Decorations
-
Superior Unit Award (August 1989 – June 1991) [3]
The Pershing Project Manager's Office (PPMO) was the U.S. Army agency responsible for the systems management and engineering of the Pershing missile systems.
Pershing management was initially under the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama in 1958. [1] ABMA was initially a group under the Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC). On 11 December 1961, ABMA was abolished and the personnel and mission moved directly to AOMC. The United States Army Missile Command (MICOM) was activated at Redstone Arsenal on 23 May 1962; Pershing and other project offices were transferred. On 31 January 1977, MICOM was split into the United States Army Missile Materiel Readiness Command (MIRCOM) and the United States Army Missile Research and Development Command (MIRADCOM). On 1 July 1979, MIRCOM and MIRADCOM were disestablished and combined again into MICOM. On 1 May 1987, the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Fire Support was established at Redstone Arsenal and the PPMO was transferred. After the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) between the United States and the USSR became effective on 1 June 1988, the PPMO returned to MICOM in March 1989. Responsibility for Pershing project management was placed under the direction of the newly established MICOM Weapon Systems Management Directorate on 27 August 1989.
The PPMO operated the Pershing Modification and Repair Activity in Frankfurt, Germany, commonly known as the Mod Shop, which performed depot-level repairs and modified Pershing equipment as required. [2] The shop was run by a warrant officer assigned to the PPMO with several enlisted soldiers and over fifty civilians employed by Martin Marietta Aerospace.
Superior Unit Award (August 1989 – June 1991) [3] 
The MGM-31A Pershing was the missile used in the Pershing 1 and Pershing 1a field artillery missile systems. It was a solid-fueled two-stage ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile as the primary nuclear-capable theater-level weapon of the United States Army and replaced the MGM-1 Matador cruise missiles operated by the German Air Force. Pershing later replaced the European-based MGM-13 Mace cruise missiles deployed by the United States Air Force and the German Air Force. Development began in 1958, with the first test missile fired in 1960, the Pershing 1 system deployed in 1963 and the improved Pershing 1a deployed in 1969. The U.S. Army replaced the Pershing 1a with the Pershing II Weapon System in 1983 while the German Air Force retained Pershing 1a until all Pershings were eliminated in 1991. The U.S. Army Missile Command (MICOM) managed the development and improvements while the Field Artillery Branch deployed the systems and developed tactical doctrine.
Redstone Arsenal (RSA) is a United States Army post and a census-designated place (CDP) adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, United States and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The Arsenal is a garrison for various tenants across the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and NASA. RSA has benefited from decisions by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The Redstone Arsenal CDP had a population of 1,946 as of the 2010 census. The base contains a government and contractor workforce that averages 36,000 to 40,000 personnel daily.
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Huntsville, Alabama, is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo program. Marshall has been the lead center for the Space Shuttle main propulsion and external tank; payloads and related crew training; International Space Station (ISS) design and assembly; computers, networks, and information management; and the Space Launch System (SLS). Located on the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, MSFC is named in honor of General of the Army George Marshall.
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) was formed to develop the U.S. Army's first large ballistic missile. The agency was established at Redstone Arsenal on 1 February 1956, and commanded by Major General John B. Medaris with Wernher von Braun as technical director.
The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe. It was the first US missile to carry a live nuclear warhead, in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test, Hardtack Teak.
The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) develops, acquires, fields and sustains aviation, missile and unmanned aerial vehicles. AMCOM is primarily responsible for lifecycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned ground vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle weapon system. The central part of AMCOM's mission involves ensuring readiness through acquisition and sustainment support for aviation systems, missile systems, and test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment (TMDE) throughout their life cycle. The command is headquartered at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, has a 2019 "budget of more $3.7 billion, and a global workforce of more than 15,000 military and civilian employees".
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC), formerly known as the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), a part of the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) — now DEVCOM, is primarily a civilian organization tasked to provide research, development and engineering technology and services to support U.S. Army aviation and missile platforms. AvMC conducts research, promotes development, engineering and simulation laboratories and facilities used to develop and improve aviation and missile components, subsystems and systems.
The Redstone Test Stand or Interim Test Stand was used to develop and test fire the Redstone missile, Jupiter-C sounding rocket, Juno I launch vehicle and Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle. It was declared an Alabama Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1979 and a National Historic Landmark in 1985. It is located at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama on the Redstone Arsenal, designated Building 4665. The Redstone missile was the first missile to detonate a nuclear weapon. Jupiter-C launched to test components for the Jupiter missile. Juno I put the first American satellite Explorer 1 into orbit. Mercury Redstone carried the first American astronaut Alan Shepard into space. The Redstone earned the name "Old Reliable" because of this facility and the improvements it made possible.
This Pershing missile bibliography is a list of works related to the Pershing 1 and Pershing 1a Field Artillery Missile Systems and the Pershing II Weapon System.
The Redstone rocket was named for the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama where it was developed. The Redstone family of rockets consisted of a number of American ballistic missiles, sounding rockets and expendable launch vehicles operational during the 1950s and 1960s. The first member of the Redstone family was the PGM-11 Redstone missile, from which all subsequent variations of the Redstone were derived. The Juno 1 version of the Redstone launched Explorer 1, the first U.S. orbital satellite in 1958 and the Mercury-Redstone variation carried the first two U.S. astronauts into space in 1961.
Carl Ernest Duckett was the founder of the Central Intelligence Agency's science and technology operations.
Malcolm Ross O'Neill was the United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, having been sworn into office by United States Under Secretary of the Army Joseph W. Westphal on March 10, 2010, and resigned June 3, 2011.
The 59th Ordnance Brigade is a military unit of the United States Army. The unit is currently stood up as the U.S. Army Ordnance School's training brigade. In its previous iteration, the brigade had more than 6,500 soldiers. It was responsible for storage, delivering, maintaining, Nuclear and Chemical Control Orders, and supervising the weapons of mass destruction for U.S. Forces and Forces of the Allied NATO-Countries, except France.
The 79th Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army. First constituted 1916 in the Regular Army.
John Bruce Medaris was an American officer in the United States Army, a government administrator, and an Anglican priest.
Lieutenant General (Ret.) August Schomburg was the Commander of the United States Army Ballistic Missile Command, and later Commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He retired from Active Duty military service in 1967, and died in 1972. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His wife Fern Wynne Schomburg died in 1996.
There are a number of Pershing missile displays of inert missiles in the U.S, Germany and Russia. The Pershing systems were eliminated after the ratification of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on 27 May 1988. The treaty allowed for a total of fifteen Pershing II and GLCM missiles for display and seven Pershing IIs were retained. A number of Pershing 1 and Pershing 1a missiles are also on display.
The United States Army Ordnance Munitions and Electronic Maintenance School (OMEMS) was a school of the United States Army from 1952 until it merged into the United States Army Ordnance School in 2011. Its mission was to train military and civilians to safely disarm and dismantle explosives and repair and maintain electronics, missile and ammunition systems.
Major General Lynn A. Collyar is a retired general officer in the United States Army and served as the Commanding General, U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command between from 2012 to 2014. Prior to this assignment, he served as the 35th Chief of Ordnance and Commandant of the U.S. Army Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland and Fort Lee, Virginia.
Rutledge Parker "Hap" Hazzard was director of Science and Technology division of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1973 to 1978. He became director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) in 1978. After serving six years as director of NPIC from June 1978 to February 1984, Hazzard returned to the CIA's National Intelligence Office. He retired from public service in 1985.