Titan II Recommended Reading
Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program
By far the most comprehensive book available about the Titan II. A must have if you're interested in the Titan II missile program.
Titan Tales: Diary of a Titan II Missile Crew Commander.
Some of the movies about the Cold War have depicted those of us who carried the nuclear weapons into the air, or who stood ready to launch them at a moment's notice as being wild eyed, macho monsters full of bravado and rage, ready to attack to prove our manhood. Well, this is a story of what it was really like working with the incredible system known as the Titan II. This book tells a tale of great missiles and aircraft and great men, too, that's true; but it is also a story about their families. It is a tale of children and parents - and the larger family of the United States Air Force - and how all that fit in to the great war that stayed cold, and the one in Vietnam that did not.
I served as a crew member on the Titan II ICBM for six years. This book is a story of the last two of those years. During that time, I was Commander of a Senior Instructor Crew serving at the Alternate Command Post; my crew launched a Titan II from Vandenberg AFB, California, we were selected as the SAC Crew of the Month, and we participated in the filming of a simulated missile launch. I was active on the SAC Speakers' Bureau and presented speeches at community organizations and affairs and participated in several university seminars. I also published articles in the Strategic Air Command's professional magazine Combat Crew concerning missile operations, missile safety and management techniques.
In this book you will visit the hardened missile silos that once were dug into the southern rim of the Ozark mountains, you will go on alert with missile crew members and meet some of the people who maintained and operated America's first line of defense during the Cold War. You will travel to Vandenberg Air Force Base and the Western Test Range and explore some of the even-then ancient missile complexes from the first generation of ICBMs. Also, chapter three is a step-by-step description of the underground launch of a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile!
Thunder over the Horizon: From V-2 Rockets to Ballistic Missiles (War, Technology, and History)
If one wishes to examine the influence of the automobile in modern American society, one might start by researching how a car operates as well as a history of the changes in design. A plethora of books exist that do this while avoiding advocacy for or against the automobile. In the area of strategic weapons, however, that type of book is rare. All too often, the authors of books on modern weapons of war tend to be either hawkish or dovish in their presentations, advocating or disparaging the weapons they are discussing. Chun, a professor at the Army War College, has managed to write that rare book that largely does neither....Thunder over the Horizon succeeds in giving a relatively bias-free examination of the history, use, and basic technology behind ballistic missiles. Although it is impossible to completely understand the state of ballistic missiles in the world today without understanding the political and strategic ramifications that affect and are affected by them, this book nonetheless provides much of the historical and technical background necessary to understand the higher-level debates. Recommended. General readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates; two-year technical program students.
DEFCON-2: Standing on the Brink of Nuclear War During the Cuban Missile Crisis
Veteran military analysts Polmar (Spyplane, etc.) and Gresham (Seapower, etc.) distinguish their examination of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis from scores of other books on the subject by detailing how military maneuvers undertaken months in advance led to the tense showdown. The book's title, which is also the name of a Discovery Channel documentary based on this volume, comes from the acronym for Defense Condition Two, the Unites States' highest state of military alert short of war. The only time America went to DEFCON-2 during the Cold War was on October 22, 1962, the day that President Kennedy publicly denounced the Soviet Union's construction of missile launching sites in Cuba. The authors, who interviewed Russian, American and Cuban military men who had leading roles in the showdown, provide new logistical information on how the Soviet Union moved a small nuclear arsenal to Cuba. They deftly meld accounts of what happened in the sea and air with descriptions of the political and intelligence operations in Washington and Moscow. Thoroughly researched and suspenseful, their book is an excellent choice for fans of Cold War history.
The Rockets and Missiles of White Sands Proving Ground: 1945-1958
In 1945, the United States Army established a testing center for rockets and guided missiles in south-central New Mexico. Named White Sands Proving Ground, this center was the locale for many of America s first steps towards space. Rockets and Missiles of White Sands Proving Ground chronicles major activities at the base from 1945-1958. During this period, the Army, Navy, and Air Force all tested missiles at the desert installation. This book details the development and testing for such missiles as Hermes, Corporal, Nike Ajax, Sergeant, Honest John, and Viking. These missiles formed the backbone of much of America s arsenal during the Cold War and represented major technological advancements. In 1958, the White Sands Proving Ground became the White Sands Missile Range, as it is known today.