Silent Sentinels: The 308th Strategic Missile Wing

By: Fears, Gage

During World War II, Nazi-occupied Germany created a weapon that the world had never seen: The V-2. In 1950, Russia created the first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), with the United States installing the first of fifty-four nuclear-tipped ICBMs in December 1962. Eighteen of these were installed in Arkansas, with the 308th Strategic Missile Wing responsible for the maintenance and safeguarding of them.

Silent Sentinels dives into the history of the 308th from its beginnings in the China-Burma-India theater, to its deactivation in 1987, and its reactivation as an armament development wing in the twenty-first century. This book holds unseen photos and information from the August 9, 1965, silo fire that killed fifty-three civilian contractors, the infamous Damascus silo explosion caused by a PTS crew member dropping a large socket into the silo which ruptured a tank, to the many awards and honors held by one of the most decorated missile wings to date.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1634995732
• ISBN13: 9781634995733
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: America Through Time
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.