Just Do It - Cold War Style Traditional Geocache
Just Do It - Cold War Style
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Traditional cache in a town park. Close to parking.
In the cold war era, certain US cities were deemed worthy of protection from incoming enemy aircraft. Among these cities was Providence RI. A "ring of supersonic steel" was established around the city, with NIKE surface-to-air intercept missile batteries in Bristol, North Smithfield, Foster, Davisville, and Coventry.
Each NIKE battery consisted of two physical locations, an "IFC" site which provided targeting and navigation for the missile, and a "Launcher" site, which is where the missiles were stored, assembled, fueled, and launched. The two sites were typically 1-3 miles apart. This cache is located at the launcher site for the Coventry NIKE battery. The corresponding IFC site is on Read Schoolhouse Road, which is still an active military installation (no caching activity suggested in that area). The launcher site was given to the Town of Coventry, and it has been turned into a rather nice recreation area, with tennis and ball fields, and a small but pleasant picnic area. Some of the original buildings are still intact, and the launcher racks have been removed and replaced by a large, rectangular parking area. See the Google Maps satelite view: (visit link) Also see Ed Thelen's interesting NIKE web site for more info: (visit link)
This cache is "available in winter" in that the park is open to the public. However, it may not be "snow friendly" in that it is at ground level, and depending on the depth of the snow, may be covered.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Snyyra ybt