Photo: Nike missile launch. Submitted by
Jake Jegelwicz.
A Surprise Visit
At
the time, all we had for warheads on the Herc's were nuclear.
Contributed by Jake Jegelewicz, Acquisition Radar Operator
I was stationed with the 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment in Amberg, in what
was then West Germany, 45 miles from the Czech Border.
I was an Acquisition Radar Operator in 1962 on a Nike Hercules Missile Site about 70 miles south of Fairbanks, Alaska when this incident occurred. We were the HOT battery this night and used the refueling missions of B-52's to train new radar operators.
The 52's would be refueled by KC-135's as they were returning from their missions over the Pole and returning to the lower 48 to their respective bases. We were in the process of tracking a flight when we got the report of a Bogey following the mission. We proceeded to "LOCK ON" the Bogey. It was a Russian aircraft apparently photographing the refueling mission.
US Army, Alaska.
Submitted by
Jake
Jegelwicz.
At the time, all we had for warheads on the Herc's were nuclear. As luck
would have it the D.O. that night was a new Lt. who sat next to me with
his finger on the fire switch requesting permission to FIRE from the AADCP.
Luckily, the people on duty that night at AADCP maintained firing procedures
with no Release of Nuclear Weapons from the President -- and denied permission
to fire. Who knows what kind of FIRESTORM could have started that night
if a mistake had been made. A few weeks later all the sites in Alaska received
H.E. (High Explosive) warheads in the event of another overflight that far
inland by the Russians.
Apparently the Russian intelligence was also very good -- that was the last
time we had any flights that far inland by them!
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