HISTORY - Page 78
squadrons in Italy with IAF personnel, and the 864th
TTS, on a reduced basis, became a floating training
team
111
.
Two months after they had entered into individual
training courses, the first group of Italians began IWST
on 9 November 1959 and completed the course on 19
January 1960. By October 1960, the Italian phase of
training in the United States had been completed
112
.
Judging by the records, that is, based on the CTL firings
of 1961 and 1962, the quality of the JUPITER training
program was quite satisfactory.
With the location of the first two squadrons settled,
attention was focused on siting the third squadron. On
23 October 1959, government-to-government
agreement was concluded with Turkey for deployment
of the remaining squadron. Tentatively, the US
programmed a USAF-manned squadron in the third
quarter of FY 1961. Some months later-- May
1960—the two countries concluded the technical
agreement. This document specified that Turkish
personnel would be trained to man the missile at the
earliest possible date, but that the JUPITER would be
manned by USAF personnel
113
.
Thus, the training school at Redstone that had
experienced a slight lull at the end of the IAF program
had to prepare for the influx of Turkish Air Force (TAF)
students. Because the educational level of the TAF
personnel was somewhat lower than IAF, language,
individual, and IWST courses were lengthened. For
_____________________________
111. Ibid.; Hist of JUP Tng Pro, pp. 49-51.
112. Hist of the JUP Tng Pro, p. 57.
113. Ibid., pp. 55-56