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Little Rock, Ark. Detroit, Mich. New Orleans, La. CONTINENTAL DEFENSE AND OTHER DOMESTIC MISSIONS Under this head may be considered the defensive missions of the Army against enemy attack by air (the U. S. Army Air Defense Command) and by land, and also the Army's role in domestic emergencies. THE UNITED STATES ARMY AIR DEFENSE COMMAND. The United States Army Air Defense Command (USARADCOM) provides the Commander-in-Chief, North American Air Defense Command, with combat-ready Army forces, for the air defense of certain designated areas, which among them contain most of our nation's vital installations, industrial complexes, and heavy population centers. The task of USARADCOM is to develop an air defense force so strong that (1) it may deter a potential aggressor from attack ing by air at all, and (2) if he does attack, it can destroy the aircraft which are headed for any particular defended area, before they have reached the bomb release line. Historical Background. Four decades of Army experience with antiaircraft artillery have laid a firm foundation for today's USARADCOM. The Army's air defense role began in 1917, when a three-man mission of Coast Artillery officers went to France to study French and British antiaircraft weapons and techniques. Our first AA artillery units were established in the AEF in that year. From the end of the war until 1942, AA artillery was under the Coast Artillery Corps. In March of 1942 the separate Antiaircraft Command (AAC) was organized, as an element of the Army Ground Forces. The development of the atomic bomb, and of increasingly high-speed highaltitude jet aircraft, pointed to the vital need for long range supersonic guided missiles which can destroy these aircraft before they reach their target. Accordingly, in 1945 the Army started the development of such a missile. The outbreak of the Korean conflict, with its potentialities for a major war, accelerated the project. On 1 July 1950 the Army Antiaircraft Command (ARAACOM) was set up as a separate command. On 10 April 1951 it took over all AA artillery units allocated to the air defense of the United States. In December 1953 the first Nike guided missile unit occupied its tactical site. On 21 March 1957 USARADCOM received its present name. Thus from the first "balloon guns" and rudely converted field artillery pieces of World War I, the science of antiaircraft artillery has grown into a highly complex system of electronically guided missiles adapted to use either conventional or atomic warheads. Organization. USARADCOM's headquarters are at Ent Air Force Base, Colorado Springs (Colo.). It is one of the largest combat-ready commands of the Army. It is directly under the administrative and training control of the Chief of Staff of the Army. Part of its administrative support, and all of its logistical support, is furnished by the Zone of the Interior armies and the Military District of Washington. The agency is divided into five regional defense areas. The regions are further divided into "defense localities," each of which is charged with the defense of a specific locality. Weapons. The principal antiaircraft weapons available to USARADCOM are the several types of Nike missile and the Hawk missile. The Nikes are supersonic surface-to-air guided missiles. First to become operational was Nike Ajax, a liquid-fueled, rocket-type missile, about 20 feet long and a foot in diameter, with two sets of fins for guidance and steering. The missile and booster together weigh slightly over one ton. Ajax can meet an attack from any direction, and, can destroy any known manned aircraft. The Nike Hercules missile is an improved version of Ajax, larger, faster, and with a much greater range. Although more than twice the diameter of Ajax, it is extremely maneuverable at altitudes above those which Ajax can reach. Its speed permits the interception of manned aircraft at a greater distance from the area being protected. With a nuclear warhead it can destroy whole flights of aircraft, instead of merely a single plane. A "universal" type fire-control system permits the Hercules system to fire the Ajax as well, if desired, and even increases the effectiveness of the latter. Ajax and Hercules were both designed to guard against high-flying planes. To complement them the Army has developed the Hawk missile, which can destroy planes flying at the lowest possible level at safe distances from the defended area. It can be used either at fixed installations in the United States, or with the combat elements of a field army here or abroad. It can be moved over highways, or by helicopter or fixed wing aircraft. It is about 16 feet long and 14 inches in diameter, and uses a solid fuel propellant. The advent of the ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) means that our continental air defenses must be made effective, not only against aircraft but against missiles as well. To this end the Army is developing an antimissile missile called Nike Zeus. It is now in the "component development" stage. The Command Guidance System. The Nike incorporates a unique "command guidance" system which controls its flight throughout its course and up to the point of intercept and destructive burst. In-flight control is maintained by an electronic computer. Its "brain" is fed information from two radar devices, one of which tracks the target while the other follows the missile itself. The computer digests the information from the two tracking radars, and simultaneously flashes electronic "commands" to the missile to keep it locked on an unerring course. Each maneuver of the target aircraft is immediately translated into a "command" which is beamed to the missile to effect a corresponding change in its course, from the moment when it is launched until it reaches the target and explodes. A third radar, the acquisition radar, detects distant aircraft and transfers target information to the target-tracking radar. In a typical engagement, warning of the hostile aircraft's approach would come from the nation's early warning system. This information would be transferred to the Army's surveillance radars, located around USARADCOM posts, which coordinate the operations of several batteries, and then would be relayed to the batteries ready to engage the target. Each battery's acquisition radar would pick up the target and follow it in until the target-tracking radar locked on the target. From the instant that a Nike missile was launched, the target and missile tracking radars would work in unison, one locked on the enemy aircraft and the other on the missile. Army Missile Master. This is an electronic facility for coordinating the fire of Nike batteries and other advanced Army air defense weapons. Its development was started in 1945. It is a combination of the latest automatic electronic equipment and of human supervision imposed at critical points. In this way the tremendous capacity of electronics for the instantaneous handling of information and solution of complex problems is combined with the judgment of trained operators. The system can operate either independently or in conjunction with units of the Air Force's semiautomatic ground environment area defense system (known as SAGE). It is the first integrated system for tying together all elements of AA missile defense, from target detection to target destruction, for the coordination and direction of a large number of Nike batteries. It collects information on the location and identity of aircraft, presents it on electronic displays, and distributes data to the batteries. Thus each battery receives a continuous flow of up-to-date data on all aircraft within the defense area, sufficient for the proper selection of a target. In addition, the Missile Master operators observe the activities of all batteries in the system, and can direct a particular battery to fire on a particular target, or prevent friendly aircraft from being fired on. Locations. Nike installations are deployed throughout the United States, in defense of industrial, thickly-populated, and strategically-important areas. At battery sites, emplacements are built which include both underground and above-ground launching systems. Only 40 or 50 acres are needed per battery site from 6 to 8 acres for the control area, the rest for the missile launching area. However, there are certain special requirements which a site must meet; for example, there must be an unobstructed line of sight between the battery control and the launching areas. Also, for maximum defensive efficiency, the various batteries protecting an area must be properly located with respect to one another. These requirements impose fairly stringent conditions on site selection. Enlistment Choices. Prior service men who are enlisting or reenlisting for assignment to USARADCOM are permitted the following metropolitan duty CONTINENTAL GROUND DEFENSE. The ground defense of the continental United States is based on the planned use of mobile striking forces, whose mission would be to destroy the enemy wherever encountered. These forces would in general be committed under the control of Defense Sector Commanders. Each Zone of Interior Army area (see above) contains two or more defense sectors. The locations from which these forces would operate have been selected so as to give the greatest possible protection to the most critical elements of our war-making capacity. Economy of force dictates that the forces be mobile, and not committed to static defense missions at specific critical sites. When possible, Active Army combat units are used. If such troops are not |