6555th, Chapter III, Section 1 The 6555th's Role in the Development of Ballistic Missiles Ballistic Missile Test Organizations and Commanders
As MATADOR flight testing got underway at Cape Canaveral in the summer of 1951, Air
Force planners redoubled their efforts to develop the ballistic missile as a
logical successor to the pilotless bomber. Convair was awarded an Air Force contract
to study the merits of the ballistic missiles in relation to aerodynamic missiles, and, in
September 1951, Convair proposed a ballistic missile along the lines suggested by
Consolidated-Vultee's rocket experiments in the late 1940s (i.e., a lightweight
pressurized booster with swiveling engines for directional control and a separable nose
cone to simplify atmospheric reentry problems). An ad hoc committee of the Air Force's
Scientific Advisory Board supported Convair's proposal on the grounds that it was
technically feasible, and Convair presented the Air Force with a plan in 1953 for rapid
development of the missile.1
In October 1953, an 11-member Air Force panel of experts was formed under Dr. John von
Neumann to evaluate strategic missile programs. This Strategic Missiles Evaluation
Committee (SMEC) was nicknamed the "Teapot Committee" in a light-hearted
gesture that belied the seriousness of its work. In February 1954, the Teapot Committee
recommended a "radical reorganization" of America's ballistic missile effort to
catch up with the Soviet Union in long-range ballistic missile development: the Soviets
were clearly ahead of the Americans in heavy ballistic missiles by this time, and they had
tested their first H-Bomb successfully in August 1953. The Committee noted that a recent
breakthrough in nuclear warhead design offered the U.S. a shortcut, making a relatively
lightweight (240,000-pound) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) possible within
eight years. This missile would only weigh half as much as the ATLAS ICBM proposed by
Convair (e.g., 450,000 pounds), and the H-Bomb's extra "punch" would allow
designers to loosen proposed target accuracy requirements from 1,500 feet to approximately
three miles. (Accuracy requirements were loosened further -- to five miles -- after the
Atomic Energy Commission predicted it could develop a one-megaton warhead light enough to
be carried on the 240,000-pound version of the ATLAS.) Given those parameters, the ATLAS'
five-engine configuration could be trimmed down to a three-engine, booster-sustainer (1
and 1/2 stage) design.2 Based on the Teapot Committee's recommendations, RAND studies and successful
lightweight H-Bomb tests in 1953 and 1954, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff (General
Thomas D. White) assigned the Air Force's highest research and development priority to the
ATLAS project (Weapon System 107A-1) on 14 May 1954. On July 1st, the Air Research and
Development Command established the Western Development Division (WDD) under the command
of Brigadier General Bernard A. Schriever to manage the ATLAS project. Toward the end of
August 1954, General Schriever recommended that the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation be given
responsibility for technical direction and systems engineering for ATLAS, and
Ramo-Wooldridge became an indispensable partner in the WDD's supervision of contracts for
the ATLAS and later ballistic missile programs. A full "go-ahead" for the ATLAS
design was ordered in January 1955, and the TITAN (Weapon System 107A-2) was added to the
ICBM effort to trail behind the ATLAS' development program by about a year as a
"hedge against failure."3
MAJOR GENERAL BERNARD A. SCHRIEVER
As WDD Commander In 1956 To counter the likelihood that the Soviets would have ballistic missiles before the
U.S. could field the ATLAS or TITAN ICBMs, the Air Force awarded a research and
development contract to the Douglas Aircraft Company on 27 December 1955 for the THOR intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). This effort
was designed to get a strategic ballistic missile (Weapon System 315A) into the West's
inventory as soon as possible. Like the ATLAS and TITAN, THOR requirements were
"frozen" early in the development process to avoid further delays, and the
various missile components and support equipment for each weapon system were developed
concurrently to insure the earliest initial operating capability (IOC) for each type of
missile. Bureaucratic red tape and funding delays were also reduced significantly after
the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research and Development (Trevor Gardner) had
the Deputy for Budget and Program Management (Hyde Gillette) set up a committee to
streamline administration. The new "Gillette Procedures" were approved in
November 1955, and they cut the number of official agency review levels for ballistic
missiles from 42 to 10. The Western Development Division became the Air Force Ballistic
Missile Division (AFBMD) on 1 June 1957, and it continued to manage a whole family of
ballistic missile programs, reconnaissance satellite projects and at least one solid propellant rocket project.4 Because most ballistic
missile components were being tested elsewhere in the United States, the
Western Development Division only required a very small liaison office at AFMTC from the
middle of August 1955 through the end of April 1956. By the middle of 1956, ballistic
missile flight tests were anticipated at Cape Canaveral in 1957, and the liaison office
was replaced by the Western Development Division Field Office on 1 May 1956.
(Ramo-Wooldridge activated its own Flight Test Office at AFMTC on the same date to provide
technical assistance.) Though the Field Office only had three officers and four civilians
assigned to its operations when it opened for business in May, it grew slowly and steadily
to 49 officers, eight airmen and 21 civilians by December 1959. The ATLAS, TITAN and THOR
field testing programs were assigned to the Field Office initially, and the X-17 Research
Test Vehicle and the MIDAS satellite project were added shortly thereafter. The Field
Office's X-17 Branch was phased out on 1 May 1957, but its personnel were given other
duties, including the MINUTEMAN (Weapon System 133A) field test program, which required
the creation of a MINUTEMAN project division in January 1959. (On 1 December 1957, the
Field Office was renamed the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division's Office of the
"Assistant Commander for Missile Tests," but it continued to function as a field
office.) Many of the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division's contractors and
sub-contractors maintained their own field offices at AFMTC, and it was the Field Office's
function to provide a working liaison between General Schriever's Division and AFMTC.5 Since the Assistant
Commander for Missile Tests' resources were reassigned to the 6555th Guided Missile
Group (Test and Evaluation) when the latter was redesignated the 6555th Test Wing
(Development) on 21 December 1959,* we should make some mention of
the Field Office's commanders as well as their successors in the 1960s. Lieutenant Colonel
Charles G. Mathison became the Chief of the WDD Liaison Office in August 1955, and he
continued to serve as General Schriever's Assistant Commander for Missile Tests in the
Western Development Division's Field Office through 8 July 1956. Lieutenant Colonel
Mathison was succeeded by Colonel Henry H. Eichel on July 9th, and Colonel Eichel
continued in that capacity after the Field Office was renamed the Office of the Assistant
Commander for Missile Tests in December 1957. Colonel Eichel also became the first
commander of the 6555th Test Wing (Development) on 21 December 1959, when the 6555th
Guided Missile Group (Test and Evaluation) was removed from AFMTC, redesignated and
assigned to the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division. Colonel Paul R. Wignall succeeded
Colonel Eichel as the 6555th's Commander on 13 June 1960, and he commanded the Wing for
the next two and one-half years. Colonel Harold G. Russell commanded the 6555th from
1 December 1962 through 2 August 1964. He was succeeded by Colonel Otto C. Ledford,
who served through 14 September 1967. Colonel Marc M. Ducote assumed command briefly in
September, but he was succeeded by Colonel Herbert J. Holdsambeck on September 26th.
Colonel Holdsambeck continued to command the 6555th until 9 August 1969, whereupon
Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. Reynolds assumed command temporarily until Colonel Davis P.
Parrish's arrival on 24 September 1969. Colonel Parrish continued to command the 6555th
through 23 August 1972.6 COLONEL PAUL R. WIGNALL
COLONEL HAROLD G. RUSSELL
COLONEL OTTO C. LEDFORD
COLONEL HERBERT S.
HOLDSAMBECK COLONEL DAVIS P. PARRISH
The 6555th's manpower and mission in the last half of the 1950s should also be
mentioned. When the Western Development Division's liaison office opened in August 1955,
the 6555th Guided Missile Squadron had 11 officers and 135 airmen assigned to various
aerodynamic missile programs. During this period, the 6555th: 1) launched MATADORS, 2)
supported the BOMARC, and 3) prepared for the day when blue suit crews would begin
launching SNARKs. While the Liaison Office's presence grew, the 6555th's strength remained
relatively stable (except for the last half of 1958) at about a dozen officers and 145
airmen. After the 6555th was redesignated a Wing and assigned to the Air Force Ballistic
Missile Division on 21 December 1959, it picked up technical management for the Air
Force's ballistic missile flight test programs at the Cape, and its mission was expanded
to include the attainment of a military launch, test and evaluation capability for
ballistic missiles. The Wing gained the resources of the Assistant Commander for Missile
Tests, and it had a force of 71 officers, 159 airmen and 21 civilians by the end of 1959.7 The 6555th: Missile and Space Launches Through 1970 by Mark C. Cleary, Chief Historian 45 Space Wing Office of History 1201 Minuteman Ave, Patrick AFB, FL 32925