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Show <§ Sun-Advocate, Price, Utah-Thursday, February 26, 1970 Increase in missile firings seen from Southeast Utah launch site I An increase ;in the number of I missile firings from the U. S. | Army's off-range launch sites in iUtah during 1970 is indicated in forecasts by White Sands Missile j Range planning officials. I Other programs supported by 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 WS- i MR, and Blanding, almost 400 miles from the range, I From the Army's semi-perman- \ ent Green River complex, firings ; of the U. S. Air Force's multi-, stage Athena research. vehicle will be resumed in March. 'Athena i firings are to be scheduled from time to time throughout the year. JFrom Black Mesa, .15 miles southwest of Blanding, Army troops will fire operational test and annual service practice j 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 into early summer. Following a break, oth- i er series will be scheduled. I 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 Right Tests. With the exceptions of Athena | and SRAM, the Air Force pro- | grams will involve aircraft flights in Utah aiff space. During the flights, ground-based and air- i borne instruments will traclj the I ; aircraft and record important data for use in research, development and evaluation programs. 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 op- • erations, 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 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 contractors. , In addition, a small detachment of soldiers from Ft. Sill, Okla., has been based at the Black Mesa site near Blanding during the win- 1 ter 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, 9th Artillery Group, Fourth U. S. Rrmy, the Army's first Pershing missile unit The 2nd Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colon-. el Harold C. Bennett, provides {logistical, technical and adminis-i, terative support for Army troops I in all Persing off-range firings. I Also going to the Blanding area i for special assignments during * the firings will be approximately | 80 technicians and engineers from iWSMR, serving on temporary duty. After firing operations are j completed, these workers will re- jturn to their regular jobs at I White Sands.. | For Athena firings at Green | River, where the majority of the ij227 permanent workers are as-'* signed, temporary requirements j bring in around 20 additional en-| gineers and technicians, including j 11 from Army organizations at ' WSMR and eight to 10 from Air Force activities in California. The permanent force of 227 includes 170 Army and Army contractor personnel and 57 Air Force and Air Force contractor personnel. Army contractors, who einploy 149 of the 170 persons, include Radio Corp, of America (RCA), the Land-Air Division of Dynalectron Corp. and the Philco Corp. Fifty of the 57 Air Force personnel are employed by contractors. Air Force contractors are Atlantic Research Corp. (ARC), Aerospace Corp., Minneapolis-Honey well, Stearns-Roger Corp. and Burns Detective Agency. Naturally, the business communities of Green River and Blanding are benefitted economi-| cally by the military and related 1 industrial activities in their areas. However, other Utah communities also are benefitted. Many of the Green River workers reside in Moab, while others make their homes in the Price and Helper areas, including Dragerton and Sunnyside. Residents of Crescent Junction, Thompson and Cisco, Utah, and of Grand Junction, Colp., have been employed at Green River. Workers at Black Mesa include 1 residents 'of the Monticello and I Bluff areas as well as Blanding. |