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Show WHITE SANDS MISSILE BANGER, Page 1, September 11, 1970 Ff. Sill troops will open Pershing series Tuesday Troops of the 2nd Battalion, 44th Artillery, of FtSill.Okla., will launch two Pershing missiles Tuesday to open the fall series of firings at Blanding, Utah. A total of 16 Pershings will be fired between now and late November at the Army's Black Mesa launch site near Bland-ing. Other troops participating will be units of the European-based Seventh U.S. Army and the Federal Republic of Germany Air Force. White Sands Missile Range officials announced that four road blocks will be established at noon Tuesday on southern Utah roads. Two road blocks will be set on U.S. Highway 163 - one at White Mesa Indian Village south of Blanding, and one at a point just north of Bluff. On State Highway 262, blocks will be set at Aneth and at the Hatch Trading Post Junction. The northern extension of the missile range in New Mexico also will be evacuated for the annual service practice firings. This missile range is responsible for ground and flight safety support of the missiles, which are programmed to impact in safety zones on the range proper, 400 miles southeast of the launch site. The range also provides instrumentation, range control and communications support through the facilities of the Utah Launch Complex. THurscJay, 'fiprfi 3D, T97Q , PrTeg, UfaR 5 Pg-rilifng mnm frem scheduled f!tr@yffe mid-It! "*& • ^ff The spring series of off-range firings of U. S. Army Pershing missile from Black Mesa, near Blanding, continued this week with two rounds fired. The targets for the annual service practice firings are ground points on White Sands Missile Range. Firing both rounds were units of the Seventh U. S. Army, on hand from stations in Europe where they are operationally deployed. The series began April 16 with two rounds fired by units of the Federal Republic of Germany Air Force. They had been rescheduled from April 14 because of adverse weather conditions. The Seventh Army troops will use the new Model P-lA ground support equipment. In opening the 1970 program, the German units used the older P-l equipment. The new equipment features highly mobile five-ton, eight-wheel rubber-tired vehicles and improved launcher and programmer systems. The older system is mounted on tracked vehicles. The series is scheduled to continue through mid-July. Opera- i tions at the Black Mesa complex, i 15 miles southwest of Blanding, i are conducted under simulated tacfical conditions. In addition to serving as annual practice for troops, "the firings provide data for product improvement and for evaluating systems and procedures. Supporting the firing troops are 400 members of the 2nd Battalion, 44th Artillery, 9th Field Artillery (Missile) Group, from Ft. Sill, Okla. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Harold C. Bennett, this veteran Pershing unit has been at the camp since early March. Army and civilian personnel of White Sands Missile Range also support the program. WSMR operations are coordinated through the Utah Launch Com-1 plex at Green River, directed by A. Muray Maughan of National Range Operations (NRO). Staff project engineer for NRO is Reed Larsen. Test coordinator for Army Missile Test and Evalu- ation (ARMTE) is W. E, (Bill) Worthy. Other organizations providing support include the U.S. Army Field Artillery Missile Systems Evaluation Group (FAMSEG) of Ft. Sill, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John A. Zalewski, and the Pershing Project Manager's Office (PPMO) of Redstone Arsenal, headed by Colonel Rutledge P. Hazzard. Chief of the PPMO; field office in Utah is James E;'. Conner. -_•:'• Also represented in Utah is the prime contractor for Persing missiles, the Martin Marietta Corp., of Orlando, Fla. The off-range program began in 1963 after the Pershing system became operational. Since then,.. 83 Pershing missiles have been launched in Utah. I |
