Show White While Sands Missile Officer Outlines Green River Base Plans at Chamber More than local residents heard a briefing on the Green River missile program at the Tuesday evening general membership membership mem mcm meeting of the Chamber of Commerce Lt IA Col Cot August T. T McColgan chief information office headquarters headquarters head head- quarters United s States tes Army Anny White Sands Missile Range NJ Nir presented his long hour-long program to a capacity crowd that even took up most of the e standing room The veteran Information officer off orrt- Icer I- I car began his program with an explanation of how White Sands was vas playing its role In the current current current cur cur- rent missile research and development development development de de- de- de program He lIe described the New Mexico base as the birthplace of American mis mis- In bringing a missile firing site to Green River and other areas outside the White Sands area one of th the principle questions questions ques ques- that had to be answered was Would the local civilian population accept missile over over- flights Col McColgan stated that defense officials felt the public w would uld If th the program was properly explained Th The former fonner 1st Division Infantry officer leer told his audience that once a missile Is Js in flight It can be brought down only where It is aimed Missiles cannot fall from the sky the way an airplane airplane airplane air air- plane can the colonel stated Missiles 1 fly at a much greater altitude because of this the wind does not effect them and the law of physics also governs their flight he added We know within 45 seconds after alter launching whether or not the launch has been successful If it is Js not the missile Is destroyed destroyed destroyed de de- de- de well wen within the confines of the range safety zone the colonel said He lie also mentioned that la In the past 17 years 20 thousand missiles had been fired and that so far neither man nor beast has been killed due to a missile having to be be destroyed in flight The colonel showed three films which emphasized the development development development develop develop- ment of the missile program safety procedures utilized in launching and tracking the missiles mis mis- sites siles and how the Army Anny PershIng PershIng Ing ng missile is transported and launched Following the films he stated that between 30 and 40 million will be spent on on the Green River project This figure Includes salaries Approximately people pee pea pIe will be connected with wilh the actual firings Most of the will be civilian personnel Some people will wilt of course live Jive in Green River and others will live i in towns located In the surrounding area area the colonel said About 2 million will win be spent on housing and other buildings Trailers will be provided provided pro pro- vided for bachelor personnel Trailers will also house the administrative administrative ad ad- sections at the site All assembly buildings Willbe will willbe be of a temporary nature with the actual launching p pad d five to six miles mites from the administration tion i buildings housIng housing hous hous- ing he added Prior to firing the missiles will willbe willbe willbe i be assembled In the now vacant Union Carbide building The missile to be fired at present pres pres- ent nt has no name and is known only as a space-research space test vehicle similar to the Sergeant and Pershing it ds is a solid soUd fuel single stage missile Primary objective objective objective ob ob- ob- ob of the now planned 80 firings over the next two years is to find out what happens to the missile upon re-entry re Into the earths earth's atmosphere None of the tho miss missile lIe warheads will be loaded Total cost of the site will wUl hit the Ute mark Construction Construe Construe- tion should start sEart around March 15 and be completed between mid-July mid and mid The Fhe number of people involved Involved in involved in- in in the actual construction will of course be up to the contractor contractor con con- on- on tractor the colonel said He also stated Olson Construction Co of Salt Lake City is the apparent low bidder on 00 the project The rhe peak employment of people will probably be hit In November however that could change the colonel stated He went on to say Between and school age children can be expected as about 60 per cent of the civilian would be married Usual accepted fIgure figure figure fig fIg- ure was 39 persons per family Government aid is usually furnished furnished furnished fur fur- school districts to help defray education costs in lieu of taxes Lump sum total it about per school child per year Present plans call can for civilians to be Invited to some of the launchings It has not yet been determined whether or not the public will be Informed as to the advance time of e each launching Civilians will be able to view the firings from a distance of 5 to 7 thousand feet What will happen to the launch site when the year two-year program ends A lot can happen happen happen hap hap- pen during the year two-year span of ofa a missile program Perhaps further further further fur fur- ther tests will be conducted but at present we dont don't know the colonel concluded Prior to coming to Moab Col McColgan addressed a similar group il in Green River A detailed account of his appearance there was carried In the Feb 21 issue o of the Times |