Colonel Marge Humphrey (USAF Retired) tells our members and spouses about the Titan II Ballistic Missile System and Museum.
Rett Benedict
The Catalina Mountains Satellite Chapter met on January 16, 2016, at the MountainView Clubhouse in SaddleBrooke. The speaker was Colonel Marge Humphrey (USAF Retired) telling our members and spouses about the Titan II Ballistic Missile System and Museum south of Tucson. Colonel Humphrey served 30 years in the Air Force in a variety of missile and space related assignments in the United States and Europe. She was a Missile Combat Crew Commander in the Air Force and has been a docent at the Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley since 2005.
The Titan II had three missile Wings, one of which was located all around Tucson and contained over 50 missiles in their individual underground silos. The Titan II that Colonel Humphrey commanded was located in the Oro Valley area and is now the site of a church. Colonel Humphrey described how the Titan II weapon system was built and fielded in about three years in the early 1960s, a seemingly incredible short time compared to current military developments. It was the largest ballistic missile system that the U.S. built and had a range of about 6300 miles, a very high yield nuclear weapon and an excellent accuracy for the time period.
The Titan II missiles and silos were removed from the active inventory in the late 1980s and mostly destroyed. One missile/silo complex was located on the site of the current Titan Missile Museum that opened in 1986 and is the only publicly accessible Titan II Missile Complex in existence. Tours are given daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. As Colonel Humphrey described the museum, it should be a very worthwhile visit.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 20 at 11:30 a.m. at the Splendido at Rancho Vistoso. The speaker will be General John A. Wickham (USA Retired). He was a graduate of West Point, served in Vietnam, Germany and Korea as well as other locations. Among his assignments during his career, General Wickham served as Commander of the 101st Airborne Division and the United Nations Command and was the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army under President Reagan. Please contact Colonel Rett Benedict, 825-7424, Catalina Mountains Satellite President, [email protected] for reservations and specific information on attendance, location and parking.
Subsequent meetings will be held on the third Saturday of each month at the MountainView Clubhouse in SaddleBrooke starting at 11:30 a.m. with lunch followed by a short business meeting and a speaker. Spouses are welcome and invited.
For additional information, contact Colonel Rett Benedict as above or Colonel Tom Owens, MOAA Tucson President, 760-3476, [email protected]. Check website: www.tucsonmoaa.com for information.
The Catalina Mountains satellite is part of the Tucson Chapter and encompasses northwest Tucson to include Catalina, Oracle, parts of Oro Valley and Marana, SaddleBrooke and Sun City.
The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) is a nonprofit veterans’ service association dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and to preserve the earned entitlements of members of the uniformed services and their families and survivors.