Word: icbms
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...ICBM Program...
...thinking about little else but the feasibility of a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile. Yet because of the arguments-like Bush's-against it, it was not until May 1954, just ten years ago next week, that the Air Force launched a crash program to develop the Atlas ICBM...
...does is develop the missiles until they are declared operational, train the missile crews, then turn everything over to the Strategic Air Command. His assignment came about because such Air Force officials as Brigadier General John W. Sessums and Research and Development Specialist Trevor Gardner had insisted that an ICBM should be built, and Princeton Atomic Scientist Dr. John von Neumann had argued that nuclear explosives could be made compact enough for missile delivery...
...Schriever, the first few years seemed to hold nothing but pressure and frustration. Unknown to the public, U.S. radar snooping from Turkey and U-2 aircraft flying over Russia confirmed the fact that the U.S.S.R. was developing both IRBMs and ICBMs. Says Schriever: "They were well ahead of us with the IRBM, at least a year ahead in their ICBM program. A missile gap did exist." After the Sputnik launching in 1957, the thrust superiority of Soviet rocketry was obvious...
...drive is on to make every officer a college graduate (about 65% are) and every noncom a high school graduate (about 73% of all enlisted men are). While they sit 80 ft. underground, in ICBM launching capsules, Air Force officers now spend most of their time studying for master's degrees. Katzenbach has stirred the Joint Chiefs of Staff to such interest that now "a big, fat committee" is hard at work relating education to overall strategy...