The Defender has Returned
Click header to open May 2012 issue.
Back Issues
March 2012 - April 2012
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2nd Missile Battalion
52nd Air Defense Artillery
1.75" Brass Commemorative Coin
Click to enlarge
$12.00
Click to Purchase Now
2nd 52nd ADA Nike Veterans will receive a complimentary commemorative coin
at the reunion*
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12" Mahogany Nike Hercules
on Stand
$38.00 - Order Now
or
Purchase with reunion registration for $30.00*
*Coins and Nike model will be available at reunion Saturday October 20th
ARADCOM Patches
available for reunion
31st ADA Patches
available for reunion
Click Here to Order Patches Now
$12.00
Click on patch to enlarge
2nd Missile Battalion of the
52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment
Nike Hercules in Florida - 50th Anniversary Reunion
Miami, Florida
October 20-21, 2012
Click Here to Register for Reunion
Keynote Speaker
Colonel Francis R. Stevens, Jr.
2nd 52nd ADA Battalion Commander
1974 - 1976
Click Photo for Bio
The Last Nike Hercules Missile Battalion to Defend America
An Abstract by Charles D. Carter*
Semper Paratus - Always Prepared: - In September 1962, B Battery, 2nd Missile Battalion of the 52nd Air Defense Artillery (ADA), under the command and control of the 6th Group at Ft. Bliss, Texas was deployed to Johnston Island in the South Pacific. The mission, "Shot Hole Card," was part of a series of launches (shots) in Operation Dominic. The mission of B Battery was to launch a Nike Hercules missile and detonate a 10 KT nuclear warhead destroying another Nike Hercules in flight. The operation was a success.
Initial Deployment: On October 25, 1962, in response to the buildup of Russian missiles in Cuba, the Army deployed, among other units, the 2nd Missile Battalion 52nd Air Defense Artillery (Nike Hercules) from Ft. Bliss, Texas to south Florida. Their primary mission was the first line of defense against the threat of bombers and fighters from the southern hemisphere. Although many Nike Hercules sites were equipped with nuclear warheads, the south Florida units arrived without nuclear rounds. Living in squad tents in the swampland of the Everglades, in tomato fields, and cow pastures, forming a ring around Miami and Homestead, these men knew their missile and radar sites would be the first target of Soviet and Cuban aggression.
Temporary to Permanent: In April 1963, the missile sites of south Florida would became a permanent part of the Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM) and would become a permanent site.
Nuclear Certification: In the summer of 1965, the batteries relocated to newly constructed, permanent sites. In addition, the south Florida sites began to become certified for the installation of nuclear warheads.
The 2nd Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Element is Born: In March 1970, the 2nd of the 52nd became a Strategic Army Forces (STRAF) unit under the United States Readiness Command's reaction forces. This meant that it took on a second mission: "To be trained and ready to deploy to any hot spot in the world." Support of the STRAF mission called for the establishment of a battalion-sized
Element of the 2nd Battalion at Fort Bliss to maintain and secure the sets of battery equipment earmarked for deployment use. In addition to the 2/52 units in Florida, the 2/52 Element at Fort Bliss was born with a cadre of missilemen from the Florida site, supplemented by additional personnel to maintain and operate the mobility equipment. The 2/52 Element trained in field operations, particularly the operation of a mobile battalion Air Defense Command Post (AADCP), and set up the battalion's tactical communications and tactical vehicle
motor pool. Each battery in Florida had a number of its men permanently attached to the Element for maintenance work; they would rejoin their parent batteries only upon deployment.
Dodging Deactivation: In 1974, ARADCOM was disbanded and all remaining Nike Hercules sites were deactivated except the batteries in Alaska and Florida, these being retained due to their proximity to communist countries. At this time, the Army transferred control of the Florida units to the U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM).
Nuclear Deactivation: In the spring of 1975, the Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered the Army to remove the W-31 nuclear warheads and replace them with the conventional high explosive T-45 fragmentation warheads. This operation, named in "Operation Golden Shoes," involved the support of the Army 295th Military Police Company (Physical Security), Army Chinook CH-47 and Huey helicopters, and Air Force C-141 heavy-iit cargo aircraft. By late summer, all the W-31s in south Florida had been replaced with T-45s.
The last Active Nike Site to Defend America (CONUS): In early 1979, the order came down for the Alaska sites to deactivate and for the Florida sites to prepare to relocate to McGregor Range at White Sands, New Mexico (a part of the Ft. Bliss complex). By June, all Alaska sites had deactivated; and the batteries of the 2nd Missile Battalion in Florida became the last remaining Nike Hercules missile units defending America within the continental United States.
The New Mission: Training NATO Countries: in September 1979, the 2nd of the 52nd stood down from its CONUS defense mission, moved to Ft. Bliss, and became a training battalion, in support of NATO countries who were still using Nike Hercules as their national air defense system.
Deactivation of 2/52: In September 1982, A and C batteries of the 2nd of the 52nd were deactivated leaving the HHB, B Battery, and D Battery as a training battalion for NATO Forces. Four years later on March 15, 1983, the 2nd Missile Battalion (Nike Hercules) 52nd ADA was deactivated in a ceremony at Ft. Bliss, Texas. This was the last time a Nike Hercules unit existed in the Continental United States.
Nike Continued to Protect Europe: The Army continued to use Nike-Hercules as a front-line air defense weapon in Europe until the Patriot missile batteries were deployed. Other NATO units from West Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Greece, continued to use the Nike-Hercules for high-altitude air defense until the late 1980s. With the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the units were deactivated.
2/52 Reactivated: Different Mission - Different Weapons: On April 16, 1988, The 2nd Missile Battalion of the 52nd ADA Regiment was reactivated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina as a HAWK unit. It was once again deactivated on September 15, 1993 at Ft Bragg.
2/52 in the Gulf War Defending Saudi Arabia and Liberating Kuwait: In 1990, The 2nd Missile Battalion was reactivated as a Patriot Missile Battalion and deployed to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait as a unit of the of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg. The 2nd of the 52nd served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. It was awarded the Valorous Unit Award and an embroidered streamer for the defense of Saudi Arabia and liberation of Kuwait.
2/52 Goes Airborne:
On 15 August 1996, under the control of the 108th Brigade (now located at Fort Polk, Louisiana as a Patriot and Avenger brigade), the 2/52 ADA moved to Fort Bliss. Still under the control of the Airborne Corps at Ft. Bragg, the 2nd of the 52nd added an airborne tab above its patch. The 2nd of the 52nd (Stinger) was the brigade's only unit to serve on jump status. This platoon had the distinction of being the first ADA unit to be deployed in the opening days of the Gulf War.
The Last Active International Nike Hercules Units Stand Down - In 2010, South Korea and Italy removed the last of the Nike Hercules as their national air defense weaponry.
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*Charles D. Carter is an independent military historian who wrote America's Air Defense of South Florida During and after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 2002. He was invited to present his publication at the 2002 Conference of Military Historians in Washington, DC by the Army Center for Military History. He has written other articles for military journals and museums. Carter speaks on the Nike Hercules and the Apollo/Saturn V at aerospace engineering colleges and museums during their lecture series.
The abstract above is from a book he is is currently writing about the history of the 2nd Missile Battalion of the 52nd Air Defense Artillery. Some of his writing is based on his personal experience as a launch section control operator at C Battery and B Battery of the 2nd 52nd from 1963 - 1965. Click here for a biographical profile.
