George Bunker, president of the Martin Company, paid a courtesy call on General John Medaris, USA, of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama in 1956.

The Martin Company subsequently began construction of their Sand Lake facility in Orlando, Florida which opened in late 1957.

Edward Uhl, the co-inventor of the bazooka, was the vice-president and general manager of the new factory, which continues to operate today as the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control facility.

[3] The United States Department of Defense (DoD) rescinded the memorandum in 1958 and ABMA began development of the class of ballistic missile.

Martin's quality control manager for the Pershing, Phil Crosby developed the concept of Zero Defects that enhanced the production and reliability of the system.

President Eisenhower viewed the Pershing missile when he visited Cape Canaveral on 11 February 1960,[5] and at Fort Benning on 5 May 1960 as part of Project MAN (Modern Army Needs).

[6][7] President Kennedy viewed Pershing three times: as part of the inaugural parade in 1961,[8][9] at Fort Bragg on 12 October 1961,[10] and at White Sands Missile Range in 1963.

The 579th Ordnance Company was tasked with maintenance and logistical general support for the Pershing artillery units in Germany.

Testing found that the second stage would draft behind the warhead and cause it to drift off course, so explosive charges on the side of the motor opened the case and vented the propellant.

The Pershing 1 firing platoon consisted of four M474 tracked-vehicles manufactured by FMC Corporation— by comparison, Redstone needed twenty vehicles.

The PTS featured rapid missile checkout and countdowns, with complete computer control, and automatic self-test and malfunction isolation.

Plug-in micromodules increased maintainability and allowed the PTS operator to perform 80% of all repairs at the firing position.

The "Track 80" used an inflatable dish antenna to provide line-of-sight or tropospheric-scatter voice and teleprinter communications between missile firing units and higher headquarters.

Using a control box, the ST-120 inertial navigation system in the guidance section rotated into alignment and the north direction programmed into the computer.

In 1965, the Army contracted with the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University to develop and implement a test and evaluation program.

The Secretary of Defense then requested that the Army define the modifications required to make Pershing suitable for the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) role.

Project SWAP replaced all the Pershing equipment in Germany by mid-1970 and the first units quickly achieved QRA status.

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara directed that the U.S. Air Force's MGM-13 Mace missile would be replaced by the Pershing 1a in 1965.

[18] Pershing 1a was a Quick Reaction Alert system and so had faster vehicles, launch times and newer electronics.

[21] The Automatic Reference System (ARS) used an optical laser link and a north-seeking gyro with encode to eliminate the need for pre-selected and surveyed points.

The Sequential Launch Adapter connected the PTS to three missiles, eliminating the need to cable and uncable each launcher.

The system was designed to be highly mobile, permitting its dispersal to clandestine sites in times of alert or war and was deployed at distances greater than 100 km behind the forward edge of battle area or political border.

Owing to its mobility and setback, Pershing was considered one of the most survivable theater nuclear weapons ever deployed in Europe.

The primary mission in the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe scheduled plan took one of two forms: peacetime or an increased state of readiness called the period of tension.

During periods of increased tension, the firing batteries of each battalion were deployed to previously unused field tactical sites.

[24] Launch activation was performed from a remote fire box that could be deployed locally or mounted in the battery control central (BCC).

[25] The Pershing II Weapon System was a solid-fueled two-stage ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the Pershing 1a Field Artillery Missile System as the United States Army's primary nuclear-capable theater-level weapon.