I had posted a thread a while back about my tour inside an MCC facility and topside of a launch site.  


Growing up on SAC bases,  this topic has always been fascinating.  I had opportunities to play in and around some cool shit, B1's,  B52's,  and tons of other aircraft.  But missile infrastructure and components were way out of reach for me to see and interact with.  

So I will post some pictures that I have taken and then a video from inside a working LCC.  

Outside the wire.


Inside the wire.



ISST UHF hardened antenna.  Used for communicating with "looking glass".


PLCC HF hard antenna.  This has explosive bolts and is capable of ramming through debris and dirt.


On the backside of the building is the "soft" antennas.  

Rec room area.


Living room and hallway area



Security area.  You have to go through here to access the elevator.



Elevator from upstairs. and ladder access to the bunker area looking up from bunker atrium.



Looking through the blast door into the mechanical room. IIRC this blast door was something like 19 tons. I was allowed to move this bunker door,  Surprisingly easy to move.


In the room.  everything in here is on hydraulic suspension and is capable of moving independently of the pill.  



Looking into the MCC bunker. IIRC the blast door is 9 tons.  They allowed me to move it,  I could move this one too with ease.


Looking up and to the right upon entering the MCC pill.  The escape hatch is visible.  These were simply for show.  Filled with sand,  upon opening the hatch the hatch door will be restrained with chains to allow a controlled release of sand fill into the pill between the pill walls and the floating bunker structure.  once the chains are un-bolted this will expose a ladder to within 3 or 4 feet of the surface,  where a shovel is located so you can dig to the surface.  It is believed these tunnels are all collapsed due to the frost action in the soil over the years.  They are not maintained.  


Looking in the bunker.  Prison crapper on the right in the foreground.


Looking from the opposite end.


Looking at the far end.


Misc pics from differing angles in the bunker.















And the video of an LCC near Minot. (not mine)

Cool pics!

Malmstrom AFB attendee checking in..................................BTDT early 90's and loved my 3 on 6 off schedule..........

What happens if the second guy does not turn his key when ordered...


Joshua...Activate the WOPR

Cool.

It took 4 keys.  

And they ( in the pill ) were only a security measure.  The missiles could still be sent.

Great photos.  But big files that are slow to load on my PC.

What is the big round thing in the Security Area cabinet that looks like a woofer speaker?

Is that a currently active site?

If so, I hope the armed security folks are hiding or on break or something.  It looks kind of hard to defend . . .  and I am kind of surprised photos are allowed.

fascinating stuff... thanks for sharing

kinda depressing place to work if you ask me.... also kinda blows that as a nation we had to waste so much money on this BS too... I mean, we had to do it, but just that humanity is so insane we're required to spend many fortunes on firstclass doomsday surprise party...

That is a weapons clearing trap.  

It is a retired site.  

The security office is wood framed and not armored.

bump for an interesting topic... I dunno that alotta citizens think about the guys that are manning these things very often anymore... what with all the reality TV, social justice warfare and fake news to keep us busy..

Is this the SAC MM base near Ellsworth?  My son and I wanted to visit this during our 2012 summer trip, but I think it was like 500 miles from Minn/StP and we didn't have enough time. 

The site in the pictures is near Cooperstown ND

It is Oscar-Zero missile alert facility and November-33 is the silo site.

I'm happy to say after nearly 18 years in the Air Force Security Forces (Air Force MP's essentially) seeing this pictures was the only way I've seen an LF.  Thankfully I managed to avoid working the security side because they sure beat the retard into some of those folks.  Thanks for sharing.

loading...

Maybe it's changed, but I loved my days working at an LCF (back in the mid to late 80's).  People generally left you alone and you had 3-4 days off at a time.

You still have 56k?  

Damn...Need a 56k warning...lol

Eta: I have enjoyed been fortunate enough to tour live facility in Malmstrom...FBI background check and all .....I was enamored with the launch facility blast door ...good lord that's some heavy duty steel....they also shared with me the M1919 machine gun on hand upstairs.....I am going to Vandenberg later this year to watch a test launch hopefully

Shitty internet is the biggest thing keeping me from buying 80 acres in the boonies.

Super!  

Thanks.

Weapons clearing trap---I never thought of that.  Most I have seen were not in the middle of the room.

MindRot AFB late 80s and early 90s EMT Team checking in.  Bully, Only the Best Come North and all that jazz.

Used to work on all that shit in the capsule but spent most of my time working in the launch facilities.  

Odd seeing the shiny places on the equipment drawers without the seals.  If I remember correctly they were called PES seals.

Thanks for posting the pics and trip down memory lane OP

91st MSS here.  88 - 92.  Did a bunch of time in the Minot Fields.  In my time there I did a duty tour at every LCF and was topside at every LF at least once too.  Some BS, but mostly good memories and it put me on a path for later in life.  Thanks for the memories OP!

According to my log book, I did 15 alerts there.

Nice!

Small world.  

I lived on the GF base for about 7 years (air force brat) 81-88.  Sad seeing that base today.  When I was there there was not an open spot on the tarmac or strike line to be had.  Aircraft and helicopters everywhere!  Drills would shut down movement on the base.  It was always fun when the missiles and warheads would roll through in convoys.  The little red alert lights on all the intersections would come on and traffic would cease while those little lights were flashing,  security would be all over the base and shit got serious quick.  

Now half the housing is torn down and being replaced by town homes,  the tarmacs are empty.  I saw one KC-135 on it last weekend.  The alert pad is now a Northrup Grumman drone testing facility and ramp.  Its depressing.

I was there for three weeks over the summer on the AFROTC Third Lieutenant Program (send ROTC cadets to an active-duty base as a "see what you're getting into" trip) in 1987.  They had sent the B52s away and shut down the bomber ramp to modify it for the B1s.  Great trip and I liked the base and mission so much I put it on my dream sheet.  

Got commissioned, trained, and spent my first 5 years in the USAF there as a missileer 89-94.  My home squadron was the 446th (The Best Go North!), but I wound up pulling alerts at all 15 sites eventually.  Lived over on Hawaii St, which I still think is a cruel name for a street in North Dakota.  Especially in, say, January.

I went back in 2000 for a brief visit, yeah, the base is definitely different. The old missile wing building is gone, the bombers are gone...yeah, definitely different world now.

You don't want to see it now.  

Hawaii.  LOL  you were way up north.  All of those homes up there are gone.  IIRC we were on March,  All of those condos are gone also.

I spent many days with my father at the barracks he ran after his heart attack.  Spent many a Saturday watching cartoons,  GI Joe and Looney tunes and playing pool with the guys there.  He was in the 319th, heck I remember him taking me to work with him in the operations building when he was there,  I remember seeing the ancient type writers and teletypes... oh and the computers with the huge 12 inch floppy disks!  The secretary used to give me piles of aircraft manufacturer and air force promotional posters.  I wish I still had them,  I had hundreds of them.

My favorite was the base commander taking me away from dad some days and taking me to the strike pad to see the running Buffs (in those days they still had quad tail guns) watching the guns track targets. Into the hangars and flight line to play in b-1's,  b-52's hueys and kc-135's Into the radar rooms to learn how to track planes and weather and going with security to drive around in the armored Dodges.

I had a good early childhood.  

Okay I'm dumb in this matter but if there were red alert lights at the intersections, that would seem to indicate that this was a common occurrence?

Why would they move the missiles and warheads enough to warrant special lights at the intersections?  I would think they would be plant them and wait.

I wonder if they have to ... today .... take special precautions for the distracted drivers texting while driving.  "Oh look at me, I've reached 85 mph wooo hooo...." nuclear fissile schizzle and Omaha becomes the new northwest!

Stupid question, but why do the chairs have straps? I've seen pictures like this and it always struck me as odd. The chair is on a track so no one is pulling it out from under you, and I wouldn't think it's gonna be feet powered down that track very fast.

Sites were targeted by the Russians.  The bunkers were designed for a near direct hit.  If hit the ground will move a lot in turn making the bunker move, a lot.  The chairs are made to hold the occupant in and keep him alive long enough to retaliate.  

The bunker (pill) is 6 or so feet of concrete reinforced with enough 2 inch rebar that you'd probably have had a hard time sticking your hand through.  The bunker inside the pill is hydraulically suspended and chained to hang inside the pill.  it will jump and rock violently in the event of a hit.

Ok now it makes sense. Thank you.

Back in the day,  any time missile equipment and crews were on the move shit stopped.  

Missile container truck on the move?  shit stopped where it was.

Warhead on the move?  time stood still.

I'm sure there were other things that I cannot recall,  but.  when that little red light hanging in the intersection was flashing,  you park your car.  I seem to recall event pedestrians stopping in their tracks,  If nothing more to watch.  


I don't recall the intervals,  or frequency,  but,  yes important things moved regularly.  

Some dipshit texting and driving isn't going to be more than a splat.  Depending on what they hit they may kill and injure the occupants.  But it isn't going to set off the nukes.

The lights at the intersections were there because for the week the alert aircraft crews were standing duty, they could drive around the business part of the base while on alert. (housing area was off-limits, though.) As long as they traveled as a crew, they could go catch a movie, get a haircut, hit the Burger King, etc. (For the intramural softball games, the missile squadron's goals was not to win the league, but just to beat the bomber and tanker squadrons, because on alert, we couldn't walk 40 feet in one direction, while they could play freakin' SOFTBALL.  )

The downside was if the klaxon went off, they had to get to their planes very, very quickly...but there were other people in their way.  When the klaxon sounded, the red lights at the intersections would flash (as well as lights and klaxons at most of the major buildings, the BX, theater, gym, etc), and everyone on the roads would get out of the way, because those alert crews would redline their vehicles getting out to the alert pad.  Not unusual to see them moving 80-90mph on the base roads (normally 25) to get out there.  



As for missile & reentry system (RS) movements, remember, the base is the support facility, the missile wing is all outside the base.  The wing at Grand Forks covered an area the size of the state of New Jersey--roughly 8,000 square miles.  150 launch facilities, with regular maintenance required, means a lot of miles on the road.  And it's not really cost effective to airlift an 80,000lb missile (60K of that explosive)....

It's so in the event of a near miss,  the crew doesn't bounce around and damage the equipment.

Interesting, thanks for the reply.

I guess I'm surprised things moved frequently, I guess I always thought you built the silo and put the missile and warhead in place and left it---unless you were upgrading the technology.  I also supposed movements would be done in the dead of night.

Good question, what is the shelf life on a warhead that goes unused and what about the missile itself?  I wonder how often retools are necessary.

This is one of the northern sites in the Grand Forks complex, I want to say it was Charlie or Delta.  That's #18 rebar (2.25" nominal diameter), to be technical.

The missiles and warheads require constant maintenance.

I was young so I did not see a lot of night movement.  But they had no qualms about moving in broad daylight.  

After reading Lima's post,  I vaguely remember bomber alert crews hauling ass to the flight line a time or two.  


I loved when dad would have me at work with him on days they had MITO exercises.

Love seeing photos like this.  Thanks for posting them!

IIRC they are min 30 feet below the surface.


The cable right of ways were returned to the farmers,  those cables are worth a shit ton of money!  Like 3 grand a foot!  

Pressure sensitive and sealed so as to set off sensors to alert crews to tampering or cutting. And absolutely loaded with copper and other metals.

ICBMs are very, very maintenance intensive, for two reasons--you want it to work the first time, and you want anything associated with nuclear weapons to work perfectly (that whole "let's not have an accident with a nuke" thing).  And the site's always "on," so you've got equipment that's running 24x7x365, and needs maintenance.

So there's lots of preventative and periodic maintenance especially on generators and environmental control systems. Plus, some parts of the nuclear weapon itself requires regular replacement (tritium, neutron generators, etc).  

So between maintenance, the crews going out and back every day, and the security forces watching everything in an area the size of a medium-sized state, that's a lot of miles.  The missile wing at Malmstrom (size of WV) puts about 2.3 million miles on their vehicles every year.

Bad things happen when you try to move nukes at night.  Security's a nightmare, people are tired and make mistakes, and visibility is, necessarily, poor.

One of the interesting turns in Minuteman history was how the cable system developed.  

The 341st MW at Malmstrom AFB, MT is called Wing I. First wing built, 1962.  Also the biggest. They overestimated the size and accuracy of Soviet systems and therefore placed all the sites at least 10 nautical miles away from every other site.  

800 of the 1000 Minuteman launch facilities built used/uses a redundant cable system to communicate.  That means that each of the 165 sites (150 launch facilities and 15 launch control centers) was connected in such a way that there is at least two paths to each site.  

Given those two facts--10nm apart and redundant cable-they realized that the cable system was going to be a LOT of work, and bloody expensive.  We're talking 2,400 miles of cable at Malmstrom.  


For example, here's the schematic for FE Warren's field, the 90th Missile Wing.


Which is why Malmstrom is the only wing that big, and the others were all much smaller--they shortened the distance between to 3nm.  Saved a lot of cable--Warren only uses about 1,800 miles, Minot (with only three squadrons) uses about 1,500.

The last 200 missiles were added on a little later, and built by a different contractor (Sylvania instead of Boeing).  Sylvania was charged with coming up with a better--read, cheaper--way to communicate, and developed a cable/radio system (single cable line running through the squadron--in Oscar's example, connecting the five LCCs in the squadron in the order K-O-N-L-M with offshoots to the individual LFs off of that, with a backup medium frequency radio data link), which significantly reduced the cost and effort to communicate, and made it more survivable.  Which, of course, meant the Sylvania system was one of the first wings to be shut down during the drawdown of the 1990s.

The Grand Forks wing, and the 564th Missile Squadron at Malmstrom (northwestern most squadron), were Sylvania systems.  The MF radio rack sits right behind the deputy's chair (the one without the plastic covers over the drawers in one one of your pictures).

Cable connectivity is REALLY important--if you can't talk to the missile, you don't know what it's doing, and more importantly, what's going on out there security-wise.  The "two person concept" for control of nuclear weapons at the remote launch facilities is fulfilled  by the number of LCCs that can see status from that missile, so if no one can see it, no one's controlling it.

You must've come in just before the changeover to the 857th SPG.  I probably gave you shit at the armory window, and made you block your magazines a time or two.  Hopefully you weren't the one who came in from the field with a barrel so full of rust that I couldn't see daylight out the other end.

Thanks for the pics, OP, that certainly jogs the memories.  Watching the Deputy U.S. Marshal draw down on a car who wasn't going to stop for the missile convoy that was going through the intersection to get back on 83 at the south end of town. Major Stewart driving all the way from base to the Alpha area in a Blazer to bring us cookies and orange drink after two of our Peacekeepers slid off the road due to freezing rain, and us finally getting back to Hotel-01 at 4 in the morning after a tow truck made the slow crawl out to Alpha from base to pull us out. Commercial stops in Stanley for donuts at the local store before heading to/from India-01.  The Canadian F-18 that practically hopped his way past the hangars with his nose at about a 60 degree angle during an airshow.  Driving to Canada late one night to pick up four SP's whose car had rolled and bringing them back to base.  The SP who crispy-crittered himself after falling asleep on the UHF antenna and woke up with a lobster red sunburn.  It didn't help that he was pale skinned and had almost bleach blond hair.  Being stuck in a Peacekeeper with two sergeants arguing religion.  Ah yes, fun times!

I have seen the cable schematic for Minot and GFAFB.  There is a lot of cable.  I didn't realize Malmstrom was spread out that far!  

I knew 3nm was standard here.  


Thanks!

You're welcome.  It's my superpower--I can beat pretty much anyone at nuclear weapon system trivial pursuit.  

I have no social skills, but I know nukes.  

This post gave my iPad aids

89th MSS at Ronny's Rocket Ranch 1986-1988 checking in.

I worked for an A/E firm that designed a remodel for 306, the old SAGE building. They never completed the remodel we designed, just tore it down. But I spent a lot of time crawling around that building.  

Amazing construction. I probably got exposed to lots of asbestos, lead paint, etc. This was when the squadrons were decommissioning.

I'm sure you remember the murals up in the auditorium and main floor south hall... I wish I had taken pictures of those. Real nuke-era kitschy stuff - cool.

This is one of the most interesting threads I have read this year, very good stuff. Thanks for posting Op! Also thanks limaxray for your input.

This stuff fascinates me.

Thanks for posting.

Yep.  Though I was mainly on the 3rd and 4th floor.

I went back up to the Forks in 2000 to help tear down the two missile procedures trainers in 306.  One, complete, went to the SAC Museum outside of Lincoln, NE, and the other had parts go to the North Dakota Historical Society.  I think some of those parts went to the museum in Bismark, others went into Oscar to make it as complete as possible.  

But looking at the base only 6 years after I had left, with Bldg 306 being mostly empty (they turned my squadron offices into the drug testing shop!  ) was pretty weird.  

Somewhere I've got a bunch of pictures I took during my 2000 visit of all the artwork in the building.  May have to scan that in.  
I think some of that artwork is here.

<img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5243/5249402949_ffcde13485_b.jpg" width="1024" height="802" alt="199687pu two missiles"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>">

BTW, on some of those pictures you'll see a bunch of signatures on the wall, like the one that says "C-0 The DEEP "C"".  The tradition is that on your last alert, you'd sign the wall with the # of alerts you pulled, and maybe a "motivational" phrase or two.   ("Goodbye, Good Luck, and Good Riddance...")


My name's in one of those pictures.  

<-- Grabs bottle of Whisky, chugs......yay flashbacks...........812th SPG, then 44th...... ack........