Plastic model of a launching U.S. Navy Polaris missile in five parts. Plaque on the front reads, “U.S. Navy Polaris Presented by the Polaris Missile Team  Lockheed  Aerojet-General  General Electric.” Congressman Gerald R. Ford was appointed to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Spending in 1953, and made Chairman of the Army Panel. He observed several experimental missile tests, including those for the early NIKE program. Ford became the ranking Republican on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in 1961.