger. We had a set of charts showing the workings of the missile and for live demonstrations, a supply of balloons and a model which was propelled along a wire by a thrust of bottle CO2. The balloons overhead give the whole thing a festive appearance and our fame spread. Our arrival in the town signaled a local holiday. We had an enthusiastic, if wide-eyed audience. The conclusion in climax, of course, of the show was the firing up of Liberty Stinger. Hey, look at those two children run. They're taking off like a pulsejet propelled them. Most of our audiences managed to control themselves, although even to someone who's heard the sound of a pulsejet in full cry, it's a devastating experience. Those two children, though, they shot into the air and were running before they landed to an old board fence and as far as I'm concerned, as they were going. Well, some months later, after our tour was completed, we returned to Cocoa, Florida and Patrick Air Force Base, which is the headquarters for the command. Sergeant Hendricks was reassigned to one of the downrange stations. But I'll let him tell you about that. They tell me all the downrange stations are pretty much alike. I went down to the first one completed on Grand Bahama Island. That's about 180 miles from Patrick. Took down a group of airmen just out of training. Flew down in a C-119. I remember I was sitting alongside Jerry Martin, an airman from South Carolina, and spent most of the flight answering questions. What I want to know is why they picked this year's spot in the first place. Why not some way in the States? Okay, I'll tell you. Hold on, I can do better with a map. I've got one right in my bag here. Now, look on here. Here's Patrick Air Force Base. Yeah, I got you. Here's the launching sites at Cape Carnivoral. Uh-huh. Now, suppose you had a piece of string and you put one end of it on Carnivoral and passed it across Grand Bahama there. Yeah. Okay, where does it hit next? Elutera, San Salvador, Laiguana, Grand Tate. What next? That their string gonna hit a little old corner of the Dominican Republic, huh? There's a base there. It'll be finished up next year. Okay, then what? Looks like Puerto Rico might be next in line. That string's just about a thousand miles long now, figuring back from where we started at Patrick and almost all over open water. Where are those missiles? If they happen to go a little touch off course, nobody would get hurt. That's right. And if we had a globe here, I could show you something else. Yeah. That same string stretched out further would cross down still over water and cut across to the southern tip of Africa. It would finally intersect the west coast of Australia, half the world away, over 10,000 miles of open water. And is that all in the wakes? I guess they aren't even thinking beyond that point and won't be for a long time to come. That's 10,000 miles. And if a missile was to be turned around there and headed back, well, that's 20,000 miles and that's a long way. Maybe you can see why they picked these bases now instead of somewhere in the states. Yeah. Now from what I hear, these tests aren't scheduled to start for quite some little time, but what happens in the meantime? You'll be busy. Don't worry about that. Before the tests on missiles begin, they'll be sending regular pilot aircraft down the run almost every day to check the progress of the instrumentation systems. Later, well, then we'll really get into business. And get into business we did much sooner than anyone thought possible. But still, it wasn't all that. We had a terrific spirit in the organization, brought about, it seemed to me, by the realization in the part of almost every man of the importance of our mission. And the camaraderie that we felt carried through all the ranks. Even the downrange bases felt it. And as a result, a pretty good duty. Say, you know that isn't so bad. Yes, sir. I do sing a pretty good bass. We're about ready to compete with those guys uprange at Jupiter. What do you think? Oh, I think we got them hands down. You know, this isn't such a bad place after all. What'd you think it'd be? Oh, well, you know, coming down here on that old airplane, I thought we'd be sort of marooned on some desert island like the Robinson Crusoe or something. But, you know, we got this old club, we got our PX and a snack bar, and we got the baseball team and all that. They sure can't complain about the weather, just like one of these resort rich people pay money to go to. That's what I was trying to tell you. Yeah, and pretty soon, boy, we'll really be part of something big. No, the only thing I don't like is I can't write home to tell all my folks about working on the most important project in the Air Force. Wrote them about that quartet, though. No, that's the way it was on Grand Bahama. Lots of work, but not a man who didn't feel as though he was part of the biggest thing in the Air Force. And then after work, plenty of activities to fill our off-duty time. About the middle of the summer of 1951, the first missile lifted off the concrete pad at the Cape and started down the range toward Grand Bahama Island. It was a real Model T of its type, two-stage modification of the V-2, but a lot in common with its parent. And ever since then, things have gotten hotter and hotter, development led to development, and the prototype of the Matador was finally born. I'll never forget that hectic week that we ran the tests on it. It was a feeling of excitement that seemed contagious. Everyone sensed that we really had something and that this was it. I was working at my desk one afternoon about a week before the firing. Captain? Sergeant Hendricks. It's good to see you. Good to be here, sir. What are you doing here? You want to leave? No, sir. I guess they haven't told you. I'm afraid they've assigned me to your section, sir. Hey, that's the best news I've had in a long time. I can certainly use you. When can you start? Right now if you want me to, sir. I've checked in and got some quarters. I'm all set. Good, good. Sit down. We've got these tests approved for next week and I'm going over the flight plan now. Yes, sir. The massive details that I as in-flight safety officer was responsible for began to straighten out and pretty soon I began to think we were actually going to make the firing deadline on F for firing day minus one. It seemed possible. That's the day in which we make the final checks for the downrange stations to make sure they're prepared. Of course, in those days, we were only firing a short distance beyond Grand Bahamas, so we just had the two stations, Jupiter and Bahamas. Our real work started at midnight of F-day. By that time, I was in the blockhouse adjoining the firing pads and... Understood. Sort of goes through you, doesn't it, Captain? Yes, this is the big one today. Yeah. If we get the results we expect on this missile. Well, push-button warfare will no longer be an impossible dream. It's a pretty terrible thing to think about. In a way, yes. But look at it like this. The development of a weapon doesn't necessarily mean that it will ever be used in actual combat. The mere threat of such a weapon is one of our goals. I hope that leaders of other powers will realize the futility of attack and will settle down with us to create a world that never again will have its peace threatened. That's what we're really here for. I see what you mean. Meantime, at nearby Patrick, the runways were already busy. A mixed group of B-17s and B-29s was being prepared for takeoff. These were the range clearance aircraft. All night long now, until our dawn firing time, they would be out patrolling the range to make sure that aircraft and ships alike had heard and heated our previous days notem, notice to airmen to keep clear. Veruding the airliners was only one of the many safety recordings, going unnoticed except by a few. And all the while, the principal actor in the drama was still backstage, poised in silence. The Matador, sleek red body and needle nose pointing skyward, waiting for the cue as the activity continued. You are listening to the proudly we hail production, Milestone for the Matador. We'll return in just a moment for the second act. This is an age of specialization when the young man with good training is in great demand. He's a man who commands respect in good pay wherever he goes. And he's a man who's moving forward with the times toward leadership and success in his chosen field. Yes, training is the keynote to success. The young men in the United States Air Force are getting the world's finest specialized training in the most modern technical schools. They're becoming experts in such fields as communications, photography, aviation medicine and a host of others. There are literally hundreds of jobs open to ambitious young men in today's Air Force. Remember, it's the young man with the training who gets ahead in this age of specialization. Visit your Air Force recruiting station and talk it over with the friendly people there. You'll be pleasantly surprised. You are listening to proudly we hail. And now we present the second act of Milestone for the Matador. One hundred and eighty minutes before firing. And the same voice we heard here at Canaveral was booming those same words at our two downrange stations, Jupiter and Grand Bahama. And everywhere the preparations were stepped up just a little. At central control and at each downrange station huge radar screens are sweeping the skies for stray aircraft or thunderstorms that could interfere with the recording of the missile's flight. Dawn is breaking far out on the Atlantic horizon. And as the sun begins throwing its long slanted red rays over the block house and the firing pads I can see the Matador for the first time today. Spotlighted. Bright red against the white concrete. The chase planes zoom off into the sky and prepare to perform their task of chasing the Matador in its flight. They carry recording devices and are armed to shoot down the missile Now the scramble for the block house begins. One man only remains near the firing pad. The pad safety officer. The master clock is sending out a coded time signal synchronizing all of the optical and electronic equipment along the route. Motion picture cameras will record this time signal right on the film so the different pictures taken simultaneously can later be compared. Light safety. Pad safety here. Pad is clear and missile ready to fire. Roger. Come on in. Right. The photo recon people are off. They too will chase our birds. But with cameras. Optically recording every inch of the flight. Attack minus one. And now every complicated piece of equipment. And every instrument begins turning so that they will be at operating speed when the missile leaves its launching ramp. And the loudspeaker continues the countdown the last 10 seconds one by one. And now the work of the preceding hours has climaxed into the occurrences of the next 20 minutes. The flight safety officer assumes control before me is the automatic tracking board. On it are two lines indicating the furthest limits which the missile will be allowed to stray from its flight. As I watch now, a third line drawn by an automatic pen appears showing the actual course as it unfolds. Beneath my right hand is the firing key with which the missile will be immediately blown to bits should trouble develop. The first report is the one you wait for the most anxiously. Grab Apple One here. Five visor. Right sir. The telemetering devices mounted in the fuselage of the Matador are now operating and being received and recorded back here at the launching site. To an untrained observer they sound like just a high-pitched squeal. But this squeal transmitted from the test missile and recorded on tape can indicate to us as many as 30 different operations going on during the flight. By the use of several transmitters 200 different kinds of data can be had from one missile flight. But back now to the Matador. It is now moving along evenly well within its prescribed outer limits at several hundred miles per hour. One here. Roger. This means that our downrange station Jupiter has picked up the craft on radar equipment and we will now throw the switch which begins recording the data from central control to our first downrange station. Radar beams travel in the straight line so in order to follow our missile we must rely on the downrange station and their equipment as soon as it begins to drop over the horizon following the curvature of the earth. This is Grab Apple One. Right sir. And then something turned over in my stomach as I saw the first faint indication that the missile was beginning to veer off course. In a second or two the line in its destination came plain to everyone in the room. It was most definitely heading for the outer limits it was allowed and nothing I could do with the control board seemed to have any effect. Right sir. Stand by one. Captain, where shall I tell the lieutenant? I'll talk to him. Is there a weather factor or anything else to account for it? Not a thing. Right. Stand by one. Stand by for destruction. Every heart in that room. And many more spread out over the length of the west Indies stood still as we watched the moving pen in its course. A quarter of an inch at a time. And then suddenly the missile began to turn and as it turned there was an almost audible sigh in the blockhouse and the flight continued on down the rain. Grab Apple One here. Right. We'll switch over. And so now approaching the last station we switched the recording devices once again as the Matador flew swiftly toward its destination. Now approaching was another critical moment. The moment in which we attempted to direct our missile to a spot on the map roughly the size of a small city block thus testing its accuracy in general performance. This spot chosen because the waters of such depth that the missile sinking there becomes lost forever with no danger of ever falling into one friendly hand. C-6. Right sir. I'll report it. C-6 was the last grid on the board. A few seconds later back in the blockhouse speed is reduced controls changed and the missile a few hours later jet planes stop at each of the downrange stations to pick up the tapes from the telemetering devices and the films from the hundreds of motion picture instilled cameras. About three days is necessary to convert the raw material into reports. A briefing is then held during which the results are analyzed and suggestions are made by the participating officers and technicians. The fuel mixture seems to be adjusted efficiently for this type of craft and as far as we've been able to judge the entire performance level is very high, yes? Sir, the films are ready to go when you want them. Fine, let's get right to it. C-6. Minus 10. 9. 8. 7. And so, in the dark and briefing room they all followed as avidly as though it were the latest super spectacle from Hollywood the run-through of our last test flight. It had Hollywood beaten from our point of view or missiles and rockets were virtually our lifeblood. The films are run and run again. Sometimes as many as 30 cameras are used to photograph just the take-off and we may look at it from that many angles. Following this and other briefings and analyses they were soon decided to go into production with the B-61 Matador. Sorry to bother you, Captain, but I've got news. Well, that's okay, Sergeant. What's the word? They've delivered six Matadors to the first, but that isn't all. The first is on orders, European command, Germany. Hey, that is news. Would I like to be going along? So would I, but our job is here. Sure, I know, but remember back that morning when the Matador went out for its final test? How could I forget it? Well, there's something about being in on it like that that makes me feel good. Sort of like I had a part in the big picture. You do, Sergeant. When I heard the first was going over, well, it meant as much to me as though I were going with him. Sort of like the Matador belongs to me. Yes, so it does, Lou. And to every American. Because with better weapons we're forging a deterrent to aggression and a better world. And so there you have the story of the Matador. The men who worked the hardest on it hoped the most fervently that it will never be used. But they keep in their minds the knowledge that should an enemy strike, the Air Force will be prepared with the best and the most modern weapons ever known to man. Actually, of course, our story is just beginning. Even as the first pilotless bomber squadron was embarking for Europe, back at Patrick there was a familiar routine in progress. Another milestone in the history of push-button warfare. And another. And another. Today the men of your Air Force are soaring to new heights as they blaze a trail of air progress across the skies. And now is the time for you to join them and become an airman with a highly specialized career. As a member of this aerial defense team you'll be entering a whole new world. A world of the future that offers free training in such fascinating fields as guided missiles, photography, radar, and a host of others. You'll wear the handsome blue Air Force uniform. A uniform that gains respect and admiration wherever you go. So for a wonderful future with good pay, liberal allowances and truly one of the world's finest careers become an airman in the United States Air Force. Talk it over with the friendly people at your local Air Force recruiting station. This has been another program on Proudly We Hail presented transcribed in cooperation with this station. Proudly We Hail is produced by the Recruiting Publicity Center in New York, the United States Air Force Recruiting Service. This is Dick Hartley speaking, inviting you to tune in this same station next week for another interesting story on Proudly We Hail.