![]() “They would release an electronic lock on the door and I’d pass into the entrapment area – really just a flight of stairs with a door at the top and bottom where I’d phone again with the entry code of the day. “Only about 10% of it is visible at the surface, the rest is underground.”Īfter descending the first flight of stairs, Morris would phone the control centre again. ![]() “A Titan 2 missile site is a lot like an iceberg,” says Morris. On the surface there is little to see behind the barbed-wire fence except a few low metal structures, the concrete launch doors, aerials and a staircase that disappears into the ground. The dusty slopes are dotted with cactus plants and there are signs warning of the danger of rattlesnakes. Half-a-mile or so from the main highway south to Mexico, the silo lies beneath a low mound surrounded by desert. There are a total of 450 silo's in the United States as per officially supplied information spread out among three main areas in the United States: around Malmstrom AFB near Great Falls Montana, around Warren AFB near Cheyenne Wyoming, and around Minot AFB near Minot North Dakota. “That doesn’t mean,” she adds, “things can’t change in the blink of an eye, but in order to be effective at your job you have to let the possibility of Armageddon sit at the back of your brain.” “We were given excellent security briefings and so most days when I was driving out to the missile site, I was able to say to myself ‘today’s probably not going to be the day’.” “I have to tell you, I slept better when I was on crew than I did today,” says Morris. It was a snapshot of the state of the world. The abandoned Nike Nuclear Missile Site S-13/14 outside of Seattle is such a place. Please respect private property and observe these sites from the road. The remainder of these sites are privately owned. The Delta-09 silo and Delta-01 launch control facility are preserved as a part of Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and may be viewed in their historic state. “If we didn’t make it in three minutes, the crew underground assumes there is some sort of security situation topside.”Ĭrews came on duty for 24-hour shifts, or alerts, and began the day with a top secret security briefing at nearby Davis-Monthan airbase. Former Silo Locations in Central South Dakota. ![]() “The three minutes to get to the silo is a built in security protocol,” Morris explains. Time stopped here in 1982, preserving the site – complete with decommissioned missile – as a chilling reminder of Cold War preparations for the end of the world. The bases in Cuyahoga County were located at: ROCKY RIVER-FAIRVIEW PARK (launch base near the WESTLAKE. Today, only one silo remains – preserved as the Titan Missile Museum, a national monument with Morris as director. Their location meant this would have been a prime Soviet target. When I needed a break from writing the series, I found myself scrolling around Nebraska and Colorado, looking for silos and. The silos are 60 years old and require periodic. The missile base I visited, Foxtrot-01, is right there on Google Maps. It is a short drive from the Interstate to the silo. From the early 1960s to the mid-80s, the city of Tucson was circled by 18 Titan 2 nuclear missile silos. The Delta-09 site is open daily from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, subject to change.
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