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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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Rittersdorf Site VII, October 1961 Photo Courtesy of Garld and Janice Edwards (geje@comcast.net)
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The original Matador B Pad (below) at Rittersdorf. The road today is a paved major road, (L-9) en route to the golf course near the Sport Hotel. There are no remnants of the original Matador pads. The Mace hard sites are several hundred yards to the left of the photo, on the other side of the road. The forest chapel, right of center, remains today.
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The Rittersdorf launch complex, photo taken during summer, 1993. The complex was built only several hundred yards from the old "soft" Matador "B" pads. Photo courtesy of George Mindling (myakka@embarqmail.com) |
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Rittersdorf Site VII - May 2007
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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. The Main Personnel Access Stairwell is
actually centered in the middle of each complex.
Photo courtesy of George F. Kovach (GFKGDK@aol.com) |
Bernhard Gross's Illustration of a typical Site Layout |
Photo courtesy of Glen Curl (gcurl@bv.net)
Photo courtesy of Scott Murdock
(scott123murdock@yahoo.com)
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The European Stars and Stripes Article, August 24, 1964
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The main launch doors were originally designed to be filled
with water, however, leaks and swelling when frozen led to the doors being
filled with concrete instead. Raising the doors was a time consuming process.
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The gaps in the
concrete allowed the flat bed trailers to
back up exactly against the lowered door, aligning the tracks built into the door
with the tracks on the trailer. The missile/launcher assembly was then winched down the incline into the launch bay by cable. The winch unit was part of the trailer unit. Once the missile, with the RATO bottle attached, had been lowered into place, the
next trailer arrived to load the warhead section.
Once the warhead section was attached, the third and final trailer brought and downloaded the nose section, which contained the Guidance and Flight Controls Systems. The warhead and nose sections were mounted on 4000A trailers that straddled the built in rails. |
S/Sgt Mann and S/Sgt Chapman purge a fuel cell on a Photo courtesy of Kathy Geary (k.geary@worldnet.att.net) |
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The LCSC, in the Launch Control Center, 60 feet underground,
Photo courtesy of George F. Kovach (GFKGDK@aol.com) |
Many tense hours were spent here by alert crews of the
71st Tactical Missile Squadron. The condition of the LCSC in 1995 belies
the emotion, boredom and often "extreme concern" crews experienced 60 feet underground,
Photo courtesy of George F. Kovach (GFKGDK@aol.com) |
The abandoned Rittersdorf launch site, August, 1995, The site will soon be completely overgrown. |
Photo courtesy of George Mindling (myakka@embarqmail.com) |
Rittersdorf, Kreis Bitburg, Germany - "B" Pad - Site VII - 2005
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Photo courtesy of Google Earth |
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