Camp Cooke and Vandenberg Air Force Base, 1941-1966 by Jeffrey E Geiger

Camp Cooke and Vandenberg Air Force Base, 1941-1966 by Jeffrey E Geiger

During World War II, hundreds of military training installations were built throughout the United States to prepare servicemen for the rigors of overseas combat. One such installation was Camp Cooke in California, which since 1957 has become an internationally recognized missile and rocket base renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base. This book examines the history of the camp, starting with its construction. Established some 150 miles north of Los Angeles, Cooke was designed for armored divisions, but by the end of the war hundreds of other specialized organizations trained there. It supported many USO clubs and attracted some of Hollywood's leading entertainers as well as many from radio and stage. With the outbreak of the Korean War, Cooke supported Army National Guard and reserve units. Its large hospital cared for war evacuees and Army medical cases from other parts of the globe. When it became an Air Force base, America's first spy satellite program was conducted from there. The intelligence data collected from these missions exploded the myth of a "missile gap" with the Soviet Union. At the height of the Cold War, America's first ICBM missile equipped with a nuclear warhead was based at Vandenberg.

“Geiger..recounts the history of the California base from its origins as Camp Cooke in 1941 to its development as a missile and rocket base”—ProtoView; “The book is terrific.”—Actress Elinor Donahue

Jeffrey E. Geiger is a retired historian.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780786478552
ISBN 10	0786478551
Title	Camp Cooke and Vandenberg Air Force Base, 1941-1966
Author	Jeffrey E Geiger
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	McFarland & Co Inc
Year published	2014-03-13
Number of pages	284
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.