I would like to thank you for this video. The Colonel is my Grandfather, and he is currently 91 years old. I loved watching this and seeing him so young.
When I started with the DoD over 35 years ago a lot of missiles like the Hound Dog were already obsolete, but just for a few years. In the late 70's and early 80's we were going whole hog with the Tomahawk. Subsonic, but really long range and extremely accurate. The B52 could easily get close enough to fire off its Tomahawks without entering Soviet/Chinese Air Defense arenas. The Tomahawk is reasonably priced and its 155kt warhead would basically HIT its target with less than 100 yards CEP. The Ground Launched Cruise Missiles, or those launched from the basic Torpedo tubes could be deployed all around the World and impossible for the Soviets to count. Also, the Tomahawk is no good for any "First Strike" work so it wasn't a real threat to the USSR but it guaranteed our "counterstrike" would be highly lethal. The concept of MAD was assured by having a 2nd Strike weapon guaranteed to punish anybody's First Strike. By limiting our "first strike" and guaranteeing a "second strike" is why nobody dared to fire First and any attempt for the Soviets to build enough weapons to dream of a First Strike would bankrupt them long before they achieved that goal. Our little Hound Dogs and later the Tomahawks saved us a Trillion Dollars AND Guaranteed we wouldn't be speaking Russian in the good ole USA! These old pioneers deserve more credit. THEY saved our very Lives without bankrupting us.
I flew many AGM-28 missions, a few lasting over 25 hours. The Hound Dog was pretty reliable and could navigate to within fireball range of targets. (We trained with them by letting the Hound Dogs navigate the B52 to the target as if they were making the bomb runs.) It was a very state-of-the-art system, with a computer about the size of a printer paper box, an astro-tracker to track sun or stars, and a good (for the time) inertial guidance system. I was pleased to be able to operate that system, and VERY pleased to never have to launch one.
Thanks for your service. Did you fly G's H's or both? May I ask which units? Ever stationed at Wurtsmith? You could use the J85 engine on the Hound Dog for additional takeoff thrust and refuel from the bomber in flight, correct? Didn't know you could navigate off the missile! Impressive!
Incredible footage, I flew B-1Bs with Air Combat Command and did Afghanistan, also did some recon work in Iraq and other locales, I'm retired now and I fly 747s on the outside. Would greatly like to see this type of footage remastered. I guess the B-1s are going back to "SAC" in a few months, or "Global Strike Command"
I worked on those missiles at Minot AFB, and Barksdale AFB and I enjoyed working with them as they was not difficult except for the closing of the weapon door.
I worked on Hound Dog missiles 1966 to 1970, stationed at Dow in Bangor and Robbins in Warner Robbins. Sure was fun sometimes, towing a Hound Dog from the hanger to the flight line on a warm summer night, driving that little tug with a bright white spear behind you. Bill Jewell AMMS
I remember in the late 70s there was a "Broken Arrow" issue when a female airman smashed a Hound Dog with a hammer. This was when the 19th BW was the resident SAC wing. The wing flew formation over our school when they converted to the KC-135 in 1983. I hated to see the '52s go.
Never flew G's with Hound Dogs, but with H's. It was a hurry-up getting the after takeoff checklist and the missile startup before the 10,000 foot zero-delay lanyard step. The G's could augment their takeoffs using the Hound Dog thrust; the H's didn't need it.
