"View Down The Muzzle of the Silo" by NPS Photo , public domain
Minuteman MissileBrochure |
Official Brochure of Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (NHS) in South Dakota. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
featured in
National Parks Pocket Maps |
Minuteman Missile
Minuteman Missile
National Historic Site
South Dakota
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear
weapons is to make sure they will never be used.
President Ronald Reagan
When Gene Williams was growing up in the 1960s, he knew
that his family’s farm held a dangerous weapon—a nuclear
missile that could reach the Soviet Union. ”You were always
aware of the fact that the awesome power that was there
could end the world,” he recalls.
The missile was one of hundreds of Minuteman missiles hidden beneath the sunflowers and wheat, the cows and corn of
America’s Great Plains during the Cold War. Minuteman Missile
National Historic Site commemorates this perilous period of
world history and explores the choices a nation faces.
NICOLLE R. FULLER, SAYO-ART LLC
launch control
Air supply
Blast door
Commander’s
console
Deputy commander’s
console
An unmarked building encircled
by a tall fence gave little hint
this was a LAUNCH CONTROL
FACILITY. Above ground,
security guards and other staff
worked, stood watch, relaxed,
and rested. Below ground, two
US Air Force officers were always
ready to launch nuclear missiles. All
they needed was the command
from the US president.
missile silo
Nuclear warhead
At the LAUNCH FACILITY a few miles away,
a nuclear missile waited in a silo. Its solid fuel
was stable enough to last decades while still
making the missile able to launch in minutes.
The tall motion sensor would alert Launch
Control of intruders. The cone-shaped antenna
communicated with airborne control centers.
If the command came from Launch Control, the
90-ton silo cover would slide out of the way
and the Minuteman missile would blast off to
a target thousands of miles around the Earth.
Guidance computer
Missile
The Missileers Who Work the Shifts
Two people worked 24-hour shifts in a
control center that was designed to
protect them from a nuclear blast. It
was inside a capsule made of fourfoot-thick concrete reinforced with
three-inch-thick steel bars, and was
suspended from shock absorbers. The
crew had survival gear to last two
weeks, and an escape hatch in the
event of disaster. What kind of world
would have awaited them?
Each launch facility had
10 missiles to control.
The missiles were about 3
miles apart, grouped
around the launch control
facility.
Missile technicians drove more
than 60 miles from Ellsworth Air
Force Base to maintain the missile.
While the technicians worked,
armed guards watched over them
and the security of the facility.
Suspension system
Those Who Maintain
Those Who Deliver
RIGHT—© NPS / WILDERMAN COLLECTION; BELOW—LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Rural roads were specially
maintained for the massive
truck and trailer delivering
a missile. This ”transporter
It was a ”MAD” World
From the 1960s to the 1990s, the United States
and Soviet Union followed a strategy called
MAD, or MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION.
Neither side would risk launching an attack
because the other side would launch an
equally destructive counterattack.
What Does an Arms Race Look Like?
”Little Boy,” a World War II era atomic bomb,
could have destroyed the center of Washington,
DC. One Minuteman missile could have taken
out most of the city plus adjacent cities and
towns. If that happened today, at least one
million people would die.
80 =1
One Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima
80 Little Boys =
1 Minuteman Missile ll
totalling 1.2 megatons of TNT
=
Minuteman ll Missile
Burst radius
Little Boy
Hiroshima, Japan
10
Each FLIGHT had 10 missiles.
erector” could erect the
container over the silo and
lower the missile into place.
LEFT AND ABOVE—LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Those They Protect
People heard about ”civil defense”
from radio, TV, films, magazines,
newspapers, and booklets. They
learned how to build and stock a
private bomb shelter or where to
find a community shelter. And they
hoped to never need one.
Children practiced “duck and cover�
in school drills.
STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA
With 1,000 Minuteman missiles ready (below),
the United States was ready to strike back if
the Soviet Union struck first. But how many
Americans would have already died? In the
map at far right, each circle equals one missile
strike, which would create a crater 200 feet
deep and 1,000 feet wide. One such strike
could kill as many as two million people,
including people in civil defense shelters.
Imagine how many would die if 100 missiles
struck at once along the US East Coast.
150
1,000
One WING had at least 3 squadrons and 150 missiles.
Six WINGS had a total of 1,000 missiles.
In a Minute’s Notice
Minute Man—A member of the 1770s colonial militia
trained to respond in a minute’s notice of an attack.
In the councils of government, we must guard
against the acquisition of unwarranted influence,
whether sought or unsought, by the military
industrial complex.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
In an all-out nuclear war, more destructive
power than in all of World War II would be
unleashed every second during the long afternoon it would take for all the missiles and
bombs to fall.
Mankind must put an end to war—
or war will put an end to mankind.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Minuteman—A nuclear missile that a missileer can
launch with less than a minute’s notice.
Jimmy Carter
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
John F. Kennedy
JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL
LIBRARY & MUSEUM
Truman
1945–53
Stalin
1922–53
Eisenhower
Kennedy Johnson
1953–61
Malenkov
1953–55
1961–63
Kruschchev
1955–64
Nixon
1963–69
1969–74
Ford
1974–1977
Carter
1977–81
Brezhnev
1964–82
Reagan
GHW Bush Clinton
1981–89
1989–93
Andropov
1982–84
GW Bush
1993–2001
Obama
2001–09
2009–17
Trump
2017–
Gorbachev
1985–91
Chernenko
1984–85
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
ICBMs (intercontinental
ballistic missiles) in place in
the United States
ATLAS
TITAN l
Timeline ends mid-2018.
TI TAN l l
PEACEKEEPER
M I NU TEM AN
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
• Top-secret Manhattan Project
develops a US atomic bomb.
• “Duck and cover” drills and
backyard bomb shelters become
common.
• Eastern Germany builds the
Berlin Wall.
• Strategic arms limitation talks
(SALT) lead to the Antiballistic
Missile Treaty, which further limits
nuclear weapons.
• South Dakota rancher hosts 10day rally against nuclear weapons.
• Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
(START I) is signed.
• US and Russia renew the START
treaty.
• Iran signs agreement that limits
its ability to build nuclear weapons.
• 1 million people demonstrate in
New York City to support disarming
nuclear weapons.
• USSR dissolves and Cold War ends.
• US withdraws from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty.
• US and Russia complete START
treaty requirements. 50 Minuteman
III missiles removed, leaving 400
beneath the Great Plains. (None are
in South Dakota.)
• World War II ends after US drops
two atomic bombs on Japan.
• Tensions between US and USSR
escalate.
• The Cold War gets a name.
• Soviet Union launches Sputnik, a
small satellite, using a rocket powerful enough to carry a nuclear
warhead into the United States.
• US and Soviet Union develop
more destructive thermonuclear
weapons.
• Titan I and Atlas missiles placed in
1959.
• USSR brings missiles to Cuba; US
prepares to launch Minuteman
missiles.
• Titan II missiles in place.
• 1,000 Minuteman missiles in silos
beneath the Great Plains.
• Missiles in South Dakota
upgraded to Minuteman II.
• Minuteman III installed in some
missile fields.
• Peacekeeper missiles developed;
each can carry 10 nuclear warheads.
• Mikail Gorbachev comes to power
in the USSR.
• 189 countries sign nuclear
nonproliferation treaty.
• India and Pakistan test nuclear
weapons.
• Last Minuteman II missile launch
facility deactivated.
• North Korea tests nuclear
weapons.
• Minuteman Missile National
Historic Site established.
• Berlin Wall comes down.
• North Korea continues testing
nuclear weapons and missiles.
• At least 8 other countries have
nuclear weapons of some type.
Living with Missiles
We would always go out to the missile silos and . . .
listen to the machinery that’s humming . . . and it just
reminded me of Darth Vader.
A test launch of a Minuteman III
missile from Vandenberg Air Force
Base, California, in 2016.
© BRIAN WEBB
—Lindi Kirkbride, rancher in Wyoming and antinuclear activist
It was kind of like this macho competition, but it was never
like complete hatred.
—Valeri Bochkov, artist and writer who grew up in Russia during the Cold War
You had a bathroom at the end that looked like something
out of Alcatraz [prison] . . . and the bed was right there.
There is really no changing area. . . . no privacy whatsoever in a Minuteman capsule.
—Linda Aldrich, missileer 1982–98
That’s what the nuclear forces have done is created that
environment where there generally has been peace at the
highest levels, and that’s what we continue to do today.
—Tucker Fagan, missileer 1968–73
The best type of war to have is one that you never have to
fight, and this is one case where we fought a war and we
never actually fired a weapon in anger.
—Gene Williams, who had Delta-06, a Minuteman launch facility, on his ranch
Planning Your Visit
The park’s three sites are along I-90 between Badlands
National Park and Wall, South Dakota. Begin at the
visitor center, located north of I-90 exit 131. A film
and exhibits explore the Cold War.
The Delta-01 Launch Control Facility is open only
during ranger-led tours. Fee; reservations required.
Go to the park website or call the park. • Delta-09,
the missile silo site, is open daily; exhibits explain the
site, you can look down into the silo. • Parking and
facilities are limited at both sites.
IGPO:2019—407-308/82428 New in 2018
Printed on recycled paper.
Safety and Regulations The launch control facility
tour is limited to six persons. It requires a ride in a
small elevator; visitors must also be able to climb two
long ladders. • Be prepared for sudden changes in
weather and road conditions. • Check the park website for firearms regulations.
Minuteman Missile
National Historic Site
24545 Cottonwood Rd.; Philip, SD 57567
605-433-5552; www.nps.gov/mimi
Accessibility We strive to make our facilities, services,
and programs accessible to all. For information go to
the visitor center, call, or check our website.
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is
one of over 400 parks in the National Park
System. To learn more about parks and
National Park Service programs in America’s
communities, please visit www.nps.gov.
Emergencies call 911
Follow us on social media.
You might also want to visit the South
Dakota Air and Space Museum at
Ellsworth Air Force Base. It has a launch
control simulator and a Minuteman II
missile. The base tour includes an
opportunity to go inside a missile silo.
The base is outside Rapid City. Go to
www.sdairandspacemuseum.com or call
605-385-5189 or 605-385-5188.