Heritage – 51st Munitions Maintenance Squadron

By Joseph T. Donohue Jr. Command Historian, 1STRAD

Tomorrow, the 51st Munitions Maintenance Squadron (MMS) commanded by Lt. Col. Richard F. Savage, will be inactivated after 14 years of service supporting the aerospace activities at Vandenberg.
Its function, however, is much too valuable to be inactivated also. Instead, the men, equipment, facilities and responsibilities of the 51st will be transferred to the 394th Strategic Missile Squadron to continue this essential support mission.
Since this is the only location from which operational ballistic missiles are launched on a continuing basis, the proficiency of the men of the 51st in their assigned tasks has been -- and will continue to be -- tested under actual flight conditions.
Each operational ICBM launched here is tipped with a reentry vehicle (RV) which first must pass through their hands. As technicians, these men support local units and missile task forces from the operational bases during the buildup of these RV's for the Demonstration and Shakedown Operations and Operational Tests. How well these tests go is dependent upon how well those tasks are performed.
In addition to this support of the Strategic Air Command's deterrent force, the munitions maintenance function also supports Air Force Systems Command, National Aeronautical and Space Administration and the contractors operating here by storing large solid-fuel motors in preparation for use in the many different aerospace programs taking place here.
Although less publicized, the squadron also performs the dangerous, though essential task of providing explosive ordinance disposal service for the base. And when one considers the great variety of explosive material connected with the missile and space programs -- as well as the numerous munitions impact areas left over from the Arrny’s Camp Cook days, the magnitude of this responsibility is readily apparent.

HISTORY AND LINEAGE

The 51st MMS was activated at Vandenberg July 25, 1958, as an Aviation Depot Squadron, with assignment to the 704th Strategic Missile Wing under the 1st Missile Division.
With the inactivation of the wing July 1, 1959, the squadron was reassigned to the Division, and exactly a year later, was redesignated as the 51st Munitions Maintenance Squadron.
On Oct. 18, 1961, it was reassigned to the newly activated 392nd Strategic Missile Wing, but this lasted only a few months since this wing was inactivated before the end of the year.
The squadron's present assignment to the division has been continuous since that time. Effective tomorrow, however, its long tour of active service at Vandenberg will come to a close with its inactivation.
Over the years, the 51st MMS has supported and trained the missiliers who manned SAC's ballistic missile fleet. Early in its career, it began conducting RV Operational Readiness Training (ORT) for all SAC units, especially on the weapon systems which are now obsolete–the Thor IRBM, all models of the Atlas, and the original Titan I.
The squadron's functions, however, have not always remained so closely related to the missile field. The "Great Lompoc Flood" of 1969, for example, required it to deviate somewhat from its normal activities.
When the long span of the Vandenberg Surf Bridee collapsed from the force of the rushing waters, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Section used plastic mines and explosives to destroy the remaining portions of the bridge so that the flood waters would subside in the Lompoc Valley.
Without doubt, the responsibilities of the 51st MMS have been complex and diverse.

51ST MMS EMBLEM

The simple yet effective design of the Missile Maintenance Squadron emblem is in sharp contrast to the other squadron emblems on base.

It is nothing more than a representation of a space vehicle in a fiery reentry into the earth's atmosphere under extreme stress and intense heat. The emblem, which was approved Feb. 26, 1969*, is truly symbolic of the squadron's activities and mission.
Actually, the space vehicle is, suggested by design rather than clearly delineated. The black color represents "the intense cold and perpetual blackness of outer space through which the vehicle travels."
The immense speed and heat generated by the vehicle as it approaches the earth is indicated by the red and yellow colors which radiate from the apex of the reentry wave.
The light blue background, of course, represents the earth's atmosphere.
This is one of the few emblems on base with an authorized motto. The Latin .expression, "Primi Toto in Caeli Spatio," is Translated appropriately: First In Space.

EPILOGUE

With the squadron's inactivation tomorrow, its history will be suspended and its emblem and awards retired. All however, will be held in abeyance pending reactivation of the unit at some future date.
Should that occur -- regardless of how long it may take -- the 51st Munitions Maintenance Squadron's history will resume where it left off, its emblem will be returned to active duty, and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award it won during 1970-71 will be presented to the new squadron's personnel to wear for as long as they are assigned.
As for the present members of the 51st who were assigned to the squadron during the period of the award, they can wear it permanently with justifiable pride in a job well done.