Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

232 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of field arTillery
was the 56th Artillery Group, which was charged with the mission of pro viding fires
in general support of a field army. Pershing units were also employed in the air force
of the Federal Republic of Germany under the Military Assistance Plan.
In the early 1960s, the NATO allies enjoyed a decided nuclear superiority
over their Warsaw Pact counterparts, and this superiority led to the philosophy
of the employment of nuclear weapons based on the “trip wire” theory. If the
Warsaw Pact nations were to attack with their conventional forces, which were
superior to those of NATO, then NATO could retaliate promptly with a theaterwide
nuclear attack. The Pershing missile, which became operational in Germany
in 1964, originally had the mission of tactically support ing Seventh Army. In
late 1965, however, when SACEUR assumed control of the missile as a theaterwide
weapon to augment command strike-force capability, that general-support
tactical role then took second place. As a result, the Pershing was placed under
operational control of NATO’s Central Army Group. During the critical early
phase of potential conflict, army and corps commanders had only cannon artillery
and shorter-ranged missiles and rockets as organic fire support immediately
responsive to their requirements. They had lost their organic long-range generalsupport
nuclear firepower. 56
In its quick-reaction-alert (QRA) mission for SACEUR, the Army envisaged
that two of the four Pershing batteries in each battalion would be on constant alert
at prepared firing sites, while the third battery would be on alert at its home station.
The fourth battery would also be at the home station, but in maintenance status.
Although crews could fire the first missile in a relatively short period of time, they
needed considerably longer to reload the launcher and fire the second. To increase
the quick-reaction capability and to provide more firepower, the Army authorized
each of the Pershing battalions in Germany two additional launchers in February
1964 and, in 1966, revised the TOEs to increase the number of launchers in each
battalion to eight. The authorized aggregate strength of the Pershing battalion rose
to approxi mately 1,100. 57
The changes in the Pershing’s mission dictated revamping the missile’s extensive
ground-support equipment, including a shift from tracked to wheeled vehicles. The
new system, called Pershing Ia, was fielded between 1969 and 1970. The wheeled
carriers in the Pershing Ia system added speed and mobility to the battalion and
improved its ability to move in and out of firing positions more rapidly. The softer
ride was easier on the missile, and the wheeled vehicles were less costly and needed
less maintenance than tracked ones. A new programmer test station provided means
56 Jolliff, “History of the Pershing,” 20 May 1974, pp. 160–61, AMCOM files and copy in CMH
files; Robert J. Baker, “Pershing—The Ultimate Challenge,” Field Artillery Journal, May-June 1977, pp.
9–14; Alan L. Moore, Jr., “Pershing: A Weapon for Long-Range Fire Support,” ibid., pp. 26–28; Eric
C. Ludvigsen, “1978 Weapons Directory,” Army, October 1978, pp. 142–46. See also John J. Nee, “The
Pershing Missile System in Europe, 1964–1968,” 3 February 1969, copy in CMH files.
57 Nee, “The Pershing in Europe,” 3 February 1969, pp. 5, 7–8, 23, 26, 28–33, 102, copy in CMH files;
Jolliff, “History of the Pershing,” 20 May 1974, ch. 14, AMCOM files and copy in CMH files; Glasgow,
“USAREUR’s Nuclear Weapons Responsibilities,” 1965, p. 89, copy in CMH files; TOE 6–615D, 10
Apr 1966; U.S. Congress, House, DOD Appropriations for 1966: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the
Committee on Appropriations, 89th Cong., 1st sess., 1965, pt. 3, pp. 187–88.