8/17/2019 The Giant (Nov 1967)

1/2

 PERSHING

N

EUROPE

VOL.1 NO. 6

NOVEMBER

15, 1967

$ 52 Million Contract

PERSHING 1-A GIVEN GO -AHEAD

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 2 -

The U. S. Army today

an

nounced

the

award of a 8

52

-

million contract to Martin

Marietta Corporation for a

full production go-ahead on

the

Pershing 1-A missile

system. ·

The announcement follows by

two

days

the award

of

an addl

tlonal S 103 million to Martin

Ma rietta for

eng

inee ring services

and other support

actlvi

ies

for

the Army's Jons-range

nuclear

weapon, bringing

the contract

total

to S 62.3 million. .

The

$ 52-mllllon agreement pro

vides t r first-year production

of

Improved ground support equip

me nt designed to

transport

and

launch the 400-mile-range Pe r

shing missile. Included

lo

the to

tal

figure Is

a S

5-million

incre

ment of the contract awarded the

firm

last Au;ust for long-lead

item

procurement.

The work will be performed by

Martin Marlett.as' Orlando Divi

sion,

prime

contr

actor for the

surtacc-to-surfaccballistic system.

Th

e company also performed the

development work

or

the

system

under an Army contract issued

In

J anuary, 1966.

The

production aggreernent Is

an Incentive contract under

which

Martin Marlett.a will be rewarded

t r rneetln;

or

beat

ing speci ied

requirements,

or

penalized if

per

formance deadlines

are not met.

The

contracts

were let by

the

Army

Missile Ccmmand, Redstone

Arsenal, Ala., where Lt. Col. Ed·

win A.

Rudd is

manager

for

the

project.

The

Pershing program

director

for Martin Marietta is Nicholas

D. DePasq

uale.

The

new Pershin, 1-A system

Introduces several Improvements

over the current Pershing equip

men

t

deployed

in Europe since

1964

with U. S. and West

German

troop unl JI.

The blg:gest chan1e - but

not

the only

one

- is Jn

outward

appearence,

with

a switch

from

tracked vehicles to wheels

for all

ground support equipment,

in

c

luding

the

erector-launcher.

The

Pershing 1-A

improve

ment pro gram stems

from

the

Army

's

conllnuin1 quest tor

a

faster rate

of

fire

1

lnc~ased re .

liability. less maintenance

and

overall

lower oosts.

Recently,

Pershing has taken

on a new

and

slgnlftcant

deter

rent role - quick reaction alert -

which places It beside other Free

World forces which are

kept

ready

as a

nuclear

backu·~ against ag

gression.

The

new ground ~ulpme

nt

will

feature a

hlghly-mobll

8/17/2019 The Giant (Nov 1967)

2/2

THE

GIANT GETS

NEW LEGS

The

U.

s.

ARMY s

PERSHING MISSILE under,oes tests on an improved

en,ctor•laun

cher

in Orlando, Florida. Mounted on rubber

tires

instead t

tracked

vehicles, the

new

Per

shing l·A around equipment carrlto the complete missile on

one carrier

pulled

by

an

M-656 prime mover.

The

missile

Is

cradled

on th

e last-erecting launcher which terv as

its own launch pad.

At

r

ear ls

the new pro1rammer/

test station

which serves

as

power

supply and countdown vehicle.

THE PERSHING MISSILE undergoes rapid ~~o n tests

by

Martin Marietta encinee

rs

at

Orlando, Florida, •s part of a development prosram

o

second generation around sup

port equipment

for

the system.

LAUNCH CONTROL EQUIPMENT.

The

Improved

Procrammer-Test

Statlon and Power

Station tor the U. S, Army's Pershtn1 1-A missile system are mounted on an

M-65G

carrier.

The

power

sta

tion,

at

rear of vehicle, provide, energy

for tbe

enUn, system.

The programmer-test station provides.the means tor missile checkout

and

countdown. It

Is equipped

with computer

control devices and Is capable

o

autmatlc

selttest

and ma •

function is.olatlon.

Mod

ern electronic packa&inc. featuring plus-In mlcromodules, allom

the operator to

perform repair

s right

at

the flrln& si te.

GROUND SUPPORT equipment for the Pershing missile system Includes the

battery

control central (BCC)

bcina

developed under tho

Perahlns

l

·A

proaram. Dosicncd

to

1lve the battery commander a better means

to

control and monitor

tirlnc

s.ite actlvitle~,

the BCC is mounted

in

an expando-van

atp

an M-656

truck

and Is linked by radio

with higher headquarters.

(Cont. from P I

Col3J

r

On September 3, 1944, the

8151

e

nt

er

ed

World

War II

, In

Europe, as a tractor drawn 155mm

howiuer unit Whlle in Europe

t

he

u

nit

w

on three

battle

strea

mers or Its participation in the

Rhineland

1

Ardannes .Alsacc and

Centr al E1.1rope campaigns.

After VE Day

the

Battalion

was ordered to proceed to Mar

seille, France

for

dabarkatlon to

the Pacific Theater. However VJ

Day came before the battalion

departed and so it returned to

the

State

s In February 1946. On

February 7. the battalion was

inactivated f

or

the second

time

in

its

history.

From

January 1946

to May

1954 the

battalion

w nt through

seve-ral short phases

of

activation

and inacth ·at

io

n. On May

15,

1

954,

the battalion aaaln was reacti

vated at Ft. Jockscn, North Caro

lina as a 155mm howitzer unlt

until the summec

of 1956 when

the

bn tt

alinn was transferred to

Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and

re

duced

to

battery size where It

became the 81st Field Artillery

Rock

et

Ba tt~ry /Honest John).

After

being Inactivated again

in 1957,

lhe 81st reactivated

as

a Corporal Missile Battalion In

1958 and was assigned

to

l

Hood,

Texa

s and later to Ft. Car·

son, Colorado.

The ba1talion remained

at

Ft.

Carsen

until

1961 when, for the

second time

in

four years, It was

inacti

vated

again. After

two

years

o

inactivation the unit was reac•

tivated at Ft. Sill on February 27,

1963

as

the 1st Battalion, 81st

Artillery.

Its

weapon

th

is timew

as

\he

Army's

newest, the Pershing

Mis~ilc.

In

the Battalion's

47

year hi

story It has participated in one

war, prepared t r another, and

has lraine-d for a third. Its wea

.

pons have consisted of

the

75mm

gun, 155mm howitzer, 8 lnch ho

wlt.zer

and

two generations of

rockets and

mi

ssiles. Today, the

81st

is armed wit

h

the

Army

's

most

powerful weapon named

after the man under

whom

It

first served, General J"ohn J.

Persh

in

g.

(Cont.

rem

P.

2 Col.

5

packed snow

are th r

ee

to 12 ti·

mes

gr

eater than on dry pave-

ment

5.

Allow other motorists a

wide margin of safety, remembe

ring that they may also be having

difficulty with traction.

6. Expect slippery

roac).

surfaces

around every curve on bridges

In shaded areas, when passing to

a different type of road surface,

and

when

the

su

n

goes

clown.

7.

Give signals In such a man

ner

th at th

e other

driver

wlll

have time

to

apply

pr

oper

winter-

driving t.ed

miques.

rememberini

that

poor weather conditions

af

fect stopping and slowing

distan

ces.

To support

the

USAREUR

sa

fety program, the

Eu r

opean x-

chanee Service (EES) garages will

continue

t >

give tree mechanical

inspections to privately owned

vehicl

es during the

month

of No

vember.

Although the Inspection Is free

required replacement parts and

labor wUl be charged to the ve

hicle owner

at

usual

EES

prices.

SP/4 WHITE NAMED SCANDINAVIAN BOXING CHAMP

W ACKERNHEIM The

USAR EUR

welterweight

boxing champion, SP4 Israel

R. White of Headquarters

Battery, 1st Battalion, 8lstAr

t illery recently returned from

a most successful boxing tour

of the Scandinavian Region.

SP4 White was represenUn&

the

Ut Battalion, 81st Artillery while

travelln& with the 1st Brl&ade,

8th Division boxln-" team.

Eadi

member o

the

team fought

two three round fights during 1he

tour. SP4 White's first tight

came

In Stockholm, Sweden aaalnst the

SwedishOlympic Champion whom

he defeated bv a unanimous deci

sion.

From

Stockholm, the team

moved on to a small town in

Northern Sweden called Pl1ae,

where White ought the j

unior

champion of

the

Northern

Scan

dinavian Re&lon. Again White

de

teated his foe by a unanimous

decision.

Two Swedish newspapers

car-

ried articles

on

the fights and

bolh

prai

se

d

White's

lighting

abllltles.

After

the tour, White returned

to Lee Barracks In Mainz and

participated ln a tournament held

Saturday,

28

October. He notched

another

victory in defeating the

light heavyweight champion from

the 3rd Brlaade

by

a technical

knod