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U.S. Air Force Tactical MissilesNow Available On Line at
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Beyond the Web Page... The only book devoted exclusively to the Matador and Mace Tactical Missiles. The book reveals the story from the initial idea that became the first U.S. pilotless bomber, through the politically troubled development of the ever evolving deployment methods of the Matador and Mace Tactical Missiles. It covers the Units, Groups, Squadrons and Wing that fielded the missiles. From the United States test sites, Europe, Asia and North Africa nothing is omitted. All phases of the application of these two missiles by the U.S. Air Force (and West German Luftwaffe) are included, from the first tentative launches of the XSSM-A-1 Matador in January 1949, to the tense alert duty of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the final launch of a MQM13A in May of 1977. The maintenance, logistics and launch, the men, equipment and tactics are all there. |
"Bob, George, I finished your book 2 days after I received it. Couldn't put it down. It was incredible reading and incredibly detailed information." Kent Washburn (KWASH55@aol.com) Mace B, Kadena, Okinawa
"George and Bob. I want you both to know how much I enjoyed reading and how much I admire and appreciate what you have accomplished in developing and publishing "The Pioneers". It is truly an outstanding piece of work, reflecting the time and effort required to produce it, but is also a formidable contribution to our military history. I mentioned in some earlier correspondence that I was a little disappointed in the relatively small amount of information regarding the Operating Location/Guidance Sites but you largely made up for it with this magnificent book." Dale Lake (daleflake@yahoo.com) 601st Tactical Control Squadron, 38th TMW, Hamm, Germany
"I just finished your book, The Pioneers, et al. Please accept my "job well done!" Not only is it informative, but it's very readable. I'd also like to complement you on how well you footnoted it. You have shown that a scholarly work can be both instructive and enjoyable." Michael Roof (lavinaschnur@hotmail.com) SGM USA (Ret.)
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ISBN 978-0-557-00029-6
"Very good work with great detail." Col. Charlie Simpson, USAF, Retired
"George, the book arrived on Tuesday while I was off to France. Of course, I quickly read the chapter about �Germany's quiet step into the realm of nuclear armament.� You know, this is still a widely ignored fact over here...
Burkhard Domke
Available Now!, Click Here to Order "U.S. Tactical Missiles 1949-1969 The Pioneers" |
"I have your excellent book on USAF tactical missiles. I actually witnessed the decommissioning of the Maces at W�scheim back in 1966." Paul Offen
"I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how much I enjoyed the book that you and Bob wrote. The history was of particluar interest to me and my brother who was a history Professor at the University of Wisconsin. He also thought the book was well written, and he now knows what his little brother, (me), did while in Germany for three years." George Joseph Snyder (gjsnyder@lanset.com)
"...by the way, I read your book, it was great, thanks for writing it." Hack Hunton (hack@sstelco.com) Mace B, Kadena, Okinawa |
US Air Force Tactical Missiles �2008 - George Mindling and Robert Bolton | |
Inspired by the 38th TMW Website, George Mindling and Robert Bolton co-authored US Air Force Tactical Missiles 1949 - 1969: The Pioneers �2008, the story of America's first operational missiles, from the Matador to the Mace, from Taiwan, Korea, and Okinawa to Germany, including Lowry, Orlando, Holloman, Santa Rosa Island at Eglin, and even Camp Happiness! | |
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The hardened launch bays, with their 100 ton doors,
were not used by the US Army. The Patriot missile launchers were positioned on the hard
pads in front of the launch doors.
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Metal indicator sign from Idenheim courtesy of Bernhard Gross (bernhardgross@t-online.de) Bernhard Gross has compiled an impressive amount of data and information about the Mace-B hard sites that will be incorporated into this web site in the near future. |
Clearing the land at Newel adjacent to the active TM-61C Matador "C" Pad for Idenheim Site VIII, January 1961. |
Construction underway at Site VIII, October 1961. |
Construction underway at Idenheim Site VIII, November 1961
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The Photos above were contributed by Garld and Janice Edwards (geje@comcast.net), used with permission |
The European Stars and Stripes article, showing the launch door in the down position. July 12, 1964 The launch sites went operational June 27, 1964 The old Matador site at Idenheim was directly behind the
Mace hard site, shielded by the clump of trees. Just several hundred yards
beyond the trees is B-51, the heavily travelled Trier-Bitburg highway.
Photo: Stars and Stripes European Edition |
"I don't know what year it was, but we had
just gotten a new commander, don't remember names, so a simulated alert and launch was to be
done for him.
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"I recently visited the Idenheim site and it has been turned into a paintball field. The place is trashed pretty badly but the bunkers are staying. The doors are not there anymore and it is harder to see them from the road due to the paintball setup. The owner was very nice and let me in to see the bunkers but he would not let me into the bunkers themselves. He has put up nets to keep people out. He says that German insurance laws require this. Sorry the quality isn't better. I was dodging paintballs. Dave Bass Aug 2007 (tncbass@yahoo.com) |
Close up of the Hardened launch site door, Idenheim, August 1993. Guard dogs patrolled between the fences at night. |
A Different World - 1969Two Mark 28's are moved back to MSA and the weapons area for deactivation at CGM-13B shutdown at Bitburg, April 30th 1969. The shape and size of the warheads can be seen as bulges against the transportation canvas |
Warhead convoy back to MSA. Armed guards were posted in visual site of each other the entire distance of the trip for every warhead convoy. Martin/Marietta Photo courtesy of Kathy Geary (k.geary@worldnet.att.net) |
The planned layout for a hardened Mace B site.
Each of the two Launch Command Centers, buried 60 feet under the paved
loading and transport ramp, controls four launch bays.
The Mace site was called a "semi-hardened" launch site, even though the facility
was designed to withstand a nuclear attack.
Photo courtesy
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Bernhard Gross's Illustration of a typical Site Layout |
Idenheim - Site VIII - 2007"The area today is private property of a car dealer. I do not know his name but at the main gate you will find a plate with a telephone number. The area is completely fenced in (but I found a small hole in the fence at the backside near the forest and I visited the area on a quiet Sunday): The opened missile cells are gutted (cannibalized) and empty. Only the jet nozzles of the carbon dioxide fire extinguisher pipes at the exhaust channel entry and some lamps you can see. All outer and inner doors are dismantled and scrapped. In the stairways down to the underground rooms all lamps, conductions and wires are dismantled. Downstairs I could see that the underground corridor (and accordingly all the rooms) are under water for more than one meter of water depth. Because of that ground water situation I do not know anything about the technical installations and the underground interior of the Idenheim underground rooms, may be it is still there or may be it became scraped. I do not know. I visited the Idenheim station last time in March 2007, some weeks ago." Bernhard Gross (bernhardgross@t-online.de) |
Site VIII, Idenheim, March 2007 |
Photo courtesy of Kathy Geary |
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TM-76B (CGM-13B) Mace in launch position.
The hydraulic system is powered up for acceptance test, (1500 PSI supplied by an
external Hydraulic Power Supply, HPS) but the Flight Controls System has not yet gone active
(left spoilers full up.) |
Above: A&E (E&A) troops load a missile for transport back to the MSA |
Idenheim, Kreis Bitburg, Germany - "C" Pad - Site VIII - 2005
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Photo Courtesy of Google Earth |
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