Well, when it was a dual site of Nike Ajax/Hercules, it had six magazine rooms, or ‘kits’ as we called them. How much of an arsenal did they have down in East Hanover? We were ready to fire at any given time, and we stayed on that, as I remember it, approximately 30 days, around the clock. We were at the highest state of alert that you could be at. Evangelist, what was the climate like during the Cuban missile crisis? When you were down in the bunker, or in the radar room, did you think we were on the brink?Ĭol. Though he was very open and candid about his time spent in service, there are apparently still some questions that the Army does not want answered. Weird NJ was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview the one-time commander of the Livingston/East Hanover Nike facility, Colonel Joseph Evangelist (U.S. Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM) which administered this system was closed down shortly thereafter.” During 1974, the nationwide Nike air defense system was inactivated. was steadily reduced, almost on an annual basis. Or the local corn or soybean fields.īeginning in the late 1960s, the total number of operational Nike bases within the continental U.S. These missile sites made it clear that in an era of long-range aircraft and nuclear weapons, the front lines of the Cold War were often located no farther away than one’s own backyard. Frequently they were located within heavily populated areas (such as New Jersey’s suburbs).Ī nuclear missile site in a cornfield in New Jersey? Many individuals find such a notion hard to imagine today, yet for roughly two decades, from 1954 through 1974, South Jersey alone was the home to no fewer than five U.S. The Nike system would have been utilized in the event that the Air Force’s long-range fighter-interceptor aircraft had failed to destroy any attacking bombers at a greater distance from their intended targets.ĭue to the relatively short range of the original Nike missile, the Nike “Ajax”, many bases were located relatively close to the center of the areas they protected. Armed with supersonic, radar-guided missiles, the bases served as a last line of defense created to shoot down Soviet bombers armed with nuclear bombs before they reached their intended targets. The mission of Nike within the continental U.S was to act as a “last ditch” line of air defense for selected areas. The main advantage over conventional anti-aircraft artillery was that the Nike missile could be continuously guided to intercept an attacking aircraft in spite of any evasive maneuvers taken by the pilot. “Named for the mythical Greek goddess of victory, the Nike program begun during the last months of the Second World War. Weird NJ Cold War Correspondent Donald Bender explains the history of the Nike program this way: Part of the Essex County Parks Department, the old barracks and command center have been leased to local artists and crafts people to be used as studio space. Though most have been abandoned or redeveloped, one base in Livingston, has been preserved and opened to the public as Riker Hill Park. While in operation these government installations were heavily guarded and completely off limits to the public. There were also several bases located in southern New Jersey in the towns of Marlton, Pittman, Lumberton, Swedesboro, and Berlin-Clementon, whose job it was to protect Philadelphia from attack.įor many years these weapons stood ever vigilant, on their launch pads, or in underground missile magazines, sometimes just yards away from unsuspecting residential neighborhoods. The missiles, some with nuclear warheads, would be guided by radar, and were designed to intercept and destroy incoming Soviet air squadrons bound for the Big Apple. Plainfield, Livingston, East Hanover, Wayne, and Mahwah, formed a semi-circular arc around New York City that continued, with other bases into upstate New York. The bases, which were located in Middletown, Old Bridge, S. were at their peak, Nike Missile Bases dotted the Garden State landscape. During the 1960s and 70s, when tensions between the U.S. It might surprise a lot of New Jersey residents today to know that during the Cold War many of our sleepy suburban communities played a crucial strategic role in America’s last line of defense. Nuclear Jersey: Nike Missile Bases and the Cold War Fought Right in Your Own Backyard
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |