Cold War Relics
Dow AFB BOMARC
The BOMARC missile program was a joint venture between the United States and Canada from 1957 to 1972 to protect against the threat of Soviet bombers. The BOMARC missiles themselves were also part of a joint effort between Boeing (BO) and the Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (MARC).
The IM-99A BOMARC missile was the first supersonic long-range anti-aircraft missile in the world. The missiles were capable of carrying conventional or nuclear payloads. BOMARC missile bases were placed along the east and west coasts of North America. If a Soviet bomber fleet came within 200 miles, the missles would have been launched. As long as one missile found its target in the group of bombers, its 7 kiloton nuclear warhead would make sure the other bombers went down as well. Later in the program, the missiles were upgraded to IM-99B missiles which had a 400 mile range thanks to solid fuel booster rockets.
The BOMARC missiles relied upon the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) radar system for detecting and tracking enemy aircraft. Fourteen sites were built and Boeing built 570 missiles total during the course of the program.
The Dow BOMARC site was the fourth of the fourteen bases to be constructed and was not updated to handle the IM-99B missiles when they were put into service. I have a copy of the official Boeing base configuration manual (thanks, Ron) and there is one discrepancy. The Bangor base was to have utility troughs between the rows of missiles enclosures. These troughs would have been concrete trenches that were covered with what looked like sidewalk pieces. The sidewalk pieces would have been removable for service. Most likely due to the extreme Maine winters and heavy frost, they abandoned this plan and what was built is actually an underground utility tunnel, approximately six feet wide and six feet tall, that runs the length of the missile enclosure rows.
The site in Bangor, ME is located a few miles north of Bangor International Airport, once Dow Air Force Base. It sits back in the woods off of Burleigh Road. Today the former missile base serves as an industrial park of sorts and is home to a meat packer, a trucking company, a self storage company and several other small businesses. The missile enclosures are still standing and many have been extensively renovated to include garage doors and updated roofing. The surrounding wooded areas are slowly being bulldozed to build housing developments.
