Los Banos Rotary Club History
Rotarians Hear Of Defensive Plans

Captain J. B. McGurk, commander of a U.S. Army Air Defense until in the San Francisco bay area, Tuesday noon told members of the Rotary Club something of the Army's plans for defense of San Francisco and other vital cities in event of enemy attack.

Using a small model of the Army's Nike Ajax ground to an air guided missile, the Captain explained in general terms the loading, readying, firing and radio guidance of the missile to contact and obliterate any enemy airplane that might be swooping in for a bombing attack in the bay region.

Two radar instruments, one "locked" on the incoming plane, the other on the ascending missile, relay directional and altitude figures to a mechanical brain that computes distances, speed and timing to the missile and directs radio signals to the Ajax that actuates the altitudinal and directional find on the missile itself.

As to distance and potency, the Captain merely said an enemy plane could "most probably" be sighted, a missile launched and the plane destroyed while still far enough distant to offset heavy bomb damage, even from an atomic explosion. The problem, he said, is not only to destroy the carrier plane itself but also its bomb load.

Questioned as to the likelihood of enemy attack, Captain McGurk pointed out that the recent successful launching of Russia's Sputnik III leaves no doubt of that country's ability to launch long range missiles. Such a condition in this world, he said, can result in only one conclusion—air defense is very close to all of us here at home.

The operation of the country's many air defense installations requires highly skilled personnel, Captain McGurk stated, and this fact is one of the division's most critical problems, as the demand for such skilled technicians in civilian life offer financial rewards that cannot be duplicated in the service and naturally results in a large turnover of men.

Captain McGurk was accompanied to Los Banos by Lieutenant W. C. Frank, pilot of the single engine airplane used to make the trip to Los Banos.
The two officers were introduced to the club by Harry Meyer, local druggist and program chairman.

May 23, 1958

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