 In 1963, the Pershing ballistic missile was proved operational. This was no minor happening. It meant that America's ground forces had a new, farther-reaching, faster firing and harder-hitting weapon, nuclear firepower with greater mobility and reliability. It took a lot of doing. But 1964 is the year in which Pershing joins the ranks, 1960. Test firings of the Pershing missile are begun at the Atlantic missile range. The Army's missile command research and developers faced many problems, but they knew what they wanted. A weapon to replace and outperform the justly-famed Redstone, America's first satellite launcher. Before it ever lifted from a firing stand, the new configuration was tested for aerodynamics stability. It would have to fly true for a range of 400 miles and be strong enough to endure the shocks and vibrations of flight at more than a mile a second, carrying a nuclear warhead of awesome power. Every component of the system had to be able to move fast anywhere on the ground or by air-lit, so it had to be light as well as rugged. The Pershing had to be able to function in virtually any extreme of quiet. The steaming heat of the hot chamber, the frost of the cold chamber. These were research tools which helped to ensure that the system would have that ability. But test chambers can only lay groundwork. Soon the system was called on to function in the circuit with develing heat and humidity of the tropics. And test sessions in the sub-zero code of the Arctic proved that Pershing and its ground support equipment comprised a weapon system suited to meet the Army's global defense mission. The defense of freedom anywhere on Earth demands a system that can be delivered anywhere on short notice. So Pershing's dimensions had to be tailored for air transport, both rotary and fixed wing. During and after completion of the research and development stage, the Army's test and evaluation command engineers ran a wide variety of tests at its 18 installations to determine ruggedness, reliability, ease of operation, immunity to enemy countermeasures. The need was great. The time was limited. The need for a successor to the Redstone was obvious. The Redstone was too bulky for ready transport. It took time to ready it for firing, as it had to be filled first with suchy liquid fuels and oxidizers. The solid fuel motor of Pershing would be more reliable and ready to go at any time. Less than half as long as the Redstone, the Pershing would have twice the range. Near the end of the Pershing's research and development phase, men of the 2nd Battalion 44th Artillery were called on to fire three missiles from Atlantic Missile Range. This was the first time that Army troops had actually fired the Pershing. They used the tactical launch equipment which would be employed in the field. From the beginning, all concerned were conscious of the pressure of time and urgency born of chronic world crisis and near crisis. In early 1963, the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command prepared final test plans for the conduct of joint or integrated engineering service tests of the Pershing missile system. Two subordinate commands of the Test and Evaluation Command would conduct the tests. The U.S. Army Artillery Board, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Working together, the two agencies would telescope time, performing both service and engineering tests with the same series of shots. The 2nd Battalion 44th Artillery carried out the actual test operations. It became their job to demonstrate just how well the Pershing could take the kind of punishment it would receive on the battlefield and how well it could hit back. All of this was in preparation for further operations, including a series of 13 live firings in which missiles would fly from Waco Range, Fort Wiss, Texas, Black Mesa, Utah, and Fort Wingate, New Mexico to land on White Sands Missile Range. These off-range firings were necessary. No inland range is 400 miles long, and Pershing takes that kind of elbow roll. For a full year before the Overland Shoots, the Army put intensive effort into a public information program to explain the need for them and to make clear the almost total lack of danger from them. Sergeant Tess will run for a month or so, the Pershing series for several months to a year, and the Air Force will... At the Capitol Building in Salt Lake City, Army officials explained the proposed program to Governor George D. Clyde of Utah. And in Santa Fe, capital of neighboring New Mexico, the story was brought to the office of Governor Jack M. Campbell. Both governors endorsed the off-range firing program, quickly recognizing the need for more space to test long-range missiles. White Sands Missile Range is an ideal impact area. It has the instrumentation to collect the maximum of flight data. Its wide open areas of dry land make it possible to locate and recover missile parts after impact. And its inland location makes it easier to enforce security measures. A major phase of the Army's information campaign was to make clear to the public just why overland firings are safe. First, no one is allowed inside a safety zone around the firing site. The missile's booster stage falls within this area. Second, if radar and other tracking gear indicate the missile is straying from its predetermined course, a signal is sent out which destroys the missile in flight before it can get out of the safety zone. Third, once it's properly launched, a ballistic missile like a bullet follows a set trajectory in accordance with the laws of physics. Unlike an aircraft, it cannot fall to the ground while in ballistic flight. Fourth, all test missiles carry dummy warheads. August of 1963 found the Army missile men convoying the Pershing from Fort Sill to a Fort Bliss firing site. The system was set for the first overland test of the missile system. The 600-mile trip, or road march, took two days and was in itself a practical test of how the system stood up under the jolting of extended travel. Along the way, the Pershing system's own radio set was used for communications with Fort Sill and within the convoy of 185 vehicles which stretched 50 miles from front to rear. The initial research was over. At the end of this 600-mile track lay the beginning of the firing series which would prove that the Pershing was ready to take its vital place in America's arsenal of ground to ground missiles. The plan was this. From a firing site 20 miles south of White Sands missile range, two missiles would be fired at a target inside the range. The trajectory of each missile would cover more than 100 miles. Half-white sands, scores of special missile tracking instruments were ready to collect and record for study information on flight performance. The development of these complex and extremely precise instruments, both optical and electronic, was pioneered largely at White Sands itself. They were to save much time and money by cutting down the number of firings needed to collect full information for evaluating missile performance. At the Fort Bliss firing site south of White Sands, all operations were carried out under near tactical conditions. There were 400 men in the firing and evaluation team and there was plenty to keep every man busy. For this had to be done against the clock and it had to be done right. Here for the first time under field conditions they were doing the things they had practiced and repracticed for so long. Now the practice was paying off. By dawn of 20 August they were ready to fire the first missile of the test series. A few days later the second missile blew its precise 100-mile arc to land right on target inside the White Sands range. The test series was off to a good start and with these shorter first flights the stage was set for the long-range shoots. Soon the troops were on their way to the Black Mesa firing site near Blanding, Utah. More than 600 miles, two and a half days, with the night spent in the open. It was a far cry from the wagon trains that blazed the trails through this country, but the country itself is little changed. When the convoy reached Blanding, Utah the local citizens turned out to catch the excitement. They hadn't seen so many strangers since the last deer-hunting season. Here again it was a sagebrush headquarters. Conditions for both men and equipment were kept as nearly tactical as possible. Just with the long road march, establishing the site, and setting up the system against the clock, at least one common combat condition, physical weariness, was shared by all. The five missiles of this series were to impact at various points on the White Sands range some three to four hundred miles to the southeast of Black Mesa, three to four times the range of the first two shots. The few people living within the safety zone were notified well in advance, and the Army personnel was assigned to make their brief evacuation as comfortable and convenient as possible. A concentrated effort was made to brief citizens on the Pershing operations. Business and civic groups learned details of the necessity and safety of the firings, and once informed came through with both interest and wholehearted support. For some Indian groups, the briefing was presented in their native tongue. There is a new Indian word, Pershing. Meanwhile the program went forward. This man is a flight safety officer, the man directly responsible for the public safety during the missile flights. This radar plotting board is a basic tool of his trade. As the Pershing hurdles through space, pens will trace its course and show where it would hit if the button were pressed to destroy it in flight. High precision tracking radar and a Doppler system follow every move of the speeding missile. Far away at White Sands missile range, this electronic brain receives and analyzes data from the tracking gear, and instantly feeds signals back to the plotting board, which you just saw at the firing site. 24 September 1963, soon the first of the five long range shots will be triggered from Black Mesa. For the first time, a Pershing would be fired over land at a target more than 300 miles away. At roads and highways entering the safety zone, traffic is stopped briefly during the time of firing. Motorists are given specially prepared information booklets, explaining why they're being stopped and the purpose and importance of this series of Pershing tests. Under tactical conditions, there is no countdown blaring from loudspeaker systems. All communications are done in quiet, unhurried tones by team members wearing earphone sets. Maximum silence is the rule, just as in combat. At White Sands, the missile tracking instruments are manned and ready. The Army provides a viewing stand for visitors, including members of the press from all over the nation. Those few living within the safety zone temporarily leave their homes to areas outside the zone until the shoot is over. In addition, shortly before firing, a thorough search of the safety zone is made, making sure that no one has been overlooked. Finally, the sleek missile is right in the groove. The safety officer will have no need for his destruct button today. Between firings, the missiles and components are given further workouts of a rough terrain. This series of firings is intended to be a real shake down for the Pershing under field conditions, and the desert cooperates with flash floods, daytime heat, cold nights, and constant ever-present dust. The longest firing in this series of shoots was approximately 400 miles. It was on September 27, 1963, that the last of the five missiles was fired from Black Mesa by the men of the 2nd Battalion, 44th Artillery. Soon, the Pershing convoy was on the road again. This time headed for Fort Wingate near Gallup, New Mexico, and the final set of firings in this series, which would mark the Pershing's graduation to full operational status. As during the other road marches, the convoy was virtually self-sufficient, carrying its own fuel, food, and water. Fort Wingate has been an army post for more than a century, and in that time has seen much of America's history in the making. By pure coincidence, this final firing site of the series was once the duty station of a promising young 2nd Lieutenant named John J. Pershing. As at Black Mesa, the local populace was given full information on Pershing test plans and kept up to date as the program moved along. And as always, the public, once it was informed, gave not only acceptance but active support, pleased to be so fully included in the plans and taking pride in the important step forward in national defense that was being taken in their community. In this final series, six missiles were scheduled to be fired from Fort Wingate overland into White Sands missile range, relatively short shots, just under 200 miles as the Pershing flies. Again, before the firings themselves began, the missiles and their ground support equipment were given the rough country treatment. This terrain provided some mud. Then the system was assembled, checked out, and mocked fired. Step by step, the needed experience and technical data were piling up. Rapid methods of camouflage came in for investigation at Fort Wingate, too. During these exercises, day and night, aerial photographs were being taken to analyze the effectiveness of camouflage techniques. No opportunity to learn was being overlooked. The missile men continued to work and live under near tactical conditions and morale stayed high as it had from the start of the program. The high morale factor was not surprising. These men were instrumental in making a major advance in their country's ground firepower. It would have been surprising if that knowledge was not a source of satisfaction. During October, five missiles were successfully fired from Fort Wingate, winding up the test program. In November, four more perching missiles were fired by the 4th Battalion, 41st Artillery, as they completed perching training. These successful firings marked these troops as full-fledged missile men, ready to deliver the Army's longest artillery punch should it ever be needed. More such graduation rounds will be fired in the future as units finish their training. In November, 1963, a graduation round is in position for firing. At a high vantage point, members of the press jammed the viewing stands to witness the big event. They received a detailed briefing and demonstration of each of the components of the perching missile system. This included a demonstration missile and launcher so that they could see at close range what was being done at the distant launch site. Near the launch site, powerful radars brought from white sands searched the skies to make sure that aircraft are kept clear of the missile's flight path. Also from white sands and ready to go into action are mobile radars of highest precision, especially designed to gather detailed missile position data. At white sands itself, other equipment is ready and waiting to track the incoming missile right down to impact. High-powered optical systems are set. Long-range electronic systems are prepared to record every detail of the missile's position and behavior during flight. Computing facilities stand by to process the flood of information. Wind speed and direction at high altitude are checked repeatedly. Meanwhile, Army teams comb the areas which immediately surround the safety zone, making sure that campers, hunters and others who may have come from other parts of the country are aware that the overland firing is soon to take place. They are told where the safety zone lies and that there is no danger. But for absolute safety, no one should enter the safety zone until the firing is over. As the big moment approaches, the White Sands Range Control Center coordinates all aspects of the far-flung test activities. Information on the status of each of the many operations is received. Radar, flight surveillance, optics, electronic tracking systems, recovery crews, road blocks, special instrumentation. Finally, all the gears mesh and the range goes green. The Pershing Battery at Port Wingate gets the word, fire when ready. Throughout Pershing's flight, thousands of electronic sensors probe, search out and record every function inside and out. As the Pershing flies, hundreds of eyes turn upward to follow it. Thanks to the Army's painstaking information efforts, their interest is more than curiosity alone. With an understanding of what Pershing is, how important it is, what its success means to the strength of the nation's defenses, this has become more than a remote Army activity. It involves them, personally, as Americans. They may feel that in a sense, this is their shot, too, and they're right. It is. Members of the press move quickly to fire their stories. The United States Army has a new, faster, longer punch in its ground-to-ground missile arsenal. It was needed, it has been produced, it is ready. The recovered parts will be studied in the labs at White Sands to yield evidence of what happened during flight. Such evaluation, examination, and endless probing cannot end, because still better weapons of tomorrow will be based on what this kind of searching may reveal. The test series is complete, but there is still work to be done. At the Impact Site, experienced recovery crews sift yards of earth to make sure that every fragment of the dummy warhead is retrieved. For every split second of flight, thousands of bits of information have been recorded. At White Sands, this raw information is organized by lightning-fast electronic brains into usable form. This too will form the basis of improvements in the present weapons system and development of systems of the future. America has a new weapon. The test series was a success, but beyond this, two important facts emerge from this test program. First, that time priceless in the constant battle for improved firepower can be telescope when both field testing and full-scale engineering evaluation can be carried on at once. Second, the information efforts made by the Army in undertaking these first overland missile flights of such long range reaffirmed that in peacetime as well as crisis, the American people will give not only their acceptance, but their active support to whatever is necessary to the national defense. All of this went into the making of the Pershing success story, but Americans in uniform or out can justly feel a sense of pride and accomplishment as Pershing joins the ranks.