Plattsburgh, New York 1962-1965
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Atlas F
 Welcome to the Atlas F section of the 556th Strategic Missile
Squadron. The 556th SMS was activated at two different times using
two different missile systems. The SM-65 or Atlas F weapon system
was based at Plattsburgh Air Force Base in Plattsburgh, New York
from 1962 thru 1965. There were 12 sites built in a ring around
Plattsburgh. Ten of the silo complexes were in New York and two were
located in Vermont. These sites were manned 24 hours a day, 365
days a year during the time the Squadron was active. During the
Cuban Missile Crisis, all 556th sites were at a high level of alert
and were ready to launch the Atlas missile should it have become
necessary. The squadron was armed with the SM-65 weapon system, more
commonly know as the Atlas. The 556th was an Atlas F unit which
meant the missile was housed in a "silo launcher" style complex. The
missile was kept in a vertical position at all times. In order to
launch, two 75-ton overhead doors were opened and the "bird" was
lifted out of the silo. The Atlas ICBM required RP1 and Liquid
Oxygen for powering the rocket engines. The RP1 fuel was kept on
board the missile at all times during alert. As the missile was
lifted out of the silo the Liquid Oxygen fuel was added after which
it would then be made ready for launch. This is one reason that the
response time of the Atlas F system was quicker than that of the
Atlas D and E systems. The picture to the left shows an Atlas F
during the lift process. The picture on the right is a missile in
the ready to launch position. The Atlas F used an Avco Mark IV
re-entry vehicle which carried a type W-38 warhead with a thermonuclear
yield of approximately 3.8 million tons of TNT. This yield is approximately
253 times that of the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The
Atlas had a range of about 6,000 miles. Developed by General Dynamics, the Atlas weapons
system became a national priority during which no expense was spared
in the development, testing and implementation of this first
generation ICBM system. The Atlas rocket was also used by NASA
during the early days of manned space travel and was the booster
used to put John Glenn into Earth orbit.
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