Although the big Coast Artillery guns were removed from their casemates at Camp Hero shortly after the Second World War, the Army returned to Camp Hero during the early Fifties bringing with it a whole new series of guns designed for an antiaircraft mission.

The Air Force was responsible for the overall continental air defense mission at this time. However, under an interservice agreement, Army units were given the vital mission of providing a last line of defense for American cities, industrial sites, atomic weapons facilities and select military installations. These Anti-Aircraft Artillery units fielded a variety of weapons ranging from the quadruple fifty caliber machine guns for low altitude defense up to large 90mm and 120mm artillery.

Camp Hero was used by the Army for most of the decade as a firing range for its Anti-Aircraft Artillery units located throughout the New York metropolitan region. Convoys of trucks would roar through the village of Montauk on the way to the base where they would set up their guns in preparation for a week of live fire exercises.

The large artillery pieces such as the 90mm guns were fired at Remote Controlled Aerial Targets or RCATS. These were remotely controlled, propeller driven target drones which resembled a small aircraft. The quadruple fifty caliber machine guns were fired at fabric target sleeves towed by aircraft at low altitude. The loud reports of the guns and the black shell bursts in the skies could be heard and seen for miles.

The Army found the site to be a convenient and useful location for its exercises. Local fishermen, however, resented being forced to stay clear of the Army's firing ranges which extended well offshore. They claimed the exercises harmed the fishing industry, an important segment of Montauk's economy.

By the late Fifties, the Army, and increasingly, the Army National Guard, had switched from gun batteries to the new Nike series of guided surface to air missiles. Missile firings within the continental United States were conducted from sites in the deserts of New Mexico.

Camp Hero was no longer needed by the Army for its live fire exercises and the Army portions of the base was soon placed into caretaker status. By the early Sixties, the Army relinquished its claims to Camp Hero, and the Air Force took over responsibility for security and fire patrols throughout the nearly 500 acres of the base.

Don Bender
January 12, 2001

Copyright 2001 by Donald E. Bender. All Rights Reserved.