The 6555th, Chapter III, Section 8The 6555th, Chapter III, Section 8
TheMINUTEMANresearch and development program was the Air Force's last intercontinentalballistic missile effort at Cape Canaveral, but it involved the 6555thfor more than a decade. The MINUTEMAN Project Division was activated on1 January 1959 under the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division's AssistantCommander for Missile Tests. Major Gene R. Swant was assigned as Chiefof the MINUTEMAN Project Division, and he continued in that capacity asa lieutenant colonel after the Division was assigned to the 6555th TestWing (Development) on 21 December 1959. Unlike the 6555th's operationsdivisions, the project divisions were essentially liaison agencies, andLieutenant Colonel Swant only had about a dozen officers and clerical assistantsat the Division's offices at Patrick and Cape Canaveral. As MINUTEMAN facilitieswere completed at the Cape, however,missilecontractor activity increased dramatically. An inert MINUTEMAN I missilewas processed along with 90 percent of its support equipment in the springof 1960 to insure dimensional compatibility between the Cape's MINUTEMANfacilities and future "live" missiles. Another inert missile(equipped with electrical components to test the facilities' electroniccompatibility) was assembled and tested at the Cape in October and November1960. Last-minute construction, equipment installation and launch pad preparationsalso required an around-the-clock effort from Boeing toward the end of1960 to get the facility ready for the first MINUTEMAN I launch in early1961.
 | POSITIONING MINUTEMAN I ON TEST STAND, PAD 31 |
The 6555th activated its MINUTEMAN Operations Division in July 1960,but, pending coordination of the Division's mission with higher headquarters,it felt compelled to restrict the unit's manpower to a division chief (i.e.,Lieutenant Colonel Good), a lieutenant and one chief master sergeant. On17 April 1961, the MINUTEMAN Operations Division and the MINUTEMAN ProjectDivision were combined to form the MINUTEMAN Weapons Branch under LieutenantColonel Swant. Major J. J. DeJonghe and Major L. W. Sinclaire were chosento lead the Branch's Requirements Section and System Section in April,and Major A. L. Taylor became the Chief of the Operations Section on 29May 1961. Though the combined strength of the two units yielded only 11officers, 18 airmen and 4 civilians initially, the complement of airmentripled over the next eight months. Many of those troops were sent to technicalschools to study the MINUTEMAN's various systems before the end of 1961.
| Photo Not Available | BLOCKHOUSE 31 (LEFT) AND 32 (RIGHT) UNDER CONSTRUCTION |
As work on Silos 31 and 32 neared completion, the first MINUTEMAN Itest missile was launched from Pad 31 on 1 February 1961. The flight washighly successful, and it set a record for being the first launch operationin which all stages of a multi-staged missile were tested on the very firsttest flight of an R&D program. Successes alternated with failures whenthe second and fourth MINUTEMAN I missiles were destroyed during theirflights fromPad31 and Silo 32 on 19 May and 30 August 1961, but two other MINUTEMANflights were launched from Silo 32 and Silo 31 before the end of 1961,and they met most of their test objectives. Apart from oneflightfailure in April 1962, Boeing had a string of five successful flightsfrom Silo 31 between 5 January and 9 March 1962, and the Cape recordedfour more successful test flights from Silo 32 in May and June 1962. (Thelatter included the first all-military launch of a MINUTEMAN I missileon June 29th.) After a bad start, test results in the last half of 1962were also somewhat mixed: two MINUTEMAN I test missiles destroyed themselvesduring test flights in July and August 1962, and another MINUTEMAN I hadto be destroyed by the Range Safety Officer approximately eight secondsafter launch on October 17th. Five successful test flights were recordedin September, November and December 1962, and the year's operations werecapped by a partially successful flight from Silo 32 on December 20th.
 | MINUTEMAN SILO 32 UNDER CONSTRUCTION |
 | VIEW OF BLOCKHOUSE 32 AREA |
 | BLOCKHOUSE 31 |
 | FIRST MINUTEMAN I LAUNCH FROM PAD 31 |
 | INTERIOR OF BLOCKHOUSE 32 |
 | BLOCKHOUSE 32 CONSOLE DURING COUNTDOWN |
Before the first blue suit MINUTEMAN I launch in June 1962, militarypersonnel from the MINUTEMAN Weapons Branch's Operations Section attendedfactory training courses and worked with Boeing, Autonetics and AVCO tolearn the various facets of missile preparation, ground testing, launchoperations andsilorefurbishment. The Section's officers and airmen also participatedin varying degrees on all the MINUTEMAN launch operations during the firsthalf of 1962, and they redoubled their efforts on Complex 32 to prepareSilo 32 for the next block of MINUTEMAN missiles. As part of the Wing'sreorganizationin the summer of 1962, the MINUTEMAN Weapons Branch became a division andthe Operations Section became a branch, but the mission did not change.Of the nine MINUTEMAN I flights registered in the last half of 1962, fourwere all-military launch operations from Silo 32. The contractor launchedthe other five MINUTEMAN I test missiles from Silo 31 on 12 July, 19 September,17 October, 19 November and 14 December 1962.
The MINUTEMAN Weapons Division assumed responsibility for Complex 31in 1963, and this decision prompted the assignment of 31 additional airmen,five SAC officers and 17 SAC airmen to assist the Division with its expandedoperation. Unfortunately, most of the new personnel had no previous MINUTEMANtraining, so the Operations Branch had to conduct a series of orientationcourses on the MINUTEMAN weapon system and R&D testing procedures beforethe new arrivals were allowed to move on to the on-the-job training phaseon their instruction. By June 1963, the Division had 16 officers, 91 airmenand 10 civilians assigned to its various activities. Eight SAC officersand 20 SAC airmen were also attached to the Division, and all new personnelhad progressed to the on-the-job phase of their training. In the meantime,Boeing launched its last four MINUTEMAN I test missiles on successful flightsfrom Silo 31 on 7 January, 18 March, 10 April and 28 May 1963. Blue suitoperations also continued from Silo 32, and five more successful MINUTEMANI flights were launched from that facility between 23 January and 28 June1963. The first blue suit MINUTEMAN I launch operation from Silo 31 ledto a completely successful missile flight on 27 June 1963.
While MINUTEMAN I launches continued at Cape Canaveral, other aspectsof the MINUTEMAN program advanced elsewhere in the United States. On 28September 1962, for example, a MINUTEMAN I missile was launched from VandenbergAir Force Base for the first time in that base's history. The first MINUTEMANI (model "A") flight of 10 missiles was placed on alert at MalmstromAir Force Base, Montana on 27 October 1962, and the first full squadronof 50 MINUTEMAN I missiles was on alert at Malmstrom by the spring of 1963.The first MINUTEMAN I (model "B") missiles went on alert at EllsworthAir Force Base, South Dakota in July 1963, and Ellsworth's 66th StrategicMissile Squadron was declared operational less than three months later.Technological improvements in the MINUTEMAN had already out-distanced itsdeployment by that time, and the Secretary of Defense approved a programin November 1963 to gradually replace the entire MINUTEMAN I "A"and "B" force with more powerful MINUTEMAN II missiles. By July1964, 600 MINUTEMAN I missiles were dispersed in hardened underground launchfacilities at 12 operational missile squadrons in the western United States.They constituted roughly three-fourths of a mixed force of ATLAS, TITANand MINUTEMAN missiles, but their representation increased considerablyas all but 54 of the first-generation ICBMs were retired over the next12 months. Only 54 TITAN II missiles were retained as the MINUTEMAN forcecontinued to expand to 1,000 MINUTEMAN I and II missiles. Malmstrom's 564thStrategic Missile Squadron completed the deployment by putting the 1000thMINUTEMAN on alert in May 1967.
 | FIRST MINUTEMAN II AT CAPE CANAVERAL |
 | MINUTEMAN TRANSPORTER/ERECTOR ALIGNED WITH SILO 31 |
Between 1 July 1963 and 30 September 1964, the 6555th's MINUTEMAN OperationsBranch launched nine missiles from Silo 31 and 10 missiles from Silo 32to conclude the MINUTEMAN I flight test program. Fourteen of those flightsmet all -- or a very high percentage -- of their test objectives, and the6555th completed a string of 12 successful launches without a single flightfailure in 1964. Facilities were reconfigured for the MINUTEMAN II programduring the last half of 1964, and the Operations Branch launched the firstMINUTEMAN II test missile from Silo 32 on September 24th. Three additionalhighly successful MINUTEMAN II flights were launched from Cape Canaveralbefore the end of1964,and they were followed by a string of seven near-perfect test flights fromsilos 31 and 32 in 1965. Only nine more missile flights were needed toconclude the MINUTEMAN II program at the Cape, so Complex 31 was put intotemporary storage in the spring of 1966 pending its modification for theMINUTEMAN III program. The Operations Branch launched four MINUTEMAN IItest missiles in 1966, and it launched four more in 1967. The final MINUTEMANII was launched from the Cape on 6 February 1968. As MINUTEMAN II operationswound down, Lieutenant Colonel William E. Haynes became the MINUTEMAN WeaponDivision Chief on 12 April 1966, and he was succeeded by Lieutenant ColonelJoseph M. Glasgow, Jr. on 1 January 1967. Fifteen officers, 90 airmen andseven civilians were assigned to the Division by the end of 1967, but oneofficer and sixteen airmen were added to the unit as the MINUTEMAN IIIprogram got underway in 1968.
Though the Operations Branch dominated MINUTEMAN launch operations fromthe middle of 1963 onward, it would be extremely unfair to ignore the contributionsmade by Boeing and its MINUTEMAN sub-contractors throughout the flighttest program. All MINUTEMAN test missiles were assembled at the Cape bycontractor personnel and tested before they were turned over to the AirForce and transported to the silos. (As part of the procedure, the 6555th'sMINUTEMAN Systems Branch assigned its own personnel to supervise the contractor'sassembly and sub-system testing before Boeing transferred the missilesto the Operations Branch.) Thecontractor'sparticipation in the MINUTEMAN program was thus quite extensive. Atthe end of 1967, for example, Boeing had 324 employees assigned to theMINUTEMAN program at Cape Canaveral, and MINUTEMAN sub-contractors provided140 workers for their portions of the assembly and testing operation. TRW(formerly Ramo-Wooldridge) also provided more than two dozen people tosupport the MINUTEMAN II and MINUTEMAN III programs. Taken together, approximately45 percent of the 6555th's entire missile contractor work force were involvedin the MINUTEMAN program by the middle of 1968. MINUTEMAN contractor numbersdropped to 527 a year later, and they plunged from 401 to 137 as the MINUTEMANIII program wound down during the last half of 1970, but a comparison ofthose figures with military strengths in 1969 and 1970 clearly shows thatcontractors outnumbered MINUTEMAN Weapons Division personnel at least 4-to-1during MINUTEMAN III operations at Cape Canaveral.
The military also had an important role in MINUTEMAN operations. Oncethe contractors delivered the assembled MINUTEMAN to the 6555th, personnelfrom the MINUTEMAN Operations Branch's Pad-Silo Section drove the missileto the pad in a special vehicle known as a transporter/erector. They loweredthe MINUTEMAN into the silo, installed and checked out the missile's controlumbilicals, mated the guidance and instrumentation section to the missile,installed secondary ordnance and operated special test equipment requiredto calibrate and record silo instrumentation data. The Blockhouse Section'stechnicians performed pre-flight tests to insure proper control of allsystems before launch, and the Blockhouse Section's officers served asMINUTEMAN test conductors. The MINUTEMAN Weapon Division's Inspection Branchmonitored all phases of those operations, including the actual launch.Following lift-off, the Pad-Silo Section's people moved in to refurbishthe missile suspension system and the launch tube.
As preparations for the first MINUTEMAN III launch entered their finalphase, Lieutenant Colonel Glasgow's tour as Chief of the MINUTEMAN WeaponDivision ended, and he was relieved for reassignment on 22 July 1968. Hewas succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Arthur E. Hendren, a veteran missileerand recent arrival from Vandenberg's 6595th Aerospace Test Wing. UnderLieutenant Colonel Hendren, the Operations Branch successfully launchedthe first MINUTEMAN III test missile from Silo 32 on 16 August 1968. Thatflight was followed by nine other test flights from Silo 32 andSilo31 between 24 October 1968 and 13 March 1970.Though four of those later MINUTEMAN III flights failed to meet their testobjectives, the Operations Branch wrapped up the MINUTEMAN III R&Dflight test program with three highly successful flights from Silo 32 between3 April and 28 May 1970. When the6555thbecame a Group under the 6595th Aerospace Test Wing on 1 April 1970,the MINUTEMAN Weapon Division was renamed the MINUTEMAN Test Division,but the name change was a minor event compared to the termination of bluesuit launch operations and the subsequent transfer of personnel to otheragencies. Lieutenant Colonel Hendren's division reduced its manpower to16 officers, 60 airmen and six civilians by 1 July 1970, and it got ridof its blue suit launch capability. Though three more MINUTEMAN III missileswere launched from Silo 32 on 16 September, 2 December and 14 December1970, they were launched by Boeing for the Special Test Missile (STM) project-- a post-R&D effort to evaluate the MINUTEMAN III's performance andaccuracy. (All three test flights were successful.) Following the finalMINUTEMAN launch on December 14th, the MINUTEMAN Test Division continuedto reduce its numbers, and only a handful of personnel were retained tocomplete the disposition of MINUTEMAN equipment after the Division wasdeactivated on 31 December 1970. The remaining personnel were reassignedto other duties, and the last of the MINUTEMAN contractors departed in1971.
 | FIRST MINUTEMAN III LAUNCH FROM SILO 32 |
The 6555th's role in ballistic missile development ended with the MINUTEMANIII flight test program in 1970, but MINUTEMAN and TITAN missile testscontinued under SAC and the 6595th Aerospace Test Wing at Vandenberg AirForce Base. Many improvements in those missiles and their reentry systemswere tested and verified at Vandenberg and the Western Test Range, andnew Air Force ballistic missile programs (e.g., PEACEKEEPER and the SmallICBM) were added to the Western Test Range's schedule in later years. The6555th's mission, on the other hand, was focused on space launch vehicles,payloads, and support systems during the 1970s, and the Group continuedto lead the way for space operations it had pioneered in the 1960s. Inthe next chapter, we will look at the 6555th's involvement in space activitiesdating back to 1959.