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“The Last Nike Hercules Missile Battalion in America”

In October 1962 the 2nd Missile Battalion 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment deployed to south Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Their primary mission was the first line of defense against the threat of bombers and fighters from the southern hemisphere. 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.

In August 1963, the Army officially announced that the missile sites of south Florida would become a permanent part of the U.S. air defense network. As a result, in the summer of 1965, the batteries relocated to newly constructed, permanent sites.

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.

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).

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. Then, 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.

Four years later, on March 15, 1983, the 2nd Missile Battalion 52nd ADA was deactivated in a ceremony at Ft. Bliss, Texas.