Missing a Missile
The missile test team for a new air defense system experienced a few glitches while speeding through the desert. So they came up with a bright idea, only to find they missed the point.

During the late 1960s, I was an NCO assigned to the Army’s Missile Test and Evaluation Command at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. As a missile maintenance repairman, I was involved in all phases of R and D for the HAWK air defense system. My duties included testing maintenance response times in desert, arctic, and tropic environmentally controlled chambers; quarterly testing of guidance packages exposed in the jungles of Panama; and ultimately, test firing and recovering the expended missiles. This was the exciting phase!

An evolutionary step in the life of the HAWK missile system was the transition from a towed launcher to a self-propelled launcher (SPL). The need for rapid mobility and quick firing capability meant that three missiles were transported fully assembled on the launcher. The missiles were attached by two small retaining hooks on the underside. At the moment of launch, the two retaining hooks were retracted from the missile body so that upon rocket motor ignition, the missile could slide freely along the launch rails.

As part of R and D of the missile-laden SPL, my test team had the task of driving it through the New Mexico desert as fast as we could. While following in an observation vehicle, I watched more than a few missiles fall off the launcher on test runs. Although the crewmembers in the SPL wore communication-equipped helmets, I did not have the ability to communicate with them from my vehicle. So I would resort to the primitive technique of pulling up alongside them and waving my arms to get them to stop.

Obviously, unknowingly losing missiles is not conducive to effective warfare. Our test team knew we had the opportunity to make a major contribution to the R and D effort, and at the same time prove ourselves to be more than just “missile jockeys.” So we came up with the idea of putting three lights on the dash of the SPL so that if a missile fell off, a light would come on to let the crew know they had lost a missile.

We were so excited about our idea that we submitted it to the test conductor. We were thrilled when it was forwarded to the Army’s Test and Evaluation Command (TECOM). We began to think we might even be in line for one of the monetary awards that were given for product improvement ideas. Imagine our excitement when we received a letter from TECOM. The letter commended our idea to notify the crew upon loss of a missile, but more important, it requested that we instead develop a means of actually keeping the missiles on the launcher.

— Richard C. Skillman is a retired U.S. Army captain. He lives in South Carolina.