What's A Nike Missile?

Kurt Kamm
July 03, 2008
Few people today remember the Nike missile and the related launch facilities. Many people living in Los Angeles, as well as other cities, have no idea these sites ever existed, and that some of them are still intact.

After WWII, as the Cold War began, the U.S. was worried about its air defenses and embarked on building a surface to air missile system. This system was regarded as the final line of protection, if all else should fail. It was incorporated into NORAD (North American Air Defense Command).

Beginning in 1953, Nike missiles were deployed at 250 sites around several cities and strategic locations. There was great controversy, since most communities did not want the missile sites in their backyards. In many cases, the U.S. was forced to take legal action before it could construct the sites.

The missile was named after Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. The early version, the Nike-Ajax had high-explosive fragmentation warheads. The later version, the Nike-Hercules, was a 27-foot missile, which carried nuclear warheads. There were six sites around Los Angeles. They were manned by Army troops (not Air Force), and were heavily guarded. No Nike missiles were ever fired from sites in the U.S.

In 1974, after signing the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) with the USSR, the Nike sites were decommissioned. In the Los Angeles area, these sites were given to the County for use as fire camps. One such site Is L.A. County Fire Suppression Camp 8

Today the remnants of the site at Camp 8 in Malibu are still evident. Eighteen missiles were stored in underground silos protected by five-foot thick cement walls. Hydraulic platforms lifted the missiles into launch position. Camp 8 now uses one of these bunkers as a woodworking shop and lowers plywood up and down on the launch platform.

The old Army barracks, mess hall and offices are still used by the fire crews for the same purposes. Some of the kennels for the guard dogs, German Shepherds, are still intact. One dog's name, Thor, is still visible above his kennel. Warning signs with peeling paint can still be seen.

After the Nike base was decommissioned, one of the launch officers came back to Camp 8 to visit and left a two-page letter for future generations of firefighters at the Camp. Here are a few excerpts from his letter:

"I arrived at the Malibu Missile site then known as B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 65th Air Defense Artillery. Also known as Site LA-78. I was a Nike-Hercules crewman/fire panel operator. The base was one of 6 missile sites surrounding Los Angeles. The base was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers and became operational Aug. 20, 1954"

"Many residents of Malibu didn't know this base existed and didn't know they were being protected from their own back yard. We were good neighbors."

"The base had a total of 18 missiles"

"Some might wonder what it was like at a missile base. Los Angeles was protected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The bases operated in a weekly rotating schedule.

2 bases were on hot status

2 bases were on cold status/maintenance

2 bases were on standby status/training"

"Many times the bases would have operational readiness inspections or ORI's. These inspections were to test our competency and skill. You moved fast at a missile base."

"Malibu was the best of the best. Many VIPs would come up."

"Some might wonder what a Nike-Hercules launch would look like. The Nike does not take off in slow motion. The missile is exceeding the speed of sound before it clears the launcher and the 200,000 lbs of thrust is loud."

"This base could protect from Santa Barbara to San Diego to San Bernardino to Bakersfield. 360 degrees of protection."

"When we turned the base over to Captain Zimmerman I knew it was going to good hands. I cannot think of a finer organization than the Los Angeles County Fire Department, its officers and its crews of Fire Camp 8."

The officer who wrote the letter signed it "Thank You" but failed to leave his name.

Kurt Kamm writes novels about fires and firefighters. A resident of Malibu, he has lived through several wildland fires. He is a regular visitor at the fire camps, stations and training academies of L.A. County Fire Department and CalFire. To learn more about his novels, One Foot in the Black, and Red Flag Warning.

visit http://www.kurtkamm.com.

History has it ways of reserecting itself in unknown ways....Nice piece of work finding it..Thanks ... IHAWKER,,,,

Went back to visit two sites in the LA area a few years back..

First was LA-04, Was sent there from Bn Hq after the site failed the last IG for the second time..LA-04 was located about due north of Pasadena and between there and Palmdale, Ca on the other side of the mountain. Did one year, got things going pretty good and then was sent to Korea..

What I found at 04 was a shock at first. drove right into the place, then realized I was dead middle of a prison..

No fences, just a yellow line..crossing that line meant the prisoner had escaped and things got hard for him... They let me drive around a bit and then I just drove off again, no checks no nothing.. BTW, LA-04 was the highest elevation wise, site in the country....We even had a track vehicle to get us up to the fire control area during the worst snow storms..Many times it would be as high as the security fences.

The second was LA-94, also up in the mountains North of San Franando. The Admin area was now a fire camp like at the old Malibu site..Had the big Choppers stationed there and the area was kept very nice...Nice people there and they let me look around all I liked...The Fire control area had the towers still and many antennas installed serving all sorts of commo for the LA area. Not sure what was going on in the Launch area but it was all secured..