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also see Ken's Korner - tales from Oscura Range Camp
Updated March 13, 2018Target Practice Table of Contents:
Purpose
The Ranges
The Targets
Record Of A Shoot
The Visitor Experience
The Range Staff
The purpose Nike antiaircraft system is/was to knock (high flying) enemy aircraft out of the sky
and like the cop on the corner, it could also deter enemies from sending such aircraft to a Nike defended area.Since this is a weapon that takes servicing and aiming,
the people using it should be able to show proficiency in servicing the weapon and firing it with desired results.
just like the cops on a firing range.
This gives all concerned some assurance that if/when the time comes, "the right thing" can/will happen.
the "bad" guys likely will decide this is not the bank to rob now, or avoid areas defended by Nike.So, all Nike crews trained at Ft. Bliss got the chance to:
a) assemble and prepare missiles for launch
b) or prepare radars and guidance equipment for firing, track the target and fire at it.
and watch, and get graded upon, the results.Same idea as a police range,
but the Nike missiles and firing equipment were very complicated with lots of chance for error.Also, in the Nike program, representative site people "refired" once a year to:
a) encourage continuing proficiency
b) retain confidence that they and the equipment could work properly.
Just like the cops.
A police pistol range, and a Nike missile range have many things in common
- Noisy
- Flying missiles (and shell casings or boosters) that can hurt people
- Need room for activities and missile flights.
as such, both are confined to special areas.In the case of a Nike missile range, lots of room is needed. There are special problems with Nikes.
- The missiles are large - about 10 meters - and explosive. They can explode over the launch area.
- The rocket boosters are large, heavy steel, and when falling could maybe penetrate an armored tank.
- - (Fortunately, unless a gale is blowing, boosters fall into a designated 1 square mile area.)
- A Nike Hercules can fly over 100 miles.
So, the areas selected for Nike ranges were (best I know)
- New Mexico desert, originally Red Canyon for the shorter range Ajax, then McGregor, for sites in "lower 48"
- Mediterranean Sea, Sardinia and Crete, for European forces
- Gulf of Alaska, from Site Summit, for sites near Anchorage, ? for Fairbanks sites?
- "Sea Range" for sites in Korea
- Western Pacific Ocean, from site ? Okinawa
- Mokuleia, Hawaii (newspaper from Thomas Page, June 2019)
from Jim Warren Sept 2, 2008 ... I saw you had a question mark on the Alaska ranges. One bit of info I remember from dad was the ASP in 1970. He was transferred to C/1/43 ADA Ft Richardson (Site Bay) in January 1970 from CL-02 in Cleveland. C Battery did their ASP in Fairbanks in Feb. 1970. The Fairbanks sites were deactivated shortly after, in May I think, and they went to McGregor after that. I have no clue what Fairbanks site hosted them. He mentioned that it was extremely cold and a tire on their bus shattered into little pieces. ...
Just a bit of trivia to pass along.
New Mexico desert, originally Red Canyon for the shorter range Ajax, then McGregor, for sites in "lower 48"
- Ken's & Friend's RCAT Korner stories and pictures
I forgot who gave this copy of a shoot to me :-(
Thanks much, who ever you are :-)
Of course you need some paperwork, who, what, when, why, ...
The archivist folks call this "meta-data".
Horizontal Plotting Board - the ink is actually green -
Vertical Plotting Board - the ink is actually green -
This is the recording of the shoot by the event recorder
By "Visitor" I mean the people who "visited" the range to prepare missiles and aiming equipment for firing, and who ultimately fired (three) missiles at targets. I was involved with firing three missiles after training, just before my "package" was sent to various new sites. After regular training, the various site commanders interviewed available people, selected who should be in their units, and we then did several weeks training together on the equipment at Ft. Bliss, then went to Red Canyon to fire as a unit. About a year later, many of us went back to Red Canyon for a SNAP - Short Notice Annual Practice.
J.P. Moore authored a book The Malpais Missiles about Nike Ajax, RCATS, Red Canyon Range Camp, Oscura Range Camp, and White Sands Proving Ground in the 1950's. For fun stories about the launching RCATs see
- Ken's & Friend's RCAT Korner stories and pictures.Unfortunately, the McGregor range was larger and more "military". No charming stories have arrived about it.
If you have comments or suggestions, Send e-mail to Ed Thelen
Updated June, 2019