U.S. ARMY AIR DEFENSE COMMAND NIKE MISSILE 20104

[@waynecipperly6962]

Out of basic training at Fort Ord in Monterey, CA. I was sent to the Philadelphia Air Defense Command headquarters in Pedricktown, NJ in 1960. From there I went to site PH-91 in Worcester, PA for 2 months. Since that site only had Nike Ajax missiles it was being transferred to the National Guard, so I was sent back to Pedricktown, NJ. Then attended Missile Master school for 3 weeks in Orlando, FL in 1961. Upon completion, we manned our brand new Missile Master (PH-64). I spent my entire 3-1/2 years in the Army at this site until I was discharged in 1963. It was great duty and still maintain friendships with my fellow Missile Master comrades. I went back there in 2006 and it was sad to see the disrepair the site had become after the Army shut it down. The Missile Master building was still there but I would imagine it was gutted of all the electronics. My MOS was 186.60, nothing I could use in civilian life, but still cherish my time serving there!

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Thanks for your service to our great nation.

[@jerrystewart3002]

I was honored to serve on a Nike Hercules sight from 1972 thru 1975 in Germany C/2/56 best bunch of guys I ever worked with

[@TheRealHusk]

A Nike site polluted the local river in my area, thanks. Wow so odd two of my grandparents have gotten cancer after living next to the site for 45 years.

[@pepsi_man4962]

Thank you for serving sir

[@mickeyrutledge4831]

I was stationed at a Nike Hercules on Okinawa in the mid sixties, across the China Sea from Vietnam. It was good duty.

[@pateastes9767]

My dad was a missleman in the 50s through the early 60s. Stationed at Battle Creek Michigan, Ft Bliss, and Okinawa. As a kid, I got to watch live fires at White Sands and Okinawa.

[@Gpacharlie]

Peace through superior firepower. A very effective deterrent at the time.

[@barryhopesgthope686]

Ft. Story was just such a site. When I was stationed there, all missiles we're gone. I was also assigned to Ft Bliss, Tx. ADA HQ. PATRIOT.

[@johnmanges738]

My father was a surgeon in the US Army during 1955-56 and we lived on base at Fort Meade Maryland. I was barely 3 years old at the time and among my earliest memories was a rotating radar antenna at the top of our street. After viewing this video and comparing to a 35 mm slide photo my father took, I realize we lived just down the street (Patton Drive) from the Nike system radar antennas! I assume the rotating antenna was that of the acquisition radar. Also the large white elevated radome from the video appears in the photo I have. Not sure if the radome contained the target tracking radar antenna or the missile tracking radar antenna. Anybody know? Regardless, fun to see this video and realize I lived so close to the action!

[@kaweah01]

If it flies it dies!

[@ellisseven9520]

Served 72-74 A-2-65 ADA, Palmdale-CA. LA04

[@pepsi_man4962]

Thank you for serving sir

[@publicmail2]

This was only good for the non ICBM threat for about a 10 year period, this won't touch an ICBM. Something similar took down the U2 over Russia.

[@Gpacharlie]

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades; oh and nuclear tipped Nike Hercules.

[@badcompany-w6s]

All out dated now.

[@Mark_Ocain]

Nike was a conflicted program really...it offered some defense against any bomber attack BUT at the expense of a nuclear airburst that would scatter radiation in any case.

[@zeke1312]

1 airburst vs 100s from Russian bombers? Talk about trade offs.

[@jofus3604]

The "Theory" with the Nike was a " nuclear airburst" over 30k feet with the intensity of a nuke! The extreme heat would disintegrate everything so there would be no fall out. Fallout is created when the radioactive isotopes adhered to solid debris then fell back to earth! In reality it would be settling on us about now...LOL! I was on two Nike bases as they were being phased out working in the warhead building! I was offered Nuclear warhead training for ICBMs or Computers, never regretted become a Nerd!

[@jebadiahkerman7846]

I mean hell, we see some of these sorts of results with the only live firing of the Genie air to air nuclear rocket, where 5 men were stationed at ground zero and thanks to distance, and the short exposure time in the measure of milliseconds, none were ever diagnosed with any radiation based illnesses and almost all of them went on to live into old age. @@jofus3604