In the early 1950s, following WWII, the primary threat against the United States was the manned bomber. In response, the Defense Department issued a directive to the R&D Command in Baltimore, MD, to develop a system that would combat this threat.

Two entities, Boeing Airplane Company and Michigan Aeronautical Research Center, submitted a proposal for a system composed of the following:

1. An unmanned supersonic missile with an atomic warhead,
2. A system of radar sites called SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), which would identify and track targets (SAGE was the predecessor to the current flight control system), and
3. A chain of 30 missile bases to be built on the perimeter of the United States. Each base was to consist of 4 squadrons, with 30 missiles per squadron, for a total of 120 missiles.

The Defense Department accepted the proposal and hence the project name, "BOMARC" – "BO" for Boeing and "MARC" for the Michigan Aeronautical Research Center – was coined.

A Weapons System Project Office (WSPO) was established at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, in 1954. WSPO worked jointly with the Air Material Command, which was responsible for managing project-related contracts and requesting funds from Congress.

WSPO employed five project officers:

• One for the airframe,
• One for the guidance and target seeker,
• One for the warhead,
• Another for the booster and cruise system, and lastly,
• One project officer for the base design, test equipment, handling and transport equipment, and maintenance building. This is the role my father played in the BOMARC project.

The primary contract was awarded to Boeing for developing the missile and to IBM for developing the SAGE system.

The U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Canadian Royal Crown Construction Agency in Ottawa, Canada, were responsible for the construction of all the missile bases. It was my father’s responsibility to provide them the missile base requirements.

Initial development of the BOMARC missile envisioned a liquid rocket booster, known as the "X" missile.

• Red fuming nitric acid (which was a hypergolic mixture) and aniline were stored in the missile.
• A helium tank was pressurized at the time of alert during a 15-second missile erection

Each base required helium facilities plus acid and aniline storage and disposal facilities. Every 90 days the missiles were de-fueled and decontaminated, requiring a personnel decontamination facility and a national acid disposal facility.

Work on the "X" missile continued for several years until a solid rocket booster became available. This version of BOMARC was known as the "Y" missile. The benefits of the solid booster were that it eliminated the requirement for acid and aniline storage and disposal, as well as helium storage. However, this required a complete base redesign.

The final base design included:

• 1 air-conditioned shelter for each missile
• 1 erector for each missile
• A maintenance hangar, and
• Warhead storage and maintenance

• Testing of the "X" missile took place at Patrick AFB, while
• Testing of the "Y" missile was conducted at Hurlburt Field at Eglin AFB in Florida

During the test program, one "Y" missile had to be set aside due to target seeker problems; however, subsequent tests were successful and approval was given for implementation of the system.

BOMARC facilities were built at McGuire, Suffolk, Otis, and Dow Air Force Bases. Other bases were partially constructed, including one at Minot AFB. In addition, two bases were constructed in North Bay and La Macaza, Canada.

Because the BOMARC missile was designed to carry an atomic warhead, then Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker would not permit the warheads to be brought into the country, so the system was never fully implemented.

Long after the above bases were operational, one "Y" missile was still left over from the test program.

Upon the completion of the first Air Force Academy visitor center at the South Entrance, a good friend and colleague of my father’s – Col. Raymond Gilbert Jr., who was still assigned to WSPO, called my dad, who at the time was then assigned to the ADC at Ent AFB. Col. Gilbert suggested that the missile be donated to the Academy, which my dad also thought was a good idea.

When the visitor center was rebuilt in a different location, the remaining "Y" missile was then moved to Peterson Field.

In 1963, the BOMARC system was finally abandoned and declared obsolete, as the ballistic missile became a much greater threat to the United States.