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Show THE WHITE SANDS Volume 20-Number 47 White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico Friday, January 9, 1970 Utah firings to be resumed in spring; increase forecast .n increase in the number of missile firings from the U. S. Army's off-range launch sites in Utah during 1970 is indicated in forecasts by White Sands Missile Range planning officials. Other programs supportedby military, civil service and contractor technicians and engineers employed at the two Utah launch complexes are scheduled to continue at about the same level as in 1969. The launch sites are at Green River, about 500 miles from WSMR, and Blanding, nearly 400 miles from the range. From the Army's semipermanent Green River complex, firings of the U.S. Air Force's multi-stage Athena research vehicle will be resumed this spring. Athena firings are to be scheduted from time to time throughout the year.___ From Black Mesa, 15 miles southwest of Blanding, U. S. Army troops will fire operational test and annual service practice rounds of the two - stage Pershing artillery ballistic missile. The Pershing firings also are scheduled starting in the spring. The spring series of Pershing firings will carry over in- to early summer. Following a break, other series will be scheduled. Test operations in 10 other programs, each requiring its own degree of range time and range support, are scheduled in Utah this year. These include six Air Force programs, three Army programs and one project of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Altogether in the 12 programs, including Athena and Pershing, the forecasts indicate, that Utah workers will conduct or support 251 different firings and flight test operations during 1970. These will require a total of 1,749 hours of range time. Examples of Air Force programs are SRAM (Short-Range Attack Missile), C-5A System Evaluation, F-lll Flight Tests, and Inertial Navigation System Aircraft Flight Tests. With exceptions of Athena and SRAM, the Air Force programs involve aircraft flights in Utah air space. During the flights, ground'based and air-bprne instruments will track the aircraft and record important data for use in research, development and evaluation oroerams. These operations will be supported by WSMR control, communication and data collection facilities at both Green River and Blanding. as well as in New Mexico. In addition to the Pershing operations, Army programs will include SOTRAN (Sound Transmission), a study of missile acoustics and sound transmission in the near and far fields; RDTS (Real-Time Data System), an evaluation of reliability and capability of the data system; and range testing involving the ARCADE (Automatic Radar Control and Data Equipment). The NASA program is designated HIREWIMP (High-Resolution Wind Measurements Program). Balloons launched in Utah will be tracked by radar to obtain data concerning wind conditions and turbulence, for use in designing space vehicles. Permanently assigned to the WSMR operations in Utah are 227 persons. These include Army and Air Force military personnel, Army and Air Force civilian employes and employes of Army and- Air Force con-, tractors. In addition, a small detachment of soldiers from Ft. Sill Okla., has been based at the Black Mesa site near Blanding during the winter to maintain the Pershing camp facilities. During the Pershing firing operations starting in the spring, a battalion numbering approximately 400 troops will arrive from Ft. Sill. These will be members of the 2nd Battalion, 44th Artillery, Fourth U. S. Army, the Army's first Pershing missile unit. The 2nd Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Harold C. Bennett provides logistical, technical and administrative support for Army troops in all Pershing off-range firings. area for special assignments during firings will be approximately 80 technicians and engineers from WSMR, serving on temporary duty. After firing operations are completed, these workers will return to their activities in California. The.permanent force pf 227 includes 170 Army and Army contractor personnel and 57 Air Force and Air Force contractor personnel. Army contractors, who employ 149 of the 170 persons, include Radio Corp. of America (RCA), the Land-Air Division of Dynalec-tron Corp. and the PhilcoCorp. Fifty of the 57 Air Force personnel are employedby contractors. Air Force contractors are Atlantic Research Corp. (ARC), Aerospace Corp., Minneapolis - Honeywell, Stearns-Roger Corp. and Burns Detective Agency. regular jobs -<at White Sands. For Athena firings at Green River, where the majority of the 227 permanent workers are assigned , temporary requirements bring in around 20 additional engineers and technicians, including 11 from Army organizations at WSMR and eight to ten from Air Force |