Progressive Management - The Development of Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force 1945-1960: Atomic Missiles, Project MX-774, Thor, ICBM Squadrons, Atlas and Titan, IRBM, Pilotless Aircraft

The Development of Ballistic Missiles in theUnited States Air Force 1945-1960 - Atomic Missiles, ProjectMX-774, Thor, ICBM Squadrons, Atlas and Titan, IRBM, PilotlessAircraft

U.S. Government, Department of Defense, U.S.Military, U.S. Air Force (USAF), World Spaceflight News

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CONTENTS

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Office of Air Force History - United States Air Force

Washington, D.C., 1990

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Foreword

Following World War II, the onset of nuclearweapons, long-range jet bombers, and ballistic missiles radicallychanged American foreign policy and military strategy. The UnitedStates Air Force, led by men of far-sighted vision and uncommondedication, accepted the challenge of organizing and leading amassive research and development effort to build ballisticmissiles. In the quarter of a century since, these weapons haveconstituted one of the three legs of the strategic triadthe basisof America's strategy of deterring nuclear waryet they havereceived less attention from the public and within the Air Forcethan the more glamorous manned bombers of the Strategic Air Commandor the missile-launching submarines of the U.S. Navy. This volumeattempts to correct the imbalance by telling the story of thedevelopment of Air Force ballistic missiles. It concentrates on thefirst generation of ballistic missiles: the intercontinental Atlasand Titan, and the intermediate range Thor. Although the effort todevelop rockets has a longer history than commonly assumed, themodern history spans the relatively short era from 1945 to 1960.During this brief interval, missiles advanced from drawing board toalert status, where the next generation now remains poised to deterwar.

The author describes the difficultiesinvolved in the technological competition with the Soviets to befirst to develop and deploy a ballistic missile force. Withinnovative leadership, the Air Force succeeded also in overcomingconflict with the Army and Navy, budgetary constraints,administrative complications, and of course formidable engineeringproblems. Jacob (Jack) Neufeld has done a thoughtful, thorough jobof research in an immense amount of documentation. He came to thetask with broad experience in the subject matter. He first joinedthe history program at Eighth Air Force, Westover Air Force Base,Massachusetts; his initial assignment was to cover the command'sICBMs, including the Titan II and Minuteman, in the annual history.When he came to Washington and joined the Office of Air ForceHistory in 1970, he produced monographs on missiles and space. Healso had other diverse assignments, usually in the area of thehistory of research, development, and technology generally. Beforelong he earned a well-deserved reputation as an expert in thesefields. In the course of his extensive research, Mr. Neufeld alsomet and interviewed many of the leading people involved in AirForce science and technology.

Although the development of ballisticmissiles is largely an administrative history, it is also the storyof the herculean efforts of several key individuals. The effortcould not have succeeded as it did without the fortuitousappearance on the scene of Trevor Gardner, Gen. Bernard A.Schriever, and Dr. John von Neumann. How these men conceptualized,promoted, and directed the program forms the basis of the story.Additionally, the development of ballistic missiles revolutionizedthe way the Air Force conducted research and development, having aprofound and long-lasting effect on how the service acquiredweapons of all types. Mr. Neufeld's fascinating history detailsthese important changes in the process of relating how the serviceconceived, developed, and brought into the arsenal one of the mostrevolutionary weapons in the long history of warfare.

RICHARD H. KOHN

Chief, Office of Air Force History

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Preface

This book was originally conceived in late1976 when I was assigned by the Office of Air Force History to"write a twenty-five year history of Air Force ballistic missiles."It soon became apparent that such a monumental task was unlikely tobe completed by one individual within a normal lifetime. Moreover,the indicated twenty-five year span had no special historicalsignificance, and the term "ballistic missiles" was too broad.Consequently, I set out to narrow the subject and proposed to writea history of the development of the Air Force's first generation,long-range, strategic ballistic missiles: the Atlas, the Titan, andthe Thor. This seemed far more manageable and more useful, and thestudy could serve as a basis for succeeding histories on the TitanII and Minuteman missile series. Most important, by narrowing thefocus and time span, I could produce a work of sufficient depth tobe of real value in reconstructing the evolution of the Air Force'sresearch and development history.

Anyone who has worked in a government historyoffice will appreciate the delays a major book can encounter whenmore pressing assignments or projects fall to an author. While Icompleted a draft of the book in the spring of 1981, that fall Iagreed to accept a management position, supervising the SpecialHistories Branch, which consumed most of my time. A few yearslater, I became Chief of the office's Editorial Branch and since1985, of its Air Staff Branch. After I revised and refined themanuscript, a final seminar panel recommended additional changes,which also took considerable time. Further delays were the productof security and policy review by agencies outside the Air Force andby budget reductions in the Office of Air Force History, whichslowed the editing and printing of the work.

There are a great many people I want to thankfor helping me with the research and writing of this book. First myfamily, my wife Shari and children Michelle, Neil, and Jessica,deserves praise for its consistent support. My colleagues at theOffice of Air Force History provided much constructive criticismduring chapter seminars: Maj. Gen. John W. Huston, Stanley Falk,Max Rosenberg, the late Carl Berger, Warren A. Trest, the lateThomas A. Sturm, Herman S. Wolk, Marcelle S. Knaack, Henry O.Malone, Walton S. Moody, and Edgar F. Raines. Several key figuresin the history of missile development were kind enough to sharetheir experiences in interviews. Their names are listed throughoutthe notes.