4th Missile Bn
(Hawk-AW)
517th Artillery
Panama
Canal Zone

 

Pina Beach Range

To maintain readiness the 517th conducted firings Of Hawks and M-42s at the Pina Beach Range.  The range was located on the Atlantic side of the isthmus near the mouth of the Chagres River. 

 

Firebee Target Drone Taking Off, Hawks To The Left, Target Acquisition Radar In Foreground, Pina Beach Artillery Range, Date Unknown

 

LCM Recovering RCAT Target Drone, Chagres River At Pina Beach Range, ca. 1966-67.

 

Hawks being unloaded at Pina prior to firing demonstration in early 1961 (Col. L. Lewis, Ret.)

 

134th Ordnance Detachment at Pina Range
Photos by Sp4 Rick Doninelli, 1965

134th Ordnance Detachment At The Pina Beach Range

Control Tent For Missile Firing At Pina Beach

Illuminator Radar At Pina Beach

F89 Drone At Pina Beach

Missile Servicing Van, Pina

Missile Repair Van, Pina

Launcher At Pina

Missile Loader At Pina

Pulse Radar And Launcher, Pina

Pulse Radar, Pina

All the ordnance vans at Pina, 1965

Rabies the boot humping dog at Pina, 1965

134th Ordnance Detachment sign at Pina, 1965

 

D Battery at the Pina Beach Range
Photos by Sgt. John Pizzuti, 1967

D Battery, Pina Beach Range
February 1967
Front Sgt Pizzuti, Pvt White
D Battery, Pina Beach Range
February, 1967

D Battery, Pina Beach Range
February, 1967
L-R MSG Perry, SP5 Perez, SP5 Janisheck
D Battery, Pina Beach Range
February, 1967

D Battery, Pina Beach Range
February, 1967
D Battery, Pina Beach Range
February, 1967

D Battery, Pina Beach Range
February, 1967

 

A & B Battery at the Range
In late 1969 the 4/517 took its last trip to Pina Range.  The missiles were gone only the A & B Battery Dusters remained.  The RCATs were gone too, F-100 Super Sabres pulled the target sleeves.  Look closely at the bottom photo; a Battery B duster had a round explode in the barrel near the muzzle.  The crew was blown from the gun tub, but there were no serious injuries. (F.W.Cole)

Sp4 Morris VanBale of HHB with blown 40mm barrel at Pina

 

Dusters at Pina, October 1968
(MSG Al Garrett)

 

These 1969 photos of Battery A and B exercises at Pina Beach Range were taken by Sp4 Tom Ethier of HHB.

Sp4 Rodney Shaw of HHB at Pina

Sp5 Kenneth Wages of HHB at Pina

Sp4 William Murray & Sp4 Harold Faulkner of HHB at Pina

 

Battery C at Pina Range
Photos by Sp5 John Morgan ca. 1967

 

Hawks At Pina Beach Range.  Photo from Jack Curran HHB 1961-65

 

Lt. Warren Kirbo's Battery A Photos
1968-69

Alpha 3 From The Range Tower

Alpha 4From The Range Tower

UH1C

UH1C & H-19

UH1C

RCAT Launch - Split View

RCAT Drone In Flight

RCAT Drone Recovery

RCAT Bad Recovery 'Chute Deployment

RCAT Up The Tree