Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

The nUclear arena
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fire it within minutes and then evacuate—“shoot
‘n’ scoot.” The use of solid
propellant greatly reduced the time necessary
to prepare the missile for firing
and eliminated the danger of handling
highly dangerous liquid propellants.
All equipment to transport, to prepare,
and to fire the missile could be carried
on four fully tracked lightweight
vehicles. 53
The first field artillery battalion to
be equipped with the new missile was
activated at Fort Sill in 1962, with an
authorized strength of 615 officers and
enlisted men. The Pershing battalion
had a headquarters and headquarters
battery, a service bat tery, and four firing
batteries. Each firing battery had
one launcher. Through maneuver of
batteries, commanders gained access
to a powerful means of influencing
the course of the battle and gained the
capability of delivering nuclear fire
over a zone of great width and depth, shifting and concentrating fire according to
the situation. 54 The missile, armed with a nuclear warhead, extended the field army
commander’s range up to 400 nautical miles (740.8 kilometers) and answered the
artilleryman’s requirement for a “shoot ‘n’ scoot” weapon with its capability for rapid
mobility. Control of the widely dispersed firing batteries presented new problems
for the battalion commander, for no other fire-support unit had such a wide span of
control. Adequate com munications and logistics were essential for effective command,
control, and support of the dispersed units. 55
Pershing missile
When the Pershing units were first activated, the Army planned to form ten
battalions, each organized with one launcher in each of its four firing batteries.
The number of battalions was later reduced to five and in 1968 to four. Two battalions
were stationed at Fort Sill (reduced to one battalion in 1968), while the
other three deployed to Germany to replace the Redstone as the Seventh Army’s
general-support tactical weapon system. The controlling headquarters in Germany
53 Jolliff, “History of the Pershing,” 20 May 1974, pp. 14–20, AMCOM files and copy in CMH files;
Patrick W. Powers, “Our Tactical Missiles,” Ordnance, January-February 1962, p. 512; R[ichard] M. Hurst,
“Pershing: The Army’s Four-Star Missile,” Army Information Digest, April 1961, pp. 2–9.
54 DOD News Release, “First Army Pershing Missile Battalion to be Activated at Fort Sill,” 14 Jun
1962, copy in CMH files; TOE 6–615T, 1 May 1962; U.S. Army Fact Sheet, Sep 1966, sub: Missile
Program, No. 1: The Pershing Missile, copy in CMH files.
55 Patrick W. Powers, “Every Pershing in a Pickle Barrel,” Army Information Digest, February 1964,
pp. 1–13; TOE 6–615D, 20 Apr 1966.