 Okay, move out. In 20 years of Cold War, the United States 7th Army and its NATO partners have guarded the boundaries of freedom in Western Europe. This mission has called for a lot more than just routine guard duty. It has demanded that our defending forces be not only constantly alert, but also continuously abreast of the rapid advance of weapons technology. This film presents a case in point. It shows how a powerful new weapon, the Pershing Surface-to-Surface Ballistic Artillery Missile, is being integrated into the 7th Army's arsenal of modern weapons. In 1966, the Weapon System Evaluation Group of the Joint Chiefs of Staff placed a requirement upon the Army to evaluate the Pershing missile system for a specialized employment role, designated Quick Reaction Alert Mission. Previously, such evaluations had been made of the Navy Polaris. The weapon system as a whole can perform a specialized employment mission. Can another system do the job better? Just how effective is the total composite of men, methods, and materiel? At Feihingen, West Germany, personnel of the 7th Army Pershing Operational Test Unit initiate the evaluation program. Here, plans are made for execution of the entire program, which was divided into two phases. First, demonstration and shakedown operations, DESO for short, and second, operational test firings. Such matters are decided as the specific rounds to be fired. Artillery units to conduct the tests are chosen. Logistical support plans are made, and time schedules worked out. In short, everything is planned for meeting program objectives. An unsuspecting 7th Army unit stationed at Schwabisch-Gemun was selected for the initial demonstration and shakedown operation. The word to assume field alert status is received. The selected battery is aware that now every minute counts. Under the watchful eyes of the battery commander and staff officers of the battalion, field alert status must be attained in minimum time. Now begins more than six weeks of hard, unrelenting effort. No one is allowed to forget the time element. Everything must be readied for a formal verification of field alert status by the evaluators. The program calls for more than just a test of equipment. Teamwork, operational concepts, tactics, and procedures are equally on trial. How effective is logistical support? How fast can field alert status be reached? How long does it take to fire after the release message is received? What about reliability and accuracy? In brief, how effective is this man-machine combination? Once the battalion receives verification of its field alert status, its missiles are flown to installations in the United States. The mock firings have answered many questions. But the big question remains, accuracy. Fort Sill, Oklahoma, went the missile body sections. Here, these sections were to be fitted with instrumentation by the Army Missile Command's Pershing Project Manager's office team. In this building, on board instrumentation was installed to make possible the collection of flight performance data for further technical evaluation of the Pershing system. The warhead sections used by the battery while on field alert status were flown to the Seneca Army Depot, New York for instrumenting by depot personnel. The instrumentation installed here will make possible the collection of warhead performance data without actually exploding a warhead. So, since firings cannot be conducted in heavily populated Europe, battery personnel are soon following their missiles to a firing site in the United States. In this case, Gilson Butte, Utah. Big planes wait. The firing site is only hours away. Battery down at the Utah firing site in as nearly as possible the same state of alert as they had been in the field in Europe. Had been inspected and inventoried before shipment from West Germany. The Intercontinental Airlift affords an excellent opportunity to test the system's transportability and to train handling personnel. In the future, some units will land at other bases. For example, Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. Essential for test purposes was brought along. The battery heads for the Gilson Butte firing site. Some 300 miles to the south. Gilson Butte. This is a battery from Fort Sill sent to support the 7th Army tests. They bring with them the body sections of the missiles which had been flown from Europe and instrumented at Fort Sill. They also bring that equipment not essential to the quick reaction alert exercises but still needed to fire the missiles. Sections for this particular test were shipped by rail from the Army Seneca Depot. Is Gilson Butte for which the firing site was named. Material and missiles are arriving. Things are simulated as closely as possible. Everything is done at a fast pace. But there are few complaints. These men are justifiably proud to be entrusted with this new weapon, Pershing, the Army's biggest single punch. Now the firing battery prepares to assume field alert status. This time the firing operation is called DESO. Meaning demonstration and shakedown operation. The DESO series of firings are to precede the full-fledged operational tests. Not only firing unit but also artillery and missile range support operations and equipment must be checked out. Over 400 nautical miles to the southeast lies White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The 7th Army Pershings were to impact within range boundaries. Range support is provided through the Army Missile Test and Evaluation Directorate's Pershing Project White Sands Missile Range. The missile range's vast resources include a richly experienced staff of scientists, engineers, and technicians. Also the range's extensive specialized facilities are available for support of the 7th Army Pershing tests. At Gilson Butte the troops stay constantly on the alert. Without warning the release message to fire may come at any time. Everything must be kept in readiness to begin the final countdown. The 7th Army Evaluators never seem to sleep nor do members of the Department of Army Data Collection Team. The Field Artillery Missile Systems Evaluation Group from Fort Sill and the Pershing Project Manager's Office Team from the Army Missile Command. Every action is timed and recorded for evaluation. Economy demands that data for as many purposes as possible be collected during the missile's flight. However, all observers are careful not to interfere with operations. The idea being to keep conditions as tactical as possible. This layout of the firing site is a typical one. Note the 3,000 foot radius outer circle. All personnel not participating in firing operations must remain outside its limits. Access to the area inside the 1,000 foot radius circle is limited to personnel taking part in firing operations. And the area within the 500 foot radius circle is open only to personnel directly engaged in executing or evaluating the fire mission. At this site, Picatinny Arsenal personnel check out warhead fuses and instrumentation before they are issued to the troops. At these points, our vans housing a missile tracking system known as ELSI standing for electronic sky screen equipment. This system receives telemetry signals from the missile and by means of phase comparison, instantly displays the position of the missile, a prime source of data for use of the flight safety officer during the first portion of powered flight. Here is the control center for firing operations. In the center, everything is coordinated by the test director, the project range controller and the chief of the evaluation team. At this site is the mobile instrumentation support system. Here, control, check out and recording services are provided for missile born telemetry systems as well as for command destruct receivers and radar beacons. The firing pit is near the launchers. The operational plan is to fire three of four missiles located at points called Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. Upon receipt of the release message authorizing the unit to fire, programmer test stations at Alpha and Charlie will simultaneously begin counting down. The first missile to reach remote light blinking status will be designated the prime round by project control. Let's assume the round is Alpha. Soon after Alpha fires, the count will be resumed for the secondary round. At the same time, Alpha's programmer test station will move to a forward missile position. Upon firing of the secondary missile, its programmer test station will move forward. Again, the missile to be fired will be the one first to reach remote light blinking status. It is X-Day, although firing personnel do not yet know it. Radars at strategic points along the missile's flight path are ready to record trajectory data for post-flight analysis. Radar also provides a continuous plot of the flying missile's position for flight safety use. Here, flight safety personnel check out a plotter which will continuously predict the point of impact should the missile born destruct charge be detonated at any given instant. Should the missile's course become erratic, a radio signal will explode the destruct charge at the proper time to assure impact in a safe area. Extremely powerful optical trackers are prepared to photograph the flight to obtain position as well as attitude and event data. Such data is invaluable for analyzing any missile malfunction that might occur. A number of telemetry stations are set to receive multiple channels of information on various on-board functions. This data is used for both flight safety purposes and post-flight analysis. The DESO release message, meaning authorization to fire, is received at Battery Control Center. Word is passed to the firing unit to start the countdown. Many miles away, recovery teams stand by to retrieve missile debris and on-board instruments. Thus classified items are safeguarded and missile remains are made available for post-flight engineering analysis. Geodetic surveyors also wait to fix the exact point of warhead impact. At far distant points, roadblocks briefly prevent entry into areas of possible danger. Just continuously evaluate wind measurements. The occurrence of very strong winds could conceivably delay the firing. The weather forecasters keep the missile project posted right down to firing time. The second stage, into White Sands missile rain, extensive data reduction facilities, the raw flight data is converted into meaningful term. In the form of final reports, the data will be supplied to all organizations interested in purging missile test results. In the months that followed, the Seventh Army program continued, and the efficiency of operations steadily grew. For example, two purging missiles were launched at the same instant, something that had never been accomplished before. That overall operational plans are sound. Daily, personnel gain valuable new experience and proficiency. And over the next few years, many more Seventh Army purging troops will conduct state-side firing. They will return to their NATO bases with added confidence in their ability to employ their potent weapon. And the free world as a whole can feel more secure, knowing that the Army purging is ready, a hard-hitting part of NATO's arsenal.