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HAWK Missile Veterans Association

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HAWK Missile Veterans Association
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Submitting Information into the Forum

This is the third time I have tried to inscribe information into this message header. I must be doing something wrong as others seem to have success and I do not.

I was with the 2nd Msl Bn assigned to Delta Battery whose billets was at Camp Jonathon Williams NNW of Seoul approximately 20+ km. Our HAWK Missile site was North near the DMZ on a knoll called "The Hill." The time was late autumn and we were the first to occupy the site. The year was 1960. Our missiles were Block four and used EPU's as the internal electrical power source. The Corp of Engineers and Korean (Kutusa) personnel had prepared the site for entrenchment of equipment and activation. We had to enplace all our equipment and string cables. The missiles didn't arrive until two and three weeks after all equipment was in place and operating. Some of us were called upon to help prepare the other Batteries at Camp Casey and Camp Redcloud as they were short some personnel. The early months at these sites was mostly debugging of equipment and determining where best to get optimum performance of the equipment, especially the RADARs,i,e, the PAR, CW acq and one of our LPI's. HPI's didn't exist as far as we knew at the time. (I didn't see an HPI until I went to work at White Sands Missile Range, NM in 1962 employed by Raytheon as a technician and later a Tech Rep at ALA 2 for evaluation.)It took us a couple months to get acclimated as winter was fast approaching and we didn't know what to expect in our selves and our HAWK equipment. Battery D was used as the test site to evaluate appliances to our HAWK equipment. One experiment in particular was a baloon that was extended over the launcher and held inplace by a steel ring anchored around the launcher. The baloon had a blower attached to it to blow ambient air constantly to support it and keep it erect. Raytheon and Redstone personnel evaluated it and decided there were too many problems with it to overcome. [One can rationalize what many of these were.] And so it went for me and the other D Battery troops.

I hope this little introduction is of some interest. We were the Pathfinders and optimistic that we made things easier for those that followed. I'm sure that is true as I review the history of HAWK and the 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.

Re: Submitting Information into the Forum

I was stationed at camp page r.o.k from march 68 til mar 69 as 52d generator mechanic in hhb 7th bn (hawk)enjoyed my tour even if there were some tense times it seems strange too me I read of someone else saying he tried too obtain some info from the army history dept and they told him no such unit as 38 a.d.a exsisted better call rod sterlling

Re: Submitting Information into the Forum Regarding 38th ADA Brigade

The 38th Air Defense Brigade was Active 25 May 1961 to 31 July 1981. For a complete history of the 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and it's mission in Korea, please look at Wikipedia about the Organization. One will find that it had a long history beginning in WWI until it was inactivated on 15 July 1981 at Osan Air Base, Korea.

Re: Submitting Information into the Forum Regarding 38th ADA Brigade

You are correct about when the 38th ADA was formed. However the 2/71 was in place in 1960. I believe it was part of I core. When more HAWK units started to be assigned to Korea the 38th ADA was formed.

Re: Submitting Information into the Forum

I was assigned to Delta battery, 2/71, 38th ADA in April of 1980.
I PCS'd from White Sands Missile Range where we did much testing on the IHawk system.
I believe I was some of the last soldiers to man the "highest US Tactical site" in South Korea, as we were working on turning the site and all the equipment over to the ROK army and it's Katusa's.
When I got back stateside, I was again sent to WSMR, and was assigned to a new missile system, called Patriot. Much like the Hawk system, with the exception of no launchers.
Missiles were stored, and fired from the magazine which held 8 missiles.
Pretty awesome some of you were in Korea for the beginning of the Hawk system, and some of us were there for the end...