Pershing missile launches

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

POTU planned, scheduled, and executed the tests, evaluations, and missile firings to support OTP.

[2] POTU would select three firing batteries from the 56th Field Artillery Command in West Germany to participate in Follow-on Operational Tests (FOT) using an unannounced field alert status verifications (FASV) at the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) site.

After the shoot, data and evaluations were compiled into reports of the performance estimates of the operational capabilities of the Pershing missile system.

Pershing 1 and 1a missiles tapped for a shoot would have orange stripes added to the rocket motors and the guidance section and had a dummy warhead with black and white roll pattern.

The post offices at White Sands Missile Range and Cape Canaveral issued event covers for all launches.