As preparations for the first MINUTEMAN III launch entered their final phase, Lieutenant Colonel Glasgow's tour as Chief of the MINUTEMAN Weapon Division ended, and he was relieved for reassignment on 22 July 1968. He was succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Arthur E. Hendren, a veteran missileer and recent arrival from Vandenberg's 6595th Aerospace Test Wing. Under Lieutenant Colonel Hendren, the Operations Branch successfully launched the first MINUTEMAN III test missile from Silo 32 on 16 August 1968. That flight was followed by nine other test flights from Silo 32 and Silo 31 between 24 October 1968 and 13 March 1970.* Though four of those later MINUTEMAN III flights failed to meet their test objectives, the Operations Branch wrapped up the MINUTEMAN III R&D flight test program with three highly successful flights from Silo 32 between 3 April and 28 May 1970. When the 6555th became a Group under the 6595th Aerospace Test Wing on 1 April 1970,** the MINUTEMAN Weapon Division was renamed the MINUTEMAN Test Division, but the name change was a minor event compared to the termination of blue suit launch operations and the subsequent transfer of personnel to other agencies. Lieutenant Colonel Hendren's division reduced its manpower to 16 officers, 60 airmen and six civilians by 1 July 1970, and it got rid of its blue suit launch capability. Though three more MINUTEMAN III missiles were launched from Silo 32 on 16 September, 2 December and 14 December 1970, they were launched by Boeing for the Special Test Missile (STM) project -- a post-R&D effort to evaluate the MINUTEMAN III's performance and accuracy. (All three test flights were successful.) Following the final MINUTEMAN launch on December 14th, the MINUTEMAN Test Division continued to reduce its numbers, and only a handful of personnel were retained to complete the disposition of MINUTEMAN equipment after the Division was deactivated on 31 December 1970. The remaining personnel were reassigned to other duties, and the last of the MINUTEMAN contractors departed in 1971.⁵²

FIRST MINUTEMAN III LAUNCH FROM SILO 32 16 August 1968