[CPEO-MEF] Unused missile bases getting new lives

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New Jersey
THE STAR-LEDGER
Unused missile bases getting new lives
Nike sites around the nation are reborn as museums, storage facilities,
even houses
Monday, March 31, 2003
BY GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

America's national security worries are focused on chemical weapons,
dirty bombs and sneaky terror attacks. The fears have led to increased
airport security, emergency preparedness planning and a demand for gas
masks.

But just a generation ago during the Cold War, Soviet jets dropping
bombs were the fear -- and anti-aircraft missiles were seen as the last
defense. The missiles were hidden away in bases around the nation's
biggest cities and key military installations.

Almost 30 years since the last of the bases were decommissioned, these
bases across the country have been turned into museums, storage
facilities and even houses. In New Jersey, officials in Gloucester
Township are considering opening up the shuttered site to commercial
development and similar plans in Woolwich could follow.

New Jersey had a dozen of the bases as part of the protective rings
around New York and Philadelphia. No missiles were ever fired from the
bases in the continental United States, except in tests at Fort Bliss,
Texas.

In Gloucester Township, the adjacent bases known as PH-41 and PH-43 span
47 acres. The area is scattered with beer cans and paintball canisters,
and some buildings are covered with graffiti. The military order has
long since been replaced by weeds and cracked concrete.

About a half-dozen ominous-looking radar platforms remain, as do shells
of buildings once used for operations and barracks for some of the
soldiers stationed there.

Beginning in 1954, the United States operated missile bases around major
cities. The idea was that if Soviet planes were spotted flying in with
bombs, missiles could be launched to knock out the planes before they
could attack.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1049112560240070.xml?starledger?nnj

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