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Your email address will not be published. Cleaning Up America's Worst Nuclear Waste Dump, Why Russian Hybrid Warfare Failed in Ukraine, Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. NORTHERN WELD COUNTY If it weren't for the 184-foot tall antenna tower stretching far above the prairie, many . (AP) For about 10 hours in 1980, the United States faced a nuclear threat of its own making after an airman performing maintenance on a Titan II missile dropped a 9-pound socket 70 feet, ripping a hole in a fuel tank and leading to an explosion that propelled a 9-megaton warhead out of the ground. "You didn't know if it was going to Cuba or if it was going to Moscow," Hill said. We got some weird looks. Jan 14, 2020. On Aug. 9, 1965, a fire and the resulting loss of oxygen in a silo near Searcy, Arkansas, killed 53 people, most of them civilian repairmen doing maintenance on the facility. Offer subject to change without notice. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. Investigators later discovered that a welder working on level 3 had "hit a hydraulic line with his welding rod, rupturing the hose and causing the spray of hydraulic fuel to catch fire." [8][17], Jeff Plumb's account of his role in the incident was featured in a 2017 episode of WBEZ's This American Life. "Two officers would each turn a key, and 58 seconds later the Titan II would be out the door," Hill said. An official website of the United States government, 19th AW InfoSplash & Digital Bulletin Board, Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Office, https://www.dimoc.mil/resources/limitations, Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. trademark, including the use of official emblems, insignia, names and slogans), warnings You may know that theres an Air Force base there. "It's all illuminated. One of the strangest things about the master suite is the domed concrete ceiling. A WWII Bomb Has Been Found at the Fukushima Nuclear Site, Dozens of Previously Hidden Nuclear Test Videos Declassified, Uploaded to YouTube, In the 1960s, Telegraph Poles Were Equipped With Nuclear Bomb Alarms, Decades Ago, the U.S. Military Set Off a Nuke Underwater, And It Went Very Badly. Theres a real risk right now. Theres a unique history surrounding Little Rock, Arkansas that you may not know about. The missile silo near Pervomaysk is the only intact remainder of what was once an array of nuclear bases in Ukraine. This wasnt the first time; in most instances, it hit the platform. The Damascus Titan missile explosion (also called the Damascus accident) was a 1980 U.S. nuclear weapons incident involving a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). What you may not know is that at one time, there were 18 ICBM (intercontinental nuclear missile) silos surrounding the Little Rock area. There do remain some active missile silos, in montana, north dakota, and at warren air force base, which is in both colorado and wyoming. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were developed in response to the Soviet Union achieving nuclear capabilities. As was the case with the Pangburn disaster, the explosion at the Damascus launch site resulted from routine maintenance work. Active Weapons; Russia: 6,490: 4,490: United States: 6,185: 3,800: France: 300: 300: China: 290: 290: Where are the missile silos in the United States? The military continued to use Titan rockets as part of its intercontinental ballistic missile program through the 1980s, and this was not the only dramatic incident involving them. Only two men escaped the silo, both telling stories of horror. We didnt want to leave, but I understand why they wanted us to leave.. Then it faded into relative obscurity. The site was closed, and President Ronald Reagan chose to retire the Titan II missile program, announcing his decision a year after the Damascus Titan II missile explosion. Titan II rockets were adapted to use in the space program and launched the first Gemini manned missions in the early 1960s. The Titan II, on the other hand, had a longer range and could be used for defense as well as for the nations nascent space program. At around 6:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday, September 18, 1980, two airmen from a Propellant Transfer System (PTS) team were checking the pressure on the oxidizer tank of a USAF Titan II missile at Little Rock AFB's Launch Complex 374-7. After the missiles were retired, they were again used as space launchcraft until the last one was launched in 2003. Designed by The Twiggs Group. Our stay at Titan Ranch began with driving down the gravel road, leading between cow pastures, the reason for the name ranch. Cows looked back at us, munching away, while we wondered if we were headed to the right place. It takes a certain mental toughness. Lieutenant General Lloyd R. Leavitt Jr., the Vice Commander of the Strategic Air Command, commanded the effort to save the launch complex. The station called King while he was eating at sales representative Tom Phillipss home. Fortunately, its safety mechanisms prevented any loss of nuclear material. There do remain some active missile silos, in Montana, North Dakota, and at Warren Air Force Base, which is in both Colorado and Wyoming. The Damascus incident was front page news for at least a few days. By 1986 these sites were all decommissioned and destroyed. [7][8], Livingston died at the hospital, and 21 others in the immediate vicinity of the blast sustained various injuries; Kennedy struggled with respiratory issues from inhaling oxidizer but survived. "If we built rooms, it would kind of take away from it.". The weapons here in Montana are intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBMs. So every minute counted.". The Titan II ICBM Missile Silo 374-7 Site, located west of U.S. 65, 1.7 miles north of intersection with Arkansas Highway 124 near Southside in Van Buren County, is nationally significant by virtue of its unique and exceptionally important history within the Titan II program: it was the site of a September 1980 accident that severely damaged . Heres what the terrifying incident was like, from those who were there. "It's a little weird," Hill said. If you would like to republish please give the photographer appropriate credit. Frustrated, Mondale had to call Secretary of Defense Harold Brown and pull rank, saying, Goddammit, Harold, Im the vice president of the United States, to find out it was, in fact, carrying a nuclear warhead. It took a while to locate the nine-megaton nuclear warhead in the dark and gloom; it was still intact and not leaking. It was morning in America, and the Ronald Reagan administration undertook massive military spendingincluding missiles to supplant the Titan II. It is eerie to see military vehicles and military personnel going to and from these scary silos in the middle of wheat country. Fortunately, the situation stabilized and the grim task of removing the bodies began. For a one-night stay, I would recommend bringing all of your own food. Hill said he had no plans to excavate the silo in the immediate future. I said, We just left a bunch of dead people back there. He said Yeah, I know. We were sick about it. Titan Ranch, located just northeast of Conway, Arkansas, is one of these nuclear missile bases. [14], In September 2013, Eric Schlosser published a book titled Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety. It was still dark outside early the next morning when we dropped the room key in the office mailbox and boogied down the highway eager to get back to good old Rapid City. "When we designed this, it was designed for couples as a kind-of getaway space," Hill said. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. Reports in the Arkansas Gazette described the devastation: "The inside of the 155-foot-deep silo was reduced to rubble and its concrete doors which weigh 740 tons were blown to pieces. The first U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), like the Atlas and the Titan I, were cryogenically fueled, relying on substances like liquid oxygen, which had to be kept cold. Nobodys saying its from that, but nobody else in my family has a thyroid condition.. Rachel Silva, who organized the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program's history walk Sept. 12, shows a photo of a typical missile control room during a tour on the site of the 1980 missile . The likely missile field, comprising 120 silos that could potentially house weapons capable of reaching the United States mainland, was documented by researchers at the James Martin Center for . Of course, thats just as true on purpose as it is on accident. I tucked my children into the beds on the second floor, while my son picked a color for the light to stay while they fell asleep. Arkansas' missiles were manned and operated by airmen from the Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville, Arkansas, with air bases near Tucson, Arizona, and Wichita, Kansas, maintaining nearby Titan II silos there. You may also know that it was an important location during the Cold War, a difficult time in the US and World History. A far more deadly disaster struck a Titan launch site near Searcy in White County on Aug. 9, 1965, resulting in the deaths of 53 men. Since that time there have been hundreds of Atlas, Titan, Minuteman and Peacekeeper sites constructed all the way from Texas to North Dakota, New Mexico to Montana. The 18 Arkansas Titan II sites were a third of the total Titan II fleet in service from 1963 until 1984. The space has been turned into a luxury master bedroom, complete with an open concept walk-in shower, soaking tub, and enclosed toilet room. The first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) silos arrived on the Great Plains in 1959 when Atlas sites were constructed in Wyoming. Greg Devlin and his wife, Annette, in 1980. And Mondale then refused to confirm or deny when he was asked about it at the state convention. The next morning, my kids enjoyed the donuts Id brought for them and another movie on the projector. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused! More than 600 miles to the south, the F.E. The most common sites have been the . While researching what was going to be a book about warfare in space, journalist Eric Schlosser heard the story of the Damascus explosion. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. By 1960, teams at Cape Canaveral had run several successful tests of the new missiles, and a new facility, located at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, was ready to start testing out the missile under operational conditions. The missile silo itself is one of the few remaining atlas f silos that is naturally dry, with many interior levels and crib structure. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); We select one featured photo per week, but we show many more in our gallery. Phew!We decided not to drive 14 hours back to Rapid City as we did on the trip down, but to stop about half way and spend the night. We need your stories about the city's hidden corners and unusual places. The Titan II missile was the tallest ICBM used by the U.S. military. The other B-52 wing at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana has more than 900 warheads, and White-man AFB in Missouri has more than 130 bombs for its B-2 bombers. We always take Highway 71 South taking us through Kimball, Nebraska and Limon, Colorado coming out at Highway 25 at Trinidad, Colorado. And the origin of those dates back to the height of the Cold War in the 1950s and '60s, specifically the Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957. About a half-mile down the road, Sgts. Decommissioning the former missile silos included destroying the top 25 feet of each silo and the access portal and elevator to the LCC. But spend any amount of time here and you'll forget that you're underground," he said. Lately, many have been closed and the . Slumbering just beneath the earth, a silent army of nuclear warheads waited for the outbreak of armageddon during the Cold War. The Damascus missile complex was at the Southside location, indicated by the red star on the map above. Accepted file types: jpg, png, Max. Shannon Seidler, a mechanic near Garrison, North Dakota, has lived on family land housing a nuclear missile silo for his entire life. Misiles 46 views. During the next year, the other 18 missile silos in central Arkansas received ICBMs, and Jan. 1, 1964, all silos in Arkansas were active and on alert status. A civilian crew was working throughout all nine floors of the missile silo, which plunged 150 into the ground. It turned out a worker doing routine maintenance on one of the missiles had dropped a nine-pound socket. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. King was part owner of KGFL-AM in Clinton, Arkansas. The missile not only survived the explosion in 1965, it was the same missile which exploded in 1980 near Damascus. More than half of the potential arsenal is in Amarillo, Texas, at the Pantex plant, which will dismantle them. Livingston lay amid the rubble of the launch duct for some time before security personnel located and evacuated him. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Say what? President Reagan announced plans to retire the Titan II program in September 1981, only one year after the Damascus disaster. "It was designed to remain intact enough to retaliate if necessary.". The first launch complex completed was situated near Pangburn northwest of Searcy, going operational on July 31, 1962. Not that the Air Force was sharing that information. Mark Christ set the stage: "Senior Airman David Livingston and Sergeant Jeff K. Kennedy then entered the launch complex early on the morning of Sept. 19 to get readings on airborne fuel concentrations, which they found to be at their maximum. The police facilitating the movement of the population in Little Rock following the explosion at Damascus. His book Children Left Behind was awarded the Bronze Medal by Independent Book Publishers. Once clear of the silo, the second stage exploded. The blaze occurred while the 750-ton silo lid was closed, which contributed to a reduced oxygen level for the men who survived the initial fire. Basically, you crawl 10 feet and then it's a 50-foot ladder," Hill said. She has hiked the Inca Trail, walked into Panama on a rickety wooden bridge and once missed the last train of the night in Paris and walked several miles home (with friends). If you stand in the middle of the room and talk, the sounds seem strangely muffled but also echo at the same time. Rex Peters was up to get a blood pressure pill. The state is armed with 150 nuclear missile silos that form a . October 18, 2021. The missile survived the fires and was not damaged. It took about 15 minutes to load the fuel and move the Titan I into position before firingnot a great selling point when every second might count. The missiles were housed in 54 launch sites located in three states; Arkansas had 18 launch complexes located in Faulkner, Conway, White, Van Buren, and Cleburne counties. Level 3 now serves as the living room and kitchen area. The silo which housed the Gemini missile is sealed off and still remains destroyed. While these missiles were retired in 1987, the company that made them, Martin-Marietta (by then Lockheed Martin) took them back and reconditioned them for space use. The control room space sits on level two of an internal, solid steel birdcage structure. Suddenly the flies began to land on everything and in the process they flew by the hundreds into the back of our SUV. But it doesn't come cheap at $600 a night but only if you can . The steel structure needed to be able to move within the concrete silo and dome, in order to remain operational regardless of what was occurring outside. The missiles were stored in massive underground silos, which were constructed in the early 1960s and closed in the early 1980s. "Some people get a little nervous down here. The Hami missile silo field is in a much earlier . "We never wanted to build rooms," Hill said, referring to the circular layout and feel to the LCC. regarding use of images of identifiable personnel, appearance of endorsement, and related matters. Airbnb feels you, so now you can for $324 a night. The silos launch door was propelled over 600 feet from the launch complex. The missile base I visited, Foxtrot-01, is right there on Google Maps. Jackie and I set out from Rapid City to Albuquerque for two reasons. The remaining half, the author David K. Stumpf writes in Titan II: A History of the Cold War Missile Program, had launched into the air and spun 180 degrees before landing back on the ground. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. Material from the Associated Press is Copyright 2023, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "So this is purposefully, 'Hey, you're not in a missile silo.' The Titan II's earth-shattering payload was 30 times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. 7 . The silos cover, made of hundreds of tons of concrete, was half destroyed. All missiles in the silos are currently Minuteman III (LGM-30G). 5 Specifications. When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into space in 1957, it made the idea of long-range nuclear bombers obsolete. Today, theres still a giant hole in the ground, now overgrown and given over to wild animals. If the Soviets had missiles, then the Americans needed them, too. During the next year, the other 18 missile silos in central Arkansas received ICBMs, and Jan. 1, 1964, all silos in Arkansas were active and on alert status. Many of the dead were found crowded around an escape ladder. Missile nosecones from Titan IIs in Arkansas are dismantled. Senator David Pryor's office had been concerned about the safety of the Titan sites since January 1978 when a cloud of toxic vapor was accidentally released at the Damascus launch site, resulting in four hospitalizations. Created with Sketch. The first Titan II missile in Arkansas was installed in a silo near Searcy in 1963. Nuclear weapons are just ideal for that., The next nuclear bomb to go off will not be delivered by a missile. All three floors of the LCC do not actually connect to the walls and are instead suspended from the ceiling, reminiscent of a giant birdcage. USS Cyclops Is the Navys Last Missing Big Ship, Russias New Warhead Is an Engine of Destruction, How Drones and Sats Have Given Ukraine a Chance. Check out the other articles in the series: The demon core that killed two scientists, missing nuclear warheads, the bombs that fell on North Carolina, and the underground test that didnt stay that way. Theyd heard on the scanner there was something going on at Missile Complex 374-7, the Titan II Missile installation in nearby Damascus. The Pentagon plans to spend $264 billion on its next-generation ICBM program, which . Part of HuffPost Wellness. Oh yes, Jackie's checkup, despite her MS, showed her to be in excellent health. A projector turns the far wall into a giant screen for movies or events, and a raised platform creates a bar area and kitchen space overlooking the floor along the other wall. "So you work on things when you can. And around 3:05 a.m., all hell broke loose, he tells Popular Mechanics. If you saw footage from the massive explosion in Beirut this past August, King says, you saw what he saw that morning. The idea is no longer to win a nuclear war, but to prevent one from starting, Chuck Penson, who recently retired as historian for the Titan Missile Museum in Arizona, tells Popular Mechanics. Ten years ago, Hill purchased the site that Titan Ranch sits on. This hidden gem, a former missile silo in Vilonia, Arkansas, was designed not only to survive a nuclear explosion, but also launch a nuclear . But the newly constructed test facility was so badly damaged it wasnt worth salvaging. The 308th SMW was the last active titan wing, but after 23 years of continuous service, the ICBM mission at Little Rock AFB was over. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. (Kennedy died in 2011 at the age of 56.) These were giant rockets, designed to fly long distances while carrying nuclear weapons. The situation was critical. [2], At daybreak, the Air Force retrieved the warhead,[9][10] which was returned to the Pantex weapons assembly plant. Fuel vapor started to fill the silo. Will China Give Lethal Support to Russia? The missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. A piece of Cold War history is now available as an Airbnb property.. Titan Ranch, located at 23 Missile Base Road in Vilonia, Arkansas, offers renters the chance to spend a night underground in a converted intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) facility.The facility was one of 18 underground Titan II missile silos in Arkansas that helped form the backbone of the United States' nuclear . but I couldn't see him." But not before my kids donned their Star Wars Mandalorian costumes for a little photo shoot. In Arkansas, three launch sites remain with both launch pads and control centers. He called the station, and word spread. John Hooks Well, first we got to dig into how they got here in the first place. One moment, the team at the new operational test facility had been on the verge of celebrating, finally, a successful trial run of the launch sequence for the powerful Titan I missile. "We could excavate it, but if you think about it, it's like, 'Why?' Missile Site 8 in Green Valley, Arizona, is a national historic landmark and the home of the Titan Missile Museum. While the warhead inside the rocket remained in one piece, preventing a nuclear disaster, the crew working on the site did not escape without harm: One man died and more than 20 others were injured. "This whole facility was designed to shake to survive in case of war," Hill said. He was the first Native American ever inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2007. Deactivation of Arkansas' Titan II missile silos began in May 1985 and ended May 5, 1987, with the state's last missile, located near Judsonia, Arkansas, being deactivated. For a minute, it was the same deal as an A-bomb. But Peters realized it wasnt a nuclear explosion, because he had time to think. They would meet at the Air Force base in the morning and drive to the missile launch control silo to begin their work day. Unlike its predecessor, the Titan II used hypergolic propellant, with fuel and oxidizer stored in the missileat room temperatureand mixed to launch almost instantaneously. The Titan II entered active service with the U.S. Air Force in 1963. You can see the locations of all silos on the ICBM History page. By 9 p.m. the Air Force had a team on site and began evacuating personnel as well as some local residents. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of the Titan II program. The main theory is that when the vent switch was pushed, it sparked the explosion, Devlin says. Visitors to the site first descend down the 50 feet to a concrete pad, where they are greeted by the first of two 6,000-pound blast doors, one of which was kept closed at all times during the Cold War. The nearly 4,000 square-foot LCC now sleeps six comfortably and can hold as many as 70 visitors for a meeting or conference. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. [5], A 1988 television film, Disaster at Silo 7, is based on this event. Visitors actually drive over the top of the former missile silo on their way to the LCC. The high water table in Arkansas meant that without regular maintenance the bottom of the facility was prone to flood with groundwater. Air Force personnel were evacuated, and a civilian evacuation soon followed as concerns grew that the empty fuel tank could collapse and bring the rest of the rocket and missile down on top of it. A bathroom with a bathtub and a double shower helps break up the circular feel of the LCC's top floor. There were tons of movie options for children and my kids had a blast watching Paddington on the huge white walls of the silo.