White Sands Missile Range Hall of fame accepting 2021 nominations

The White Sands Missile Range Historical Foundation is partnering with the missile range to support its hall of fame (HOF), which is taking nominations. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, March 31.

The HOF was established in 1980 to give recognition to members of the WSMR workforce -- military and civilian -- who have made significant contributions to the missile range’s mission. It is the highest award White Sands can bestow on one of its own.

Past honorees include Clyde Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered Pluto, and Wernher von Braun, the German V-2 scientist.

The last inductee was Las Cruces resident Bill Agee, a mathematician who made missile testing safer for those working at White Sands and those living in surrounding communities. He was inducted in 2019. The induction year of 2020 was lost to the pandemic.

The HOF includes 55 individuals. It contains men and women, civilian and military, both government and contractor employees and a mix of professions – everything from chaplain to missile flight safety to public affairs to professional engineer to equal employment opportunity. It is the embodiment of “Team WSMR.”

For information on nomination procedures or to request an updated copy of the White Sands Hall of Fame Guide, email miriam.u.rodriguez.civ@mail.mil or call 575-678-1134 at WSMR Public Affairs. The guide contains the forms, guidelines and procedures for nomination.

To get into the HOF, a nominee must have been responsible for significant and lasting deeds or achievements during his or her career at WSMR. All former military, civilian and contractor personnel who have served at White Sands are eligible for nomination. No one currently working at the range is eligible.

Jim Eckles worked in public affairs for 30 years and is in the White Sands Missile Range Hall of Fame. Contact Eckles at nebraska1950@comcast.net.