THE NIKE HERCULES MISSILE SYSTEM STORY U.S. ARMY MIM-14 SURFACE TO AIR MISSILE SYSTEM 60784

[@susandavisvocelloduo]

Thank you for this. Captain Griffith was my father. I remember very well his years at the missile site in New York. Perhaps if young people today understood the world their parents and grandparents lived in they would also understand their priorities and patriotism.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Our pleasure. Thanks to your father for his service to our great nation. Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.

[@glywnniswells9480]

If they can understand that Russia are now the good guys and not us anylongrr

[@allen480]

@@glywnniswells9480 Then move to Russia..

[@glywnniswells9480]

@@allen480 No not quite yet first we have to remove the powers that are controlling the West. Be patient.

[@bubbabearhuntington2295]

​@allen480 you're aware the USSR is disbanded and they execute communists, right?... What you're saying is quite odd considering Russia is an ally despite what the legacy media tells you.

[@grunt167]

I guarded the warheads at a Nike-Hercules site outside of Athens Greece. This brings back memories,

[@bob_ross302]

Did you know a guy named Ken?

[@grunt167]

@@bob_ross302 I believe so but it was a long, long time ago.

[@togaman03]

This is the best film on Nike I have seen. I was a Nike Fire Control Mechanic

[@truthseeker2321]

I grew up near a NIKE Air defense site in Dillsboro, Indiana. Someone now lives in the bunker complex.

[@aubreyblair7864]

I was a Nike Hercules missile crewman and section chief in Everglades National park.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Thanks for your service to our great nation.

[@allenlee7498]

@@PeriscopeFilm Served on Vashon Island, Washington. As Launcher Crewman and Fire Panel Operator. Thanks for preserving this film.

[@Gpacharlie]

I was 24P at Key Largo and Dallau Germany.

[@thomthumbe]

This is an older post, but your mention that you worked Nike in the Everglades caught my eye. Years ago I helped dismantle a Nike site in the Everglades in order to “repurpose” the building and land into another US GOV need. By the time we got there, the building was old and in bad shape. The interesting part was all the graffiti all over the walls.

[@isaac-vb1ng]

I’m a Patriot missile crewman, 14T, the missile that replaced it, amazing to see a previous air defender

[@ahawk1968]

My Dad worked at Ft. Bliss in the 70's and 80's... He had taken me out to the various ranges, McGregor, Oro Grande, N. Mc Gregor, Dona Ana, ECT... Wow, brings back memories...

[@ldwahl6678]

Very interesting video. I was a Nike Hercules Crewman , served at Germany 72-74.

[@linuxsuperuser]

The Nike System was a beast. My father worked at Bell Labs - I actually have some books from that library before it was all thrown in the dumpster :(

[@kd4pba]

My Uncle helped design this system. I bet those are some interesting things to read.

[@progx8679]

Great old History !! Loved the Nike systems !!

[@davidmurphy8190]

Always liked the mixed MIM-3/MIM-14 sites. Made sense for a layered defense. US SAM and AAA systems never seemed to be as flexible as the Warsaw Pact systems.

[@sebgiannini7864]

My dad was a nike hurcles radar technician 67 to 70 and duty site was stationed at one of the st Louis air defense network at the hecker Illinois site.I know he did go to Vietnam for a short duration to perform radar maintenance and troubleshooting.

[@Gpacharlie]

We took the whole system mobile in 79’. We trucked it into the desert with blackout lights at night and set it up with cammo netting. We dug 6’ deep foxholes and lived in them for a month.

[@richardstocke1836]

We took system to field in Germany in 74. 10 days in Baumholder and operational an hour before shutting down to head back to site. They gave us new cables and several went bad toasting several radars and control van.

[@wacojones8062]

Very good film, I have been in some of the launch bunkers in Vernon hills Illinois and the main control bunker in Arlington Height Illinois when the three Chicago area lake shore sites where still active. Alington Heights site was originally a 120mm Antiaircraft site then later a double battery for the Ajax system.

[@TickledFunnyBone]

I have stood next to one of these displayed, and to see how fast it goes is surprising (in the video).

[@TheJimmybang]

I was a Nike Herc crewman working in the tracking station. We went to Greece and fired one on a drone target in '79. 98.8 score, hell of a missle.

[@alexrosenthal2887]

was that the only one you fired? or did you do any test firing? prohibitively expensive I would imagine but curious nonetheless

[@TheJimmybang]

@@alexrosenthal2887 That's the only one, they did it once a year in Greece, multiple batteries firing multiple missiles. I don't know how many though.

[@coppulor6500]

@@TheJimmybang cool. What was your job?

[@TheJimmybang]

@@coppulor6500 Radar Op, I tracked the target

[@coppulor6500]

@@TheJimmybang roger that

[@richardstocke1836]

I wonder if ever shown to public, as we were told the nuke warheads were classified and not talk about them. I served as a 24Q Fire control mechanic fro Oct 73 to Sept 78. I enjoyed the unit training and doing a Live Fire from Site 23 at Mc Gregor Range NM. I was on Site 23 from Feb 77 - Sept 78. How I enjoyed all the live fires we did there.

[@Goldness_Gamer]

Amazing and thank you for this. My dad John Gold was a big part of the logistics for "Operation Snodgrass." which this film represents.

[@jamesbugbee6812]

The Nike Hercules was, from a long list, my favorite SAM beauty 💜💜💜💜💜.

[@GrinsInc]

Thanks for posting. Anyone still use a slide rule? Extrapolating the progression of the hundreds of companies that worked on this project would interest me too! Thanks again.

[@spike.strat1318]

Sandy Hook NJ has quite an impressive display of Nike equipt. as well as the old proving grounds and shore battery emplacements.

[@Gpacharlie]

I worked at and helped decommission the last Nike Site In CONUS.

[@krisgreenwood5173]

B Btry Alaska ?

[@Gpacharlie]

@@krisgreenwood5173 B battery Florida. Alaska flew down and helped us with the Hipar disassemblt, if I am remembering it accurately.

[@krisgreenwood5173]

I was a security MP at Site Summit Alaska in the middle 1970's.

[@hertzair1186]

Excellent resource, especially for those of us building model kits and dioramas of the Nike Hercules...

[@byralph2188]

Thx for the video. I served 2yrs at launch control trailer in a Korean airforce site with this missile system 10 yrs ago. Pretty outdated system but it worked damn good. Now they are replaced to Patriot and new Korean SAM system but man it's nice that I can watch them on youtube :)

[@glywnniswells9480]

Wasnt this a mach 10 missile why is everyone acting surprised Russia have mach 8 missiles in 2022?Did USA missile speed go backwards?

[@Theiliteritesbian]

@@glywnniswells9480bc they go into orbit a hundred miles out, then dip into a low glide that can move, so much harder to hit. Yah if they just went into orbit not concerning as easy to shoot

[@JodyParsons]

There’s something rather calming about the narrator’s voice.

[@jameswalker3973]

I had the chance to poke around in an abandoned Nike site up near Thule A.B. Was half full of ice, all the equipment panels, lift motors and hoists still in place. Spooky

[@thetreblerebel]

The Hercules is very impressive in person. When it's in the upright position, it's pretty tall. Couldn't imagine one slamming into you with an atomic kaboom

[@markstengel7680]

USA brain power. My uncle Warren Kayden worked at Bell Laboratories in Whippany, NJ 1950s through early 1960s. He used to say they had lazy workers who didn't like efficient workers, cause they made them look bad. He left and went into business with my father. Thanks !

[@Leftoftheslash]

I grew up in the Bay Area and my mind was blown when I got older and found out I was surrounded by these missiles. Site SF-31C was a few miles away. So awesome.

[@wildweasel8564]

While exploring filming locations for the movie The Blair Witch Project I stumbled across BA-79 in Granite, MD, an Ajax site later upgraded to Hercules. I have also visited W-35 in Marlboro, MD an Ajax site.

[@billlea1342]

Served at 04 in San Gabriel Mtns in Ca from Jan 63 to Sept 66. This was near Palmdale. I was a crewman

[@marsupilami80f]

J'ai bien aimé ce super document qui m'a rappelé ma campagne de tir ..... en 1963 à Fort Bliss ( Mac Gregor Range ) au Texas . J'étais radariste , puis à la Zône de lancement en Allemagne pendant 14 mois ( 2×7 mois ) - à Stetten A.K.M puis Münsingen - ( Forces Françaises de L'OTAN en Allemagne ) . Quel souvenir à 20 ans !! SUPER service militaire de 18 mois ....😀😉😊

[@michaelmckenzie8653]

As a Kid I repelled down the shaft of the abandoned Nike Site in Brea, CA that my Dad toured when it was active. I would like to own one.

[@HegelsOwl]

Oh no kidding. What road went into that Nike base? That Nike base up on the highest hill in La Habra Heights (but actually Brea) was always a mystery to us kids, because no one we knew ever saw any military vehicles coming or going from the base. We went on numerous excursions on our bicycles to try to find at least the road into the base, but never found it.

[@orangelion03]

@@HegelsOwl Vantage Pointe Road, off North Harbor Blvd. I was there last year...in town for a wedding, I brought my mountain bike and rode into the site. It is on private ranch land, but no one was around to see me =)

[@fubaralakbar6800]

So glad these things never had to be fired.

[@Voucher765]

The Nike can kick some serious ass even now.

[@swainscheps]

18:37 Private Joker! What is your major malfunction?!?

[@NoneYaBidness762]

I shoot skeet every Saturday with a guy that worked on these things. Was a Spec-6.

[@DIYmotorcycle]

We have an old Nike missile site here. In the Bay area set, you can tour. I have one question I know some of the you probably know. was the warhead an EMP? or just a small tactical nuke?

[@orangelion03]

One of these days, I have GOT to visit SF-88!! Over the years I visited all of the sites around Los Angeles.(or former sites...some were long gone even by the early 80s). As a kid, I recall watching drills at the Sepulveda and White Point launcher areas. So as not to panic the locals, they were announced well in advance and drew big crowds. The Hercules was armed with the W31 nuclear warhead package. You can find more detailed info on Wikipedia.

[@ptolemy7783]

Can an expert please confirm the rumour, that because of the system's radar operating bandwidth, it was really hard to electronically jam the radar? TIA

[@polarbear1412]

Spent 4 years at McGregor Range seen over 40 firings on IFC 20 from 1978 to 1982 .Shook hands with Anwar Sadat less than a month before he was Assassinated in Egypt. Saw General Omar Bradley regularly when he came to watch a firing.!

[@bongomakers]

I was a 16 Bravo LCT operator, B-2-52, Key Largo FL 1968-71.

[@charliejordansyoutubechann6857]

One day I am going to make a fundraiser to get it back in operation

[@nolifemerc3824]

I served on this system in Asker Norway 86-87.

[@bigbob1699]

I was 16 C 20 in Danvers Ma. 72 -75 . We made sure the Chinese Commies did not over run Boston. They shut it down as I left .

[@uberkloden]

The to run over, take over Boston….far out!Chinese Communists were going

[@TheWizardGamez]

thats what i never knew about the nike-hercules. they didnt mean to hit the target, they meant to irradiate the air to the point that the electronics didnt work, as well as your lungs. but seriously, defending nukes with nukes... i mean, seems like some circular logic

[@HockeyVictory66]

This Nike system was the analog version of the patriot missile system.

[@dentalnovember]

Hardly

[@ferdinandporshe1907]

I want the new Nike Model kit.

[@Gpacharlie]

They have one of those ? 👍🏻

[@ytwos1]

Ferdinand Porshe freedom model kits. Get it, its good!

[@davidmurphy8190]

Revell and some other brand names related to Revell have the MIM-3, MIM-14, and CIM-10 models still available.

[@kyqx]

Boyce Aerospace is what you seek.

[@ellisseven9520]

1972-1974, A-2-65 ADA, Palmdale-CA.

[@oldman9164]

i was at charlie battery 71-74 . we may have met . i was chasin southern calif booger alot back then . lost most of my memory.

[@fredwalt2282]

I was at Mt Gleason LA-04 from 1973-74. 63B20 wheel vehicle mechanic and motor pool driver. Once I drove a bus load of mostly young ladies from the LA USO up to the site for a party.

[@wadep420ify]

Wait, why is Marvin the Martian the Safety Engineer?😅

[@thetreblerebel]

Our versions of SA missiles. We didnt really think mobile like the soviets

[@DuelingBongos]

Something tells me that in an actual attack the Soviet bombers would not conveniently cluster together in a tight formation to be easily destroyed by a single Nike missile. You would need multiple missiles for each incoming bomber in case the first shot fails.

[@elchuckozeke5771]

Wrong. The nuclear warhead was to explode above a fleet of commie bombers destroying them. The warhead had the energy of bombs dropped over Japan. Look it up. Easy to find. ;)

[@Taskforce1]

bring back this America

[@yankeedoodle1963]

You mean where everyone’s white?

[@truthseeker2321]

​@yankeedoodle1963 What's wrong with that? It was a better country then.

[@yankeedoodle1963]

@@truthseeker2321 How would you know

[@truthseeker2321]

@@yankeedoodle1963 Because I lived it.

[@yankeedoodle1963]

@@truthseeker2321 I’m 61, I think I have a pretty good idea of how things were. Just because you don’t like blacks, Jews, Hispanics, LGBTQ, immigrants, liberals, or anyone insisting that you don’t need an assault rifle or having children with your sister- that doesn’t mean the rest of us are better off being forced to go back with you to White Man’s Utopia

[@unr74]

Blazing Skies

[@JeffersonMartinSynfluent]

It was too bad that this concept was rendered mostly obsolete with the arrival of ICBM's.

[@edpolk1262]

If the narrator had just a bit deeper voice, he'd sound like Fritz Weaver.

[@thetreblerebel]

Air Defense Artillery Corps US Army HOOAH!

[@philipshanklin644]

Fort Bliss Texas El Paso fire control crewman Nike Hercules missiles honorable discharge 76

[@iseeyourollen2041]

79th AADCOM

[@paulelephant9521]

Back when people unironically wore bow ties!

[@bigbob1699]

16 C 20 at Danvers Ma 72 -75 . No commie got by us .

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Thanks for your service to our great nation.

[@bigbob1699]

@@PeriscopeFilm I have to tell you the batter tracking area was made up of 85% draft dodgers from the war , but we were good.

[@braised44]

My Army Reserve unit (296th Trans Co) took over the Danvers site in1976. Missiles gone but launch silos still there but filled with water.

[@bigbob1699]

Do you know when the towers were removed ?@@braised44

[@widescreennavel]

For a moment, Daddy thinks of Hiroshima, then goes poastal...

[@CosmosNut]

Beam riders...

[@robertbolding4182]

Nothing but a propaganda film for the former Soviet Union. Nike Ajax and night Hercules were non-nuclear it was the night Zeus that was never built and canceled that was nuclear designed so much disinformation in these films it's silly

[@dougball328]

The Herc was also nuclear capable.

[@thomasjacone8822]

Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules were nuclear capable. Nike Zeus was supposed to have anti air and ABM capability but that was never built

[@truthseeker2321]

Someone doesn't know what he's talking about, apparently. Nike Hercules was definitely equipped with a 15 kiloton nuclear weapon.

[@jayv9286]

I served 4 years in ARADCOM, the Nike Hercules were nuclear. There were a few in each battery that were high explosive.

[@philmitcheli2825]

Another idiot doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Mike Hercules could be configured either way.

[@nicholaskevinricchiuti7379]

THANK YOU FOR BETTER MEMORIES PERISCOPE FILMS ! NOW WE CAN SHOW KIDS THE REAL AMERICA WE GREW UP IN ( I was born in 1964 ) ! Who are the IDIOT FOOLS who on STOLEN AUTHORITY got rid of OUR NIKE BATTERIES ? An appropriate passage from 1 KINGS for the THROW IT ALL AWAY BUREAUCRACY IN D.C. ! 1 KINGS 19: 9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have FORSAKEN THY COVENANT, THROWN DOWN THINE ALTERS, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

[@jamesbugbee6812]

This fills in some details missing from Exodus, describing the arrival & close pass of the new planet Venus.

[@rollamichael]

Just a "small' nuclear weapon to 'keep us safe", never mind the potential for fallout and the lucrative arms race.

[@kyqx]

Do you want a little radiation or a lot?

[@booklover6753]

There's virtually no fallout because it's an air burst.

[@rollamichael]

@@booklover6753 comedian

[@dougball328]

@@rollamichael He is correct. The fallout comes from the dirt and debris swept up off the ground and carried aloft. An air burst has none of that.

[@allen480]

@@rollamichael ..another leftist from the Seattle area. Treason much?