In spite of all of the successes that Alpha Battery enjoyed in the early days, there were also some events that we would like to forget. Like three fires in three years. In the ordinary conduct of business the men of any HAWK battery had to deal with hazardous and inflammable materials and the potential for accidents and disaster could not be ignored.
Realize that the HAWK missile was developed and tested in the dry, hot southwest desert. Any weather extremes that the missile faced were pretty much controlled by the Raytheon Company and were of short duration. When the HAWK missile was assembled, checked out and placed on launchers all over Germany, all manner of problems quickly manifested themselves.
HAWK was not waterproof. HAWK did not take nicely to ice and snow. So methods were devised to 1) Keep the moisture out, and 2) Keep the moisture from getting in.
FIRE NUMBER ONE: Because Battery A was so close to the 69th ADA Group Headquarters, we were selected to develop procedures to combat the effects of the harsh environment on the missile. Major Cordero, an Ordnance Corps Officer who was born in Cuba, worked closely with our Assembly Crews on this project, which became known as Operation ClayBar. The entire Basic Load, all 36 birds, had to be torn down, checked for various things and then put back together and pass a Go-No Go test. It was during this time, February 8th, 1962 to be exact, that a fire erupted in the Assembly area where we were working with two ground-mounted pallets, each with three missiles. Our "gasoline operated" 250,000 BTU Herman-Nelson Space Heater, developed a crack in the gas tank and drained ten gallons of gasoline onto the ground. A huge fire ensued, although it was contained within a sandbag revetment. The fire was close enough to destroy the Maintenance Tent that served as a shelter for the Missile Test Shop and all of its accessories. Men from all over the site came running, with fire extinguishers in hand, and after a valiant fight, led by SP5 Chuck Emerson, the fire was put out. The only fire extinguisher not used was the one mounted on the Test Shop.
FIRE NUMBER TWO: Our site was hurriedly set up for action when we became part of the defense. There was only the Ready Shack, much like a "Butler Building", and a three-seater latrine. One of our NCOs was able to scrounge (Army word for obtaining anything that was needed) three long, narrow trailer homes, from a friend he had in Leghorn, Italy. It took about a month but we got the trailers and they were already painted Olive Drab. One became the Maintenance Warrant Officer and PLL Clerks work area and an Arms Room. The second trailer became an "On Site" Orderly Room and Battery Commanders Office. The third trailer became an under-furnished Day Room with two potbelly stoves. One afternoon, our Fire Guard got those potbelly stoves so fired up that the trailer literally exploded as the interior paint erupted into flames. What a sight to see! We just let it burn itself out and then had it dragged away.
THE THIRD FIRE: This was potentially the most disastrous fire of the three. It happened around 2300 hours on Christmas Eve 1963. While refueling our generators a fire erupted. We had three or four Stewart-Stevensons and one Consolidated generator, all located side-by-side near our Missile Storage Area. There was an earthen berm about ten feet high that separated the generators from the 6 trailers with a total of 18 missiles. In addition, the ground under the generators was fairly well saturated with combustibles. The driver of the Fuel Truck was able to get it moved before it became involved in the fire. The Tactical Control Officer that night was 1LT Billy R. Dotson, former star end of Oklahoma States football team. Realizing that the first priority was to move the missiles, he quickly organized the Manning Crew and they actually pulled the trailers out of the storage area by hand. They put so much strength into it that the grounding straps were torn apart which allowed the trailers to be rolled to safer ground. The flames were visible from the Skyline Housing Area at Leighton Barracks. By 1500 hours on Christmas Day, Battery A rejoined the defense with an Assault Fire Unit using cables borrowed from the other Batteries in the Battalion.
Al Garrett
