What? Got a nuclear missile in your yard? Then You Must be in North Dakota!

What’s That? GOT A ICBM IN YOUR YARD? THEN YOU MUST BE FROM NORTH DAKOTA.



Did you know?

“ NORTH DAKOTA IS THE 3RD LARGEST NUCLEAR POWER IN THE WORLD.”



Last summer, while doings some RV camping and fishing in North Dakota, I came upon some old familiar sights when I got off the main highways.

Minuteman Missile Silos! ICBMs…. Inter-continental ballistic missiles

Brought back some memories for me. In case you don’t know what helps to keep us safe from nuclear attack, here’s some important history and info for you to mull over.

We are ready! Locked and Loaded…
91st Strategic Missile Wing - 740th SMS, 741st SMS, 742nd SMS
Minot, ND. Activated. One of the Air Force’s three operational missile units. The wing controls 150 Minuteman III missiles, located over an 8,500 square mile area in north central North Dakota. ACTIVE

341st Strategic Missile Wing - 10th SMS, 12th SMS, 490th SMS, 564th SMS
Malmstrom AFB, ND. Activated July 1, 1961 Now the 341st Space Wing.
150 operational silos. ACTIVE





At one time in another life long ago, I had a college summer job working for a company called American Air Filiter Systems during thefinal construction phase of the Minuteman missile silo installations. The company needed someone who knew the countryside and also one who could read blueprints and draw whatever corrections were made in the silos to those same prints. Easy enough for an architectural engineering student who grew up in the neighborhood....and somehow I passed all the security clearances required. My job entailed visiting all 450 sites in our ND area, cranking open the heavy access door, climbing down about 90 feet on a ladder, and inspecting some wiring on the environmental control systems installed by our company. Lots of hi-tech equipment down there that needed clean air. I had a clipboard sheet with me for each site to check the wire codes…red, black, yellow, blue, red, black, etc, etc…you could train a monkey for this….it was unreal and seemed way too simple with all those megatons of nuclear destruction sitting next to me. A little distracting at the time…

This was a hoot! In addition to my regular job….when the powers-that-be found out I was a goose/duck hunter, I received mucho bonus overtime pay for guiding government big shots all over God’s Country on field hunts. This was one of my first learning experiences about how our wonderful political system works in America. I got to know both North Dakota SAC HQs quite well, Grand Forks and Minot..…lots of avid hunters in the Air Force with helicopters for some quick scouting trips.



Minuteman ICBM Missiles


The Minuteman I, formally known as the SM-80, was a second generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It used solid propellants rather than liquid fuels, used on the earlier Atlas and Titan. It was smaller and easier to maintain than its predecessors and its use of solid propellants permitted it to be launched almost instantaneously. It was designed to be maintained in, and launched from, hardened underground silos where it would be virtually immune from an enemy nuclear attack

The Minuteman was the first US intercontinental ballistic missile to use solid rather than liquid fuel. It possessed all the virtues of the Titan II, and its use of solid fuel gave it two additional advantages--greater simplicity and economy. The first Minuteman flight test missile was launched in February 1961, and the first group of Minuteman missiles was turned over to the Strategic Air Command at the end of 1962. By the end of 1965, Minuteman missiles had been deployed at four bases in the north central United States, and the older, less efficient, and less economical Atlas and Titan I missiles had been retired from the active inventory.

The Minuteman, along with the Titan II, became the mainstay of the nation's strategic missile force. Together with SAC's manned bombers and the Navy's Polaris/Poseidon missile-launching submarines, these missiles formed the triad of strategic deterrent forces that were maintained on day-to-day alert to counter any hostile nuclear attack on the US or its allies.

Just as the Atlas and the Titan I had been replaced by the Titan II and the Minuteman, the original Minuteman was itself replaced by the more advanced Minuteman II and Minuteman III. The Minuteman II incorporated a new, larger second stage, improved guidance, greater range and payload capacity, and greater resistance to the effects of nuclear blasts. The Minuteman III, for its part, possessed an improved third stage, employed more penetration aids to counter anti-ballistic missile defense systems, and was equipped with up to three independently targetable warheads. By the end of 1975, 450 Minuteman II's and 550 Minuteman III's were in place and ready for operation at six bases in the north central United States.

As the Minuteman systems are decommissioned, they are being imploded and buried. Deed restrictions often limit digging into the destroyed structures.We find these sites of no retrofit use.

























This massive door is wired to a large explosive charge that will blow the door off the silo by way of the rails shown…very quickly! Something I always imagined happening while I was there! Hah…way too much imagination!


Nowadays, you can pull up, park, and walk in to view these ‘historical sites’ with ease. Not so back in the day…if you were so brave as to trespass onto any of the Minuteman silo sites, you would be looking at a gunship chopper overhead within a few minutes of setting off the detection devices surrounding each site. I know…we did it once and regretted the experience, believe me! Those guys are all business and have zero acceptance for any excuse or humor. Face down in the dirt, you don’t have much to say either!












..And in the end…it all boils down to:

Roger,
You realize that those ICBM's were only there to protect the Prairie Chickens from pesky Russian hunters.....don't you?

motoged...I know all about those Russian poachers..and found out I know nothing about Russian women...Hi there, Tasha!

I also know those 1000 ICBM silos scattered around Wing 6 of SAC give us the liberty of being who we are...and the ability to make jokes without choking on a nuclear cloud.

SAC unoffical motto

I spent 85% of my Army time in some Farmers Pasture or Backyard those were the days One higher up decided as we had too much time on our hands we should Polish those things, Our salvation was the I.G.Inspection Team. They said no no we were rubbing the Heat Resistant Paint Off of the Missile