After world war II and in response to the growing threat of a Nuclear Soviet Union, America scrambled to create an operational anti-aircraft missile system. In 1953, the US army delivered the first of it's kind, known as Nike, and in 1956 Nike Hercules emerged as a solid fuel propelled two stage surface-to-air missile for long range air defense. Meanwhile the United States Air Force was developing it's own long-range anti-aircraft missile. Thus began, an internal war over which was more fit guard the nation , the Army anti-aircraft system or the Air force surface-to-air.
The CIM-10 BOMARC was a supersonic ramjet powered interceptor and the forst long-range anti-aircraft missile developed by the United States air force. Unfortunately, BOMARC proved extremely expensive, and it's operational readiness was difficult to maintain. But the Air Force was not going to admit defeat to the Army's Hercules project, so the Air Force began a policy of denigrating Hercules through various press releases. On May 21, 1956, the New York Times headlined an article that cited an Air Staff analysis that challenged the Nike Hercules program, and question the ability of the missile to intercept high-speed bombers. The headline read, "Air Force Calls Army Nike Unfit To Guard Nation". Defense Secretary Wilson hit back on behalf of the Army. He wrote in Newsweek that "one hard solid fact remerges above them all: no matter what the Nike is or isn't, it's the only land-based operational anti-aircraft missile that the U.S. has.". In 1958, as Hercules was being deployed around America's major cities, the debate between over air defense continued. As arguments over jurisdiction intensified, President Eisenhower stepped in to try and put a stop to it. During his 1958 annual address to congress, President Eisenhower said he would not pass judgement on "harmful service rivalries. But one thing is sure. Whatever they are, America wants them stopped."
"The advent of revolutionary new devices, bringing with them the problem of overall continental defense, creates new difficulties, reminiscent of those attending the advent of the airplane half a century ago.
Some of the important new weapons which technology has produced do not fit into any existing service pattern. They cut across all services, involve all services, and transcend all services, at every stage from development to operation. In some instances they defy classification according to branch of service.
Unfortunately, the uncertainties resulting from such a situation, and the jurisdictional disputes attending upon it, tend to bewilder and confuse the public and create the impression that service differences are damaging the national interest.
Let us proudly remember that the members of the Armed Forces give their basic allegiance solely to the United States. Of that fact all of us are certain. But pride of service and mistaken zeal in promoting particular doctrine has more than once occasioned the kind of difficulty of which I have just spoken.
I am not attempting today to pass judgment on the charge of harmful service rivalries. But one thing is sure. Whatever they are, America wants them stopped."
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). Dwight D. Eisenhower: Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=11162 [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018].Aaron, J. (2018). Regional Cold War History for Department of Defense Installations in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. [online] www.denix.osd. Available at: http://www.denix.osd.mil/cr/cultural-resources-program-management/historic-buildings-structures/uploads/regional-cold-war-history-for-department-of-defense-installations-in-guam-and-the-northern-mariana-islands-report-legacy-09-454/ [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018].
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). CIM-10 Bomarc. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIM-10_Bomarc [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018].
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). MIM-14 Nike Hercules. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-14_Nike_Hercules [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018].
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Nike-Hercules_missiles_on_alert.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Bomarc_missile_and_launcher_on_display.jpg
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