Army·Weapon system retired·In Memoriam
Hawk Missile Crewmember
16D / 16E
Served: 1960–2002
Manned the MIM-23 Hawk medium-range SAM — the workhorse air defense of Army Europe and Korea, the system that locked horns with every Soviet jet that ever played chicken at the Fulda Gap.
The Story
The Hawk outlived its own MOS. The system itself is still killing aircraft in 2025 — Ukraine has refurbished Reagan-era US Hawk launchers and is using them against Russian drones and cruise missiles. The MOS is dead. The missile is not.
Epitaph
“MOS dead. Missile still flying. In Ukraine. Right now.”
Sources
- Wikipedia — MIM-23 Hawken.wikipedia.org
- Redstone — HAWK Historyhistory.redstone.army.mil