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 residential population of 837 as of the 2020 census. The base contains a government and contractor workforce that averages 36,000 to 40,000 personnel daily.
Nuclear artillery is a subset of limited-yield tactical nuclear weapons, in particular those weapons that are launched from the ground at battlefield targets. Nuclear artillery is commonly associated with shells delivered by a cannon, but in a technical sense short-range artillery rockets or tactical ballistic missiles are also included.
United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians render safe all types of ordnance, including improvised, chemical, biological, and nuclear. They perform land and underwater location, identification, render-safe, and recovery of foreign and domestic ordnance. They conduct demolition of hazardous munitions, pyrotechnics, and retrograde explosives using detonation and burning techniques. They forward deploy and fully integrate with the various Combatant Commanders, Special Operations Forces (SOF), and various warfare units within the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Army. They are also called upon to support military and civilian law enforcement agencies, as well as the Secret Service.
The U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM), a major subordinate command of the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), is located at Fort Lee, Virginia. Underneath CASCOM Headquarters is the Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE).
The Quartermaster School (QMS) is a subordinate command of the United States Army's Combined Arms Support Command and is located at Fort Lee, Virginia.
The United States Army Ordnance Corps, formerly the United States Army Ordnance Department, is a sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia. The broad mission of the Ordnance Corps is to supply Army combat units with weapons and ammunition, including at times their procurement and maintenance. Along with the Quartermaster Corps and Transportation Corps, it forms a critical component of the U.S. Army logistics system.
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 56th Artillery Command is a two-star command of the United States Army that serves as the Force Field Artillery Headquarters for U.S. Army Europe and Africa, with a mission to synchronize, integrate, and control fires and effects in support of the theater land component. The unit was originally formed on September 14, 1942 as the 56th Coast Artillery Brigade and has been reorganized and redesignated several times until its inactivation on June 30, 1991 following the reunification of Germany and the end of the Cold War.
Major General Holger Nelson Toftoy was a United States Army career officer instrumental to the development of the United States' early rocketry after World War II, such as the Redstone missile. He persuaded senior officers to bring German scientists to the US after the war, to make use of their expertise, and supervised the relocation of more than 119 scientists.
The Pershing Professionals Badge is a local individual award created by the 56th Artillery Group to recognize proficiency on the nuclear Pershing missile system. It was awarded from December 1968 through 1979.
United States Army Alaska is a military command of the United States Army located in the U.S. state of Alaska. A subordinate command of I Corps, USARAK is the ground element of the Alaskan Command. USARAK is headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and is commanded by a major general.
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.
Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force was a NATO military formation under Allied Air Forces Central Europe tasked with providing air support to NATO's Central Army Group (CENTAG). 4 ATAF commanded all flying units based within its sector and all reinforcements flying into its sector, as well as ground-based radar systems and stations, air defense units and the airfields in its sector.
Missile Wing 1 was a unit of the German Air Force.
The 55th Support Battalion was a unit of the United States Army, which was last active from 9 July 1982 to 15 June 1991.
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 3rd Ordnance Battalion is a unit of the United States Army currently stationed at Joint Base Lewis–McChord. It is assigned to the 71st Ordnance Group at Fort Carson, Colorado, which is under the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) Command, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland.
Major General Robert David Shadley is a retired general officer in the United States Army and served as the Director of Logistics, G-4, for the United States Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Georgia. Prior to this assignment, he served as the 28th Chief of Ordnance and Commandant of the U.S. Army Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland.
