During the early cold war Milwaukee was considered a major industrial center that required defense from the Soviet Union. A ring of eight NIKE defensive missile installations was constructed to intercept and shoot down long-range Russian bombers carrying nuclear weapons to destroy Milwaukee. Each NIKE facility had two parts which were spread apart: there was a command control with radar and missile launch areas. Why were they separated? The simplest explanation for the necessary distance between the IFC and Launcher areas was the speed of the missile coming off the launcher vs. the capability of the missile tracking radar to keep up with it. The MTR had to be "locked on" the missile from before launch until the burst command was sent. If it were any closer than 1000 yards at launch it wouldn't be mechanically capable of keeping up with the rapidly ascending missile. These are some great links to learn more:
http://ericapp.weebly.com/m-74-nike-missile-site.html (this is the best one for the Waukesha site),
http://nikemissile.com/index.html,
http://www.nikesite.org/page17.html and
http://www.notpurfect.com/travel/nuke/nike.html.
This an over view of defensive ring of all eight Milwaukee area Nike missile installations.
These are aerial images of the M74 control and launch areas in Waukesha. The top red box is the control area with the headquarters and radar (IFC) where many structures still remain. See the aerial close-up of the control area to the above. The water tank was added after the facility closed. There is a concrete slab where the barracks building was located. Still standing are the blast building used by a local gun club for a shooting range, parts of the radar towers (a.k.a. IFC) and the mess hall. There is a nicely done monument which is photographed below. Look for it when you visit the control site!
The bottom red box is the launcher area. The Waukesha Park and Recreation Department owns both areas. However the federal government still some toxic waste cleanup to do at the launch site, so it is closed to the public and the access road is gated off. All that remains of the launch site is the gate, the road to the hilltop, concrete building slabs and concrete missile magazines on the hilltop covered by mulch piles.
This is an artists rendition of Nike missile magazine in action. They were not called missile silos. In the illustration a missile is being moved onto the elevator mounted launcher by a crewman. A crewman waits on top for it to be elevator to come up.
The this photo graph traces the development of the Nike missile system. From left to right: Ajax, Hercules, and Zeus. The initial Ajax missile was only in service for a couple years in Milwaukee before it was replaced with Hercules which had greater range. So, it made many of the local installations obsolete like the one in Lannon that closed after only two years of use!
*Permission for this placement is from Pete Traczek of the Waukesha Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry.