Cold War Caching Series #5
This cache series will take you on a journey through Cold War history. This is the fifth in our Cold War Cache (CWC) series. The first caches in this series will concentrate on the Nuclear Missile Defense Network surrounding Washington DC, and Baltimore Maryland.
It’s interesting to see how these once highly secret sites have now been incorporated back into the surrounding communities, and in some cases, reclaimed by nature.
Wait . . . what? Nuclear missiles in Maryland? Yup, and not just one or two either, but hundreds of them. From the 1950’s all the way through the 1970’s Washington DC, and Baltimore were ringed by high altitude, high speed, missile batteries.
These batteries were equipped with the Nike nuclear tipped missile and were classified top secret. Their sole purpose in life was to intercept and kill the expected waves of Soviet long range nuclear bombers. Some of you may be finding out about these sites for the first time via this cache series. Perhaps, like us, you might be surprised to find out you were growing up less than five or ten miles from a nuclear missile site.
Please understand most, if not all, of these sites are currently contaminated with all sorts of really nasty chemicals, and who knows what else. These caches are NOT placed in contaminated areas. If you decide to explore the bases “up close” you do so at your own risk. We take no responsibility for the stupidity of others.
The Cold War produced sweeping changes in the United States' military establishment and society at large. For more than 40 years the nation prepared to fight a war that never came. In the process, the United States reversed its longstanding tradition against maintaining a large peacetime military establishment, and at the same time harnessed the nation's industrial might and scientific genius to fashion the world’s most sophisticated weapons of war. High technology became the ultimate arbiter of military power, and nowhere was the impact of new technology more evident than on the nation's guided missile program. Armed with nuclear warheads, guided missiles quickly became the defining weapons technology of the Cold War.
The Cold War missile program was born of technologies invented during World War II and nurtured by the arms race. Immediately after World War II the United States rapidly demobilized, and the military curtailed its missile research and development (R&D) programs. But by 1950 the world had changed: the Soviet Union had developed atomic weapons and the United States became embroiled in the Korean conflict, which many thought to be a direct provocation by the Soviet Union and China. Confronted with those challenges, in 1950 America began to re-arm.
The 1950’s were a tumultuous decade for the U.S. missile program. One persistent problem was interservice rivalry: the Army and the Air Force squabbled over which service would develop surface-to-air missiles, and all three services fought for the right to develop long-range ballistic missiles. There were also internal disputes within the services. The Air Force was notably reluctant to develop long-range ballistic missiles, and it took a considerable amount of external pressure to convince Air Force leadership to develop the ICBM.
Despite fierce interservice rivalries, the missile program grew rapidly during the 1950s and 1960s. The Army won primary responsibility for developing surface-to-air missiles, and by 1958 it had deployed 200 Nike missile batteries across the country. The Air Force's long-range BOMARC air defense missile program was slower taking shape, but by the early 1960s seven squadrons were based along the nation's eastern and northern borders. In addition, the Army also sought to establish a nationwide antiballistic missile defense system, but after 15 years of controversy, the program was canceled in 1972 as a result of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty signed with the Soviet Union.
The missile program also brought the Cold War home to many Americans. The Army's Nike missile sites provided a striking reminder: many of these batteries were located near the most densely populated areas in the nation, and they provided graphic testimony to the severity of the conflict between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cold War missile program left behind a large and diverse collection of artifacts and structures. Today, hundreds of Nike batteries still dot the countryside. These launch sites, however, reflect only a fraction of the massive U.S. investment in the Cold War missile program. Behind the launch facilities stood hundreds of research laboratories, test sites, production facilities, training centers, and logistics and maintenance facilities. Many of these sites are still in use, but many others have been closed down, put to other use, or simply abandoned.
Accokeek Nike Missile Battery
Whiskey-45 (W-45)
W-45 History
The Accokeek Launch and Control (W-45) is yet another example of a once active and vital part of our Nation’s Defense that has been decommissioned and left to the elements to deteriorate over time.
Accokeek Launch and Control W-45 began in 1955 and ran until Dec. 1961. The Nike battery consisted of two 2 separate facilities: a Launch Area & an Integrated Fire Control Area (IFC). The layout of all Nike sites was characteristic in that the launch site was situated 1-3 miles “downrange” from its Integrated Fire Control Area, along the axis toward the anticipated targets, such that the radars at the IFC would have a line-of-sight toward both the missiles & the target.
Units
W-45 was manned by Alpha Battery, 75th Air Defense Artillery from November 1954 until September 1958. Then Alpha Battery, 3rd Battalion, 562nd Air Defense Artillery from September 1958 until June 1960, and finally the Maryland Army National Guard's Bravo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 70th Air Defense Artillery from June 1960 until December 1961
Compass Link
In the mid-1960s the Naval Research Laboratory built an experimental satellite-communications facility at a former Accokeek (W-45) Nike Missile Integrated Fire Control (IFC) area. The facility contained a 60-foot parabolic dish antenna, transmitters, and a low-noise receiving system. It was also equipped fully for satellite tracking, data processing, and communications modulation experiments. This installation was completed in 1967.
This facility was used during the Vietnam War as part of a secret operation called "Compass Link,” established by the Defense Communications Agency to pass high-quality target photography from Vietnam to Washington, DC.
In 1967, President Johnson made it known that he wanted personally to see military pictures taken in Vietnam rather than relying on someone else to evaluate them. He also wanted to see the pictures sooner than they could be delivered from Vietnam by courier.
President Johnson's desire for this effort resulted from an incident in which the Soviets claimed that two of their ships sustained damage during a U.S. strike on Haiphong Harbor. The President initially denied the charge, but was forced to reverse himself when the Soviets published photographs of the damage. Compass Link was set up to provide the imaging transmission for this requirement.
Compass Link was established using two DSCSI (Defense Satellite Communications System) satellites, providing two hops: Vietnam to Hawaii, and Hawaii to Accokeek, Maryland. From Accokeek the imagery was transmitted by land line directly to the White House and the Pentagon. Compass Link was used extensively until the end of the Vietnam War.
The facility was decommissioned by the United States Government General Services Administration (GSA) and were publicly auctioned off in 1998 and then repurchased by a private investor in early 2000's.
The right to demolish and scrap the dishes and other structures was auctioned off on eBay on March 13, 2005 for $136.20.
The Cache
Unfortunately there’s not much left of these sites. The Compass Link dish has been completely demolished, and none of the buildings at the IFC are still standing.
The launch area is slightly more interesting but unfortunately it’s completely off limits. But regardless, we thought it was important enough to include in this series. Please note the previous "strike through", in fact the launch area is no longer off limits, it is now home to a veterinary hospital and the gate is once again open.
Points of interest are the original guard shack as you enter the area now painted sky blue (why they kept it we don't know), and the veterinary hospital itself, also painted blue. The veterinary hospital is actually one of the original buildings which has been modified for its current role, however when looking at it you can see it's bones are from the 50s or 60s.
Follow the road down to the fence in front of you and you'll see the actual launch silos.