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Show Per&hing Firing Practice Where Bandits Rode9 Missiles Fly Salt late Tribune, November 19,1968 By Dick Wilson' Tribune Correspondent MOAB - Where bandits and thieves one* crossed the Utah desert, long-range ballis- •tic missiles':are now fired. • The annual Pershing missile practice takes place periodically at the Gilson Firing Com-plex site, south of Green River, Utah. The 56th Artillery of t'he 7th U.S. Army in Europe was on hand the first week in November for practice firing of missiles which impact at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico, 400 miles away, The Army group came to Utah for practice launchings at the Gilson site. There is rib range long enough in Europe for the necessary practice. The men were handpicked to come to the Utah site, "These boys are the best we have," stated Maj. I. F. (Buck) Bonifay Jr.j firing batteries director. During last week a unit representing the Federal Republic of. Germany air force arrived from Europe to launch two more Pershings. All such operational anits are'Working in conjunction with NATO defense forces in Europe. The Pershing'is * two-stag*; solid-propellent ballistic missile that travels at a supersonic speed. It has nuclear «apa-bilities but during practice firings is equipped with m dummy warhead. The Per-; shings' are fired from the Gil-son site and' impact a few; minutes later at White Sands, Helicopter team's recover the spent first stage from isolated regions near the borders of Canyonlands National Park. Mobile Unit The PersMng is * highly mobile unit that is erected into proper firing position only minutes before the actual blastoff. When the countdown reaches zero, there's a pause of a few seconds then smoke erupts from beneath the mis-.sile. The craft surges upward slowy at first then gains speed, leaving a trail of smoke in the sky. Far above the heads of the observers the smoke eeases. This te when the first -stage is spent and falls to the ground, There's * spact m file sky between the conclusion -fflf the •first stage and the catting in of the second. Then, .the missile J« given its final 'push toward "White Sands. The »ee- end stage prope-llants are used up within a few more seconds and the missile becomes -invisible to the naked eye, Microwave transmissions, however, provide a continuous j report of the missile's progress. .City. «f Tent* . Approximately 100. tents i; comprise % tent city on the desert between Green River and Hanksville. Rations and milk for the men come from Green River, Price and Grand Junction, Colo. Approximately 20,000 gallons of water, trucked in from Green River, are used daily. Laundry is taken weekly to Sandia Base at Albuquerque, a round-trip distance -of 759 miles. As many as 600 troops have been billeted at this camp at one time. There are supporting unite at the Gilson sit* which are convoyed', .from Fort Sill, Okla., two or three weeks before each series of firings, The 2nd Battalion of the 44th Artillery at Fort Sill k ft* Army's first operation*! Pershing battalion xn& it is their Job to get the tents tcect-ed, electricity and hearing unite in order and other nec-•sstry preliminary work taken ear* of. The men are usually occa-piefi is preparing for launch-ings bat occasionally they havt tinit ftw recreation. In this isolated region this consists mainly of seeing the $w- II founding countryside. There are other organisa-IHHJS on hand to watch tht proceedings of the migsil* fir-ings. The prim* contractor for th« Pershiag system, th« Martin-Marietta Corp. ef Cfrlando, Fk., has representatives at the site. White Sands missile «xpert$ are also an the scene a* well as officers from the Perahing Project Manager's Office of tb* Army Missile Command at Eedston« Arsenal, Ala. Tht firings abs are supported by personnel from the UtaJi launch com-ptex at Green Rivsr. |