Convair Division of General Dynamics, the Firestone Corp., the Sperry-Rand Company, and the Martin Company. The Secretary of the Army, Wilber M. Brucker, the former governor of Michigan – was apparently under pressure from his home state to award the contract to a company in Michigan. Chrysler was the only contractor from Michigan, but Medaris persuaded Brucker to leave the decision entirely in the hands of the ABMA. After a selection process by General Medaris and Dr. Arthur Rudolph, the Martin Company (later Martin Marietta after a merger in 1961) was awarded a CPFF (cost-plus-fixed-fee) contract for research, development, and first production of the Pershing system under the technical supervision and concept control of the government. Martin's quality control manager for the Pershing, Phil Crosby developed the concept of Zero Defects that enhanced the production and reliability of the system. The first launch of the XM14 R&D Pershing 1 test missile (P-01) was on 25 February 1960. The first launch from the tactical transporter erector launcher (TEL) was on 26 July 1960 (P-06). For training there was an inert Pershing 1 missile designated XM19. In June 1963, the XM14 and XM19 Pershing missiles were redesignated as XMGM-31A and XMTM-31B, respectively. The production version of the tactical missile was later designated as MGM-31A and the XMTM-31B designation was dropped. Deployment President Eisenhower viewed the Pershing missile when he visited Cape Canaveral on 11 February 1960, and at Fort Benning on 5 May 1960 as part of Project MAN (Modern Army Needs). President Kennedy viewed Pershing three times: as part of the inaugural parade in 1961, at Fort Bragg on 12 October 1961, and at White Sands Missile Range in 1963. Plans were for the organization of ten missile battalions: one at Fort Sill, one in Korea and eight in West Germany; this was eventually reduced to one battalion at Fort Sill and three in West Germany. Each missile battalion organized at Fort Sill for deployment. The first tactical Pershing unit was the 2nd Missile Battalion, 44th Artillery Regiment, followed by the 4th Missile Battalion, 41st Artillery Regiment deployed to Schwäbisch Gmünd and the 1st Missile Battalion, 81st Artillery to McCully Barracks in Wackernheim. Each missile battalion had four launchers. The 2nd Missile Battalion, 79th Artillery Regiment formed for deployment to South Korea in February 1964. The deployment was placed on hold and the battalion supported the 56th Artillery Group and the