to German units by 1964. The Sergeant weapon system was to be replaced by the MGM-52 Lance in the early 1970s but delays in the Lance caused it to remain in service. The last US Army battalion was deactivated in 1977. Sergeant Missile Systems were usually assigned to the field army with the mission of "general support to a corps" Operation of the Sergeant was recognized to be an interim stage in the development of battlefield missiles. It avoided the Corporal's liquid-fuel-handling drawbacks, but still requiring extensive setup and checkout before launch, together with a train of semi-trailer support vehicles. More advanced missiles, such as the contemporary Blue Water and later Lance, would reduce setup time. The Sergeant had a takeoff thrust of , a takeoff weight of , a diameter of , a length of and a fin span of . The Sergeant missile had a minimum range of , and a maximum range of . Thiokol developed the Sergeant rocket motors, and the Castor rocket stages derived from them, at the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama. Derivatives The Castor rocket stage, a Sergeant derivative, was used as the second stage of the Scout satellite launcher. Clusters of Sergeant-derived rockets (the "Baby Sergeant") were used in the second and third stages of the Jupiter-C sounding rocket, as well as in the second, third, and fourth stages of the Juno I and Juno II launch vehicles, the former of which launched the first United States satellite, Explorer 1. Operators German Army 150th Rocket Artillery Battalion (19641976) 250th Rocket Artillery Battalion (19641976) 350th Rocket Artillery Battalion (19641976) 650th Rocket Artillery Battalion (19651976) United States Army 5th Battalion, 30th Field Artillery Regiment 19631975 Vicenza, Italy 3rd Battalion, 38th Field Artillery Regiment (1962?) Fort Sill 1st Battalion, 68th Field Artillery Regiment (19641970) West Germany 5th Battalion, 73rd Field Artillery Regiment (19631975) West Germany 5th Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment (19631975) West Germany 3rd Battalion, 80th Field Artillery Regiment (19641970) West Germany 3rd Battalion, 81st Field Artillery Regiment (19631976) South Korea References Further reading External links Sergeant General Electric SSM-A-16 Hermes A-3B The United States Army | Redstone Arsenal Historical Information Cold War nuclear missiles of the United States Military equipment introduced in the 1960s MGM-029