Notice: Our website is currently undergoing a migration, and some content may have been moved to a new location, be actively migrated, or be temporarily inaccessible. We appreciate your patience as we continue to add content gradually over time.

NIKE Air Defense Missile Sites

How do I do research on NIKE Air Defense Missile Sites?

The NIKE air defense program fielded three generations of missiles: the NIKE-AJAX, the NIKE-HERCULES, and the NIKE-ZEUS. The United States Army developed them and issued them to units deployed both inside and outside of the boundaries of the Continental United States.

Locating records of the NIKE program involves determining which agency was the originating agency for the information that you need, and understanding how that material was preserved and retired.

Research and development records normally were retired in a regular process by the various agencies and subordinate staff elements, and requests for information from or access to those records should be addressed to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Division. Before beginning the search for records, however, a historian would be well advised to contact the various historical offices of the successor agencies to learn if the historians assigned to them ever compiled monographic studies or assembled background historical files.

Finding the records of an individual operational NIKE site is a more difficult research problem, because the records themselves have been split into several locations.

Records relating to the procurement and construction of the individual sites normally were withdrawn from other Army record holdings and are now typically housed in either the Engineer District Offices of the US Army Corps of Engineers or in the responsible regional site of the National Archives and Records Administration (the regional archives division of the nearest Federal Records Center). We suggest that the first step in attempting to locate those materials should be to contact the archivist at the Historical Office of the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Both the Regular Army and the Army National Guard contained NIKE units. The first step in searching for unit records should be to determine if the unit in question belonged to the Army National Guard; if so, then the records probably are still in the custody of the individual state's Adjutant General. Most NIKE unit records created by the Regular Army, and possibly some Army National Guard ones, should have been sent to the Military Operational Archives, National Personal Records Center, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63132. That agency has indicated that records which can be identified contain correspondence, charts, plans, architectural drawings, but are not consistent in content. If records are not at St. Louis, contact the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Division.

Cookie Disclaimer - CMH Online does not use persistent cookies (persistent tokens that pass information back and forth from the client machine to the server). CMH Online may use session cookies (tokens that remain active only until you close your browser) in order to make the site easier to use. CMH Online DOES NOT keep a database of information obtained from these cookies. You can choose not to accept these cookies and still use the site, but it may take you longer to fill out the same information repeatedly and clicking on the banners may not take you to the correct link. Refer to the help information in your browser software for instructions on how to disable cookies.

External Links Disclaimer - The appearance of hyperlinks to external sites does not constitute endorsement by the Department of the Army of the linked web site or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the Department of the U.S. Army does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this web site.

Migration Notice - The Center for Military History has recently completed the initial migration process to a new content management system (CMS). Please note that not all content has been migrated over yet, but it will be gradually transferred over time. If you are unable to find specific content, feel free to send us an inquiry, and our team would be happy to assist you in locating the information you need.

Inquiries - For inquiries related to organizational history, military programs, or research at the U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH), please email CMH Answers at usarmy.mcnair.cmh.mbx.answers@army.mil. Due to high correspondence volume, response times may vary. Before reaching out, review the Army Records Master List, FAQs, and Online Bookshelves. On-site research appointments require one week’s notice. For more information, please visit the CMH website at https://history.army.mil/About-CMH/Inquiries-and-Visitor-Policy/.