The next day at Wall, South Dakota, we take off, in the rain mind you, to sign up to tour a missile site. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site lets you tour a missile launch facility and a missile silo. These were used during the Cold War.
While the servicemen were stationed at the launch facility, they had all the comforts of home. TV to watch, games to play, latest magazines to read, 4 meals a day, and a basketball court were some of the comforts they enjoyed.
They slept in dorm like rooms.
The cook and facility manager were the only ones that got their own room.
Two missile men would go 31 feet below to an undergound capsule. Notice that the chairs they sat in are attached to a rail system. In case of a nuclear attack, they can still roll they seats while the ground is shaking. The computer system to the left of the chair, had less memory than your hand held phone.
There are no longer active ICBM silos in South Dakota, but 500 nuclear missiles are still deployed in the upper Great Plains. The United States selected the upper Great Plains because it is out of the way for an attack and if a missile was launched, it would take only 30 minutes to reach its objective.
It takes 2 keys by 2 people to launch a missile. Also, it takes 2 more keys at a different site for all 4 people to launch the missile. Very difficult for a missile to be launched by mistake.
Security was upmost important issue at these launch sites.
We drove to a nuclear-missile silo that was about 10 miles from the launch facility.
If you look real hard through the protective covering, you can see the missile.
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