Missile Master
{{Short description|Type of US Army Missile Command installation}}
{{Distinguish|Missile Master (Transformers)}}
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| image = 1965 Missile Master interfaces.png
| caption = The Missile Master was a complex with a main building containing a computer system and with local radars (5 in this depiction) for command and control of "up to 24 Nike Hercules AD missile batteries" (1 shown). The nuclear bunker's raised roof sections held HVAC equipment to collect hot air from the electronic equipment below, and the shaded roof area denotes the interior location of the Antiaircraft Operations Center (AAOC).
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Missile Master was a US Army
surface-to-air missile control complex/facility.{{Cite report |last1=Weidlich |first1=Robin J. |last2=Gettings Smith |first2=Kathryn A. |last3=Trieschmann |first3=Laura V. |year=2000 |title=Recordation of the Nike Missile Master Complex Pedrickstown U.S. Army Reserve Support Facility Pedrickstown, New Jersey |url=http://core.tdar.org/document/333169 |access-date=2011-09-19}}
It controlled Project Nike missiles. Virtually all Missile Masters had a bunker housing the Martin AN/FSG-1 Antiaircraft Defense System,{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Earl |year=2009 |title=Missile Master Roof Bulges |url=http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/coldwarcomms/message/15541 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105184255/http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/coldwarcomms/message/15541 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-05 |publisher=Yahoo.com |access-date=2011-09-30 }} as well as additional structures for "an AN/FPS-33 defense acquisition radar (DAR) or similar radar, two height-finder radars," and identification friend or foe secondary radar (e.g., AN/TPX-19 radar interrogator). The radars, along with Automated Data Links (ADL) from remote Nike firing units, provided data into the AN/FSG-1 tracking subsystem with the DAR providing surveillance coverage to about {{Convert|200|miles|km|abbr=on}}.{{Cite book |date=January 1965 |chapter=Chapter 3 |title=Army Air Defense Control Systems |chapter-url=http://ed-thelen.org/USAADSDigest1965chapter3.pdf |location=Hillman Hall, Fort Bliss, Texas |publisher=U. S. Army Air Defense School |access-date=2011-09-28 |quote=The term "radar netting" (fig 43) describes the process by which track data derived from several additional or remote radars are gathered at a single center to produce an integrated set of meaningful target information}}[http://ed-thelen.org/USAADSDigest1965chapter2.pdf Ch. 2, p. 17] NOTE: The p. 36 image with scrub brush ("Figure 34") titled "Missile Master" is identified differently in the text as "SAGE (fig 34)"{{Cite news |last=Fay |first=Elton C. |date=March 24, 1956 |title='Missile Master' Revealed by Army |url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/SiteMap/FreePdfPreview.aspx?img=108016162 |format=Newspaper Archive |location=Lake Charles, Louisiana |newspaper=Lake Charles American Press |page=14 |access-date=2011-09-19 }}
Siting
Missile Master radars and the control bunker were usually co-located. Sometimes they were co-located with a USAF radar station such as the Arlington Heights Army Installation.{{Cite web |last=Bender |first=Donald E |title=Cold War at Campgaw Mountain |url=http://www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/nikemissile.html |publisher=BergenCountyHistory.org |access-date=2011-09-27 |quote=the Army Air Defense Command Post at Highlands, New Jersey opened during 1960 … co-located with the Highlands Air Force Station… |archive-date=2006-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208144746/http://www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/nikemissile.html |url-status=dead }} Conversely, the Fort MacArthur Direction Center used radars ~{{Convert|3|mi|km|abbr=on}} away at San Pedro Hill AFS. The single-site Camp Pedricktown Army Air Defense Base was later reconfigured{{When|date=October 2011}} to use radar data from Gibbsboro AFS{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Tom |year=2004 |title=The Gibbsboro AFS - Pedricktown AI Relationship (and Associated Trivia) |url=http://www.radomes.org/museum/documents/GibbsboroAFSNJpedericktown.html |publisher=Radomes.org |access-date=2012-01-26}} {{Convert|15|mi|km|abbr=on}} away.{{Cite web |url=http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/N-A-pedricktown.html |title=Air Defense on the Delaware: The Pedricktown Missile Master Site, 1960-1966 |access-date=2012-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806032853/http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/N-A-pedricktown.html |archive-date=2011-08-06 |url-status=dead }}
Nuclear bunker
The Missile Master's two-story fallout-proof & blast-resistant "main building" housed the AN/FSG-1 crew consoles in the "Blue Room" (tiered Antiaircraft Operations Center, AAOC).{{Cite journal |date=August 1956 |title=Magic in the Skies: The Missile Master |url=http://ed-thelen.org/Missile_Master_NG_mag_Aug_56%5B1%5D.pdf |journal=The National Guardsman |access-date=2011-09-14}}{{Cite news|date=June 7, 1960 |title=Base is Dedicated: 'Blue Room' at Missile Master Gives Eerie But Secure Feeling |url=http://209.212.22.88/DATA/RBR/1960-1969/1960/1960.06.07.pdf |location=Red Bank, New Jersey |newspaper=Red Bank Register |pages=1–2 |access-date=2011-09-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323151514/http://209.212.22.88/DATA/RBR/1960-1969/1960/1960.06.07.pdf |archive-date=March 23, 2012 }} (photograph caption). The bunker also included an entrance room with decontamination shower, commander's office; separate rooms for the AN/FSG-1 computer (rows of racks/boxes), storage, ADL, and other system equipment; utility rooms for HVAC and other support systems, and a decontamination water storage room under the AAOC. "Our radar must be kept above ground. If that goes, we are out of business anyway" (BGen [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rahewitt.htm Robert A. Hewitt)], so a less expensive and more vulnerable partially exposed bunker was acceptable for the AN/FSG-1. "Autonomous Operations" allowed remote missile batteries surviving a nuclear strike to launch without AADCP inputs.
Construction
Installation of a Missile Master took approximately 18 months[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=59FaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4msDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6612,3991704&dq=missile-master&hl=en Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search] and required an AN/TSQ-8 Fire Unit Integration Facility (FUIF) be installed at each Nike fire unit to provide the ADL interface between the AN/FSG-1 and the fire control system.{{Specify|AN/ number? and is there a wikipage for any of the Nike IFC computers|date=October 2011}} The Highlands Army Air Defense Site was completed at an existing SAGE radar station and cost ~$2 million for the new equipment and ~$2 million for the structures: {{Convert|170|x|90|ft|m|abbr=on}} bunker, power{{Clarify|was this the generator bldg or the transfer switch bldg; as the AFS may hav already had a generator bldg|date=October 2011}} building, and 4 radar towers{{Cite news |date=June 12, 1958 |title=Missile Master Defense System to Cost Millions: Army Opens Bids |url=http://209.212.22.88/DATA/RBR/1950-1959/1958/1958.06.12.pdf |location=Red Bank, New Jersey |newspaper=Red Bank Register |pages=1–2 |access-date=2011-09-06}} (a Missile Master at a new radar station was $9 million). Additional equipment and facilities included tankage for electricity generator fuel, storage for drinking & decontamination water,[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hcpaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dGwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5538,1691499&dq=missile-master&hl=en Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search] telephone lines, etc. In addition to the Martin Company's AN/FSG-1 subcontractors, the Corps of Engineers hired local construction contractors for the facility structures, e.g., Kirkland Construction for Ft Heath{{Cite web |title=Nike Missile Boston Defense Area |url=http://www.techbastard.com/missile/nike/boston-ma.php |work=Nike |publisher=TheMilitaryStandard |access-date=2011-09-27}} and Rust Engineering for the Oakdale Army Installation{{Cite news |date=July 12, 1958 |title="Missile Master" System Planned |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_XFiAAAAIBAJ&pg=4127,1233416&dq=missile-master&hl=en |format=Google News |newspaper=The Washington Observer |access-date=2011-09-30}}[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IRkfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AJYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6291,1896670&dq=missile-master&hl=en The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search] (the Corps tailored the bunker to each site from the "baseline standard drawings".){{Cite court |litigants=[http://nj.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19781024_0040137.NJ.htm/qx Brown v. Jersey Central Power and Light Co.] |decided=October 24, 1978 |url= |format=FindACase.com |court=New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division |accessdate=2011-09-14}} "The power building at Highlands was "in a 25' x 17' cinderblock building, designated on the plans as "Switch Gear Room Bldg. 118." The equipment in this small building permits the missile site to switch back and forth from external commercial power to its own internal power from diesel generators. …van housing the computer" Each Missile Master had 200 total personnel, and maintenance of the AN/FSG-1, the radars, and other systems was provided by an Army "Signal Missile Master Support Detachment"{{Cite news|date=February 1, 1967 |title=New Firing Control System: Army Unveils Missile Mentor |url=http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1960-1969/1967/1967.02.01.pdf |location=Red Bank, New Jersey |newspaper=Red Bank Register |page=13 |access-date=2011-09-15 |quote=faster, more reliable and less expensive … replaces the Army's six Missile Master systems…and four…BIRDIE…employed almost five years. …the original cost of the Missile Master…was in excess of $9 million for each site, while the Missile Mentor costs less than $1 million each. …[annual] operating and maintenance costs…would be $250,000, cf. $1 million…of Missile Master. …50 to 60 persons [cf.] approximately 200 [for] Missile Master … Missile Mentor…fits compactly into two trailer vans. One van holds the battle station, display consoles for the defense commander and equipment operators, the other houses the computer and circuit panels …[At] the Highlands Defense Site, the Missile Mentor [is] in the…building once occupied by [the] Missile Master. …built under a $10 million contract with the Army Missile Command (MICOM). |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013083140/http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1960-1969/1967/1967.02.01.pdf |archive-date=October 13, 2011 }} of 10-15 soldiers.[http://ed-thelen.org/unit-histories.html#missile-master-det,2d-art Unit Histories] All of the vacuum tube AN/FSG-1 computers were replaced prior to the end of Project Nike.
Closure
{{External media
|image1=[http://www.radomes.org/museum/recent/FortMeadeMD.html Ft Meade building]
|image3=[https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinhooa/2175735747/ empty Highlands bunker in 2008]
|image7=[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=pphhphoto&action=browse&fileName=mi/mi0600/mi0684/photos/browse.db&recNum=12&itemLink=&linkText=-1&title2=Selfridge%20Field,%20Building%20No.%201050,%20Northwest%20corner%20of%20Doolittle%20Avenue%20%26%20D%20Street;%20Harrison%20Township,%20Mount%20Clemens%20vicinity,%20Macomb,%20MI&displayType=1&maxCols=4 bunker floor plan]
|image8=[http://www.radomes.org/museum/documents/ArlingtonHeightsAIILMissileMaster.html Arlington Heights AI bunker]
|image9=[https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/IL/Airfields_IL_Chicago_NW.htm 1961 Arlington Heights site (5 radars)]
|image11=[http://www.radomes.org/museum/documents/FortMacArthurSanPedroCAnike.html Ft MacArthur bunker]
|image12=[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IRkfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AJYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6291,1896670&dq=missile-master&hl=en sketch of Oakdale complex]
}}
Army Air Defense Command Posts (AADCPs) were still at 5 Missile Masters on July 1, 1973 (CA IL MD NJ WA—all with AN/TSQ-51 CCCS except the Ft Lawton BIRDIE){{Rp|C-24}} prior to the Army's February 4, 1974, announcement to end Project Nike.{{Cite web |last=McGrath |first=John J (historian, Center of Military History) |year=1998–2002 |title=Continental Air Defense Collection |url=http://www.history.army.mil/reference/Finding%20Aids/contair.htm |format=Finding Aid |publisher=USAHEC |access-date=2011-09-28 |archive-date=2019-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609181601/https://history.army.mil/reference/Finding%20Aids/contair.htm |url-status=dead }} The Camp Pedricktown site was designated an historic site in 1998 by the Salem Historic Preservation Office,{{Cite web|date=2011-06-09 |title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places |url=http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/salem.pdf |publisher=NJ DEP - Historic Preservation Office |access-date=2011-09-27 |quote=Oldmans Township Nike Missile Master Complex (ID#3720) Delaware Road, Camp Pedricktown SHPO Opinion: 6/22/1998 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204092337/http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/salem.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-04 }} and documents regarding the Selfridge site have been entered in the Historical American Engineering Record.{{Cite report |title=Selfridge Field, Building No. 1050… |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/MI0684/ |number=HAER No. MI-684 |location=Library of Congress |publisher=Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record |access-date=2011-09-27}} NOTE: The labels on one of the HAER floor plans are for after the AADCP when the bunker was used for air traffic control (rooms for RAPCON, ATCALS, etc.) In 1999 a romantic comedy set at a midwest US Army missile post was published as a paperback with the name Missile Master{{Cite book |isbn = 158445105X|title = Missile Master|last1 = Kirts|first1 = D. K.|date = May 1999| publisher=Pulpless.com, Incorporated }} (the Kansas and Nebraska AADCPs had BIRDIES and never had bunkers.)
References
{{Reflist |30em|refs=
{{Cite manual |format=field manual |title=FM 44-1: U. S. Army Air Defense Employment |url=http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/docrepository/FM44_1_1965.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309181910/http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/docrepository/FM44_1_1965.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 9, 2013 |publisher=Headquarters, Department of the Army |date=October 11, 1965 |access-date=2011-09-06 |quote=The Missile Master includes…defense acquisition and height-finding radars… The Missile Master may receive automatic data link input from SAGE … FM 44-10…AN/FSG-1…FM 44-13 U.S. Army Air Defense Fire Direction System, AN/MSG-4 (Missile Monitor)…FM 44-14 U.S. Army Air Defense Fire Direction System, AN/GSG-5(V) and AN/GSG-6 }}
*NOTE: Estimates for AN/FSG-1 dates with asterisks are from the annual July 1 maps in McMaster's report, which don't show a symbol near the Pedricktown NJ site but instead mark a Missile Master north of Philadelphia near Allentown/Bethlehem PA. Also, although Berhow 2005 claims 7 of the 10 AN/FSG-1 systems were replaced with AN/TSQ-51 systems, the maps only show 6 AN/TSQ-51 Missile Mentors in 1966 at former Missile Master sites, with Ft Heath instead shown with an AN/FSG-1 Missile Master in 1964 (near a separate Massachusetts BIRDIE), then a Ft Heath BIRDIE in 1966 & 1967, a Ft Heath Missile Mentor in 1968 & 1969, and no Ft Heath AADCP in 1970 ([http://ed-thelen.org/loc-r.html a Rhode Island Missile Mentor] was depicted in 1970; but not in 1971.) Likewise, the report's maps show the replacement Lockport BIRDIE subsequently switched to a Missile Mentor between July 1, 1967 & July 1, 1968 (as did [http://www.nps.gov/ever/historyculture/army-air-defense-command-post-aadcp.htm Homestead-Miami.)]
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Category:1960 establishments in the United States
Category:1960 in military history
Category:1974 disestablishments
Category:1974 in military history
Category:Cold War military installations of the United States