DoD image must be made in compliance with guidance found at 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. Delta- 09 was believed to be assigned the name "Cassandra's Missile . 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. 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. Both areas were then filled in with concrete, scrap iron, gravel and dirt, and the property wasreturned to the previous landowners. 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. Email him at Arktopia.td@gmail.com. Required fields are marked *. Inside the super-hardened silo, meant to be protected from nuclear attacks, the team loaded the rocket with oxidizer, a key ingredient for blast-off, and sent it up to the surface. Today, theres still a giant hole in the ground, now overgrown and given over to wild animals. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. "Thank you" will n, We were so proud to be awarded New Boston's Busine, Do you have home improvements planned for this spr, Were counting down the days until the Arkansas, Congratulations to Lairie Kincaid on his well-dese, SAU Trap Team Takes Top Prize at 3rd Annual South Arkansas Outdoor Social, Farmers Bank & Trust Announces NCAA Name, Image, Likeness Student-Athletes, Farmers Bank Foundation Grants $125,000 to the Hope Public Schools, Farmers Bank & Trust to Acquire Community First Trust Company, Farmers Bank & Trust Opens New Full-Service Branch in Bryant, AR, Farmers Bank & Trust Opens New Full-Service Branch in Paris, TX, AR Governor appoints Chris Gosnell to Arkansas Economic Development Council, Prescott Donation to Benefit Families in Need, Shark Teeth in the Sulphur River? The triad, along with assigned . In southeastern Wyoming, portions of the silo field are . And Mondale then refused to confirm or deny when he was asked about it at the state convention. The demon core that killed two scientists, the underground test that didnt stay that way, One man died and more than 20 others were injured. An airman dropped a wrench socket and it fell 80 . 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. Greg Devlin and his wife, Annette, in 1980. He excavated the entrance to the LCC, opening the door to the facility in October 2010. 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. More adventurous souls can use the escape hatch to leave the facility when they check out. The second missile silo field is located 380 kilometers (240 miles) northwest of the Yumen field near the prefecture-level city of Hami in Eastern Xinjiang. The warhead was found 100 feet from the launch complex. When I needed a break from writing the series, I found myself scrolling around Nebraska and Colorado, looking for silos and . Early in the morning of Friday, September 19, a two-man PTS investigation team consisting of Senior Airman David Lee Livingston and Sergeant Jeff K. Kennedy entered the silo. By 1986 these sites were all decommissioned and destroyed. 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. On the way up, Livingston and Kennedy were told to turn an exhaust fan on. The missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. The Air Force also chose two other states to site Titan II missiles: Arizona and Kansas. It has a maximum range of 8,700 miles and a maximum speed of Mach 23 . .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Why Russian Hybrid Warfare Failed in Ukraine, Meet the E-7 Wedgetail, the Air Forces New Plane, Report: Pilot Error Ruined a $112 Million F-35 Jet. In the silo, they have a close-up view of the missile from less than ten feet away. On the night of September 18, 1980, a Titan II missile carrying a thermonuclear warhead exploded in rural Arkansas. During the mapping of the missile sites in South Dakota, Delta- 01 was assigned the name of "Mike and Beth's Launch Control Center" after Mike Sprong and Beth Preheim, peace activists that mapped the Delta Flight and directed the mapping project in South Dakota. It was dank and smelled of fresh vomit. The Titan II missile was the tallest ICBM used by the U.S. military. They were used to launch satellites into space as recently as 2003. The North Star Missile Silo was used during the height of the Cold War in the early 1960s and is up for sale, with a price tag of $989,000. I was living out of state at the time, but the disaster was covered in depth by the national press. 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. At a station that small, King couldnt afford to specialize. Pen & Quin: International Agents of Intrigue - The Mystery of the Painted Book is her debut novel. The W53 thermonuclear warhead landed about 100 feet (30m) from the launch complex's entry gate. Missile Site 8 in Green Valley, Arizona, is a national historic landmark and the home of the Titan Missile Museum. The SALT I Treaty, signed in 1972 by the U.S. and Soviet Union, allowed for the Titans to be traded for more missile submarines, but Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev wouldnt sign the treaty without assurances the trade wouldnt happen. If the Soviets had missiles, then the Americans needed them, too. The second airmen survived his injuries, while 21 others suffered injuries from the blast and following rescue operation and cleanup. If you saw footage from the massive explosion in Beirut this past August, King says, you saw what he saw that morning. After nearly being run over by the sheriff, King and Phillips jumped in their car and took off. 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. Two of the most serious disasters to plague the Titan II missile program during the Cold War occurred in Arkansas. [5] Powell later claimed that he was already below ground in his safety suit when he realized he had brought the wrong wrench, so he chose to continue rather than turn back. [2] The entire missile launch complex was destroyed. After a half hourthey could only stay in the silo that long because of their oxygen tanksthey came back up. Taxi from niagara falls ny to canada. "It was designed to remain intact enough to retaliate if necessary.". Oh yes, Jackie's checkup, despite her MS, showed her to be in excellent health. Incredible Active Missile Silos In Arkansas Ideas. The former disaster took far more lives, but the Damascus explosion posed a far greater potential threat because the missile was armed with its warhead at the time. There are only a few places in the United States where you can tour a former nuclear missile silo, but only one with luxury accommodations where you can also host a party, and its only a few hours away. The facility's master bedroom, on Level 1, features a king-sizedbed and remote controlled fireplace. 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." It's time for your real estate portfolio to go ballistic! AddThis Utility Frame. 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. How far is it from Rockyford to Limon? An eye-opening journey through the history, culture, and places of the culinary world. 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. Should the missile need to be fired in anger, launch instructions would indicate that either Target 1, Target 2, or Target 3 was in the crosshairs; the men firing the ICBMs never knew what the targets actually were. 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 . That made the trip well worth the bumps along the way. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Only in Arkansas. His 4-year-old great-granddaughter held the calf in the passenger seat, trying to hug it back to . file size: 5 MB. Once through the blast doors, visitors enter Level 2, which is the former operations center where the officers would initiate the order to launch the ICBM. "People who stay here do so willingly, and they have a blast.". The missile was not armed at the time. We didnt want to leave, but I understand why they wanted us to leave.. 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. "Every bullet and bomb used in World War II including the two atomic bombs was only half the yield of what a Titan II was capable of," said Titan Ranch owner GT Hill, who doubles as the facility's historian and tour guide. The chances of all this happening were so remote, David Stumpf, the author of .css-3wjtm9{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#1c6a65;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-3wjtm9:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program, tells Popular Mechanics. If you stand in the middle of the room and talk, the sounds seem strangely muffled but also echo at the same time. View of the nose of a Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile sitting in its 150-foot deep underground launch pad at McConnell Air Force Base near Wichita, Kansas, circa 1965. "That's one of the very few things about the Titan IIs that remain classified," he said. It was morning in America, and the Ronald Reagan administration undertook massive military spendingincluding missiles to supplant the Titan II. 40 Years Ago, We Almost Blew Up Arkansas. In 1965, a civilian welder working on upgrades in an Arkansas silo accidentally hit a hydraulic line, causing a fire that killed 53 of the 55 workers there that day. [14], In September 2013, Eric Schlosser published a book titled Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety. Itll be in a port in a shipping container or something like that.. The space has been turned into a luxury master bedroom, complete with an open concept walk-in shower, soaking tub, and enclosed toilet room. Possibly a fuel leak. The blast completely destroyed the silo and sent the 750-ton silo door . 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. While the Polaris, a solid-fuel missile, was developed at the same time as the Titan missiles for use in submarines, the military was attached to the Titan II for diplomatic reasons. At about 1 p.m. the launch duct was suddenly filled with intense heat and billowing smoke." You may know that theres an Air Force base there. A civilian crew was working throughout all nine floors of the missile silo, which plunged 150 into the ground. From there, we watched a video all about the missile base, the history, and the long and difficult renovation. 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. "And we don't have any vacancies because there's a tournament in town," he spat. They were given codes on paper, to be confirmed by the crew in place for a changeover, and the paper was burned. But the investigative crew was in a holding position for a while, and finally, around 1 a.m., Devlin and Hukle went into the silo. Titan Ranch, located just northeast of Conway, Arkansas, is one of these nuclear missile bases. 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. trademark, including the use of official emblems, insignia, names and slogans), warnings All that was left to do was return the missile back to its silo and remove the dangerous oxidizer. What Happens When a Giant Nuclear Missile Accidentally Falls Back Into Its Silo. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard with the Class of 1990. Answer (1 of 19): Used to be in the middle of the countrywhere they were safer from sneak attacks. This isnt ancient history, Schlosser, who wrote Command and Control, the seminal book about the Damascus incident and the history of nuclear weapons in America, tells Popular Mechanics. We were so used to it that it didnt scare us.. (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. The newly formed 308th Strategic Missile Wing oversaw the operation of 18 missile sites, manned by groups of four soldiers 24 hours a day. The missile silo itself is one of the few remaining atlas f silos that is naturally dry, with many interior levels and crib structure. Each launch complex contained underground operational offices as well as living quarters for a staff of four. What you may not know is that at one time, there were 18 ICBM (intercontinental nuclear missile) silos surrounding the Little Rock area. In April 2018, Atlas Obscura told the stories of five nuclear accidents that burst into public view. 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. Out of 55 workers, only two survived. "Basically, what your smart phone can do today, the bottom floor of the launch control center did back then," Hill said. This wasnt the first time; in most instances, it hit the platform. You have to try it to see what I mean. 2023 Farmers Bank & Trust. He Ended Up With A Titan Ii Missile Silo That Was Decommissioned In Spring Of 1986. On September 19, 1980, a second tragedy struck the 308th Strategic Missile Wing. Fortunately, the situation stabilized and the grim task of removing the bodies began. After finally reaching Limon we discovered that two of the three motels in town had shut down and the only one open, the KS Motel, was it. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. Titan II was developed as much for use in space flight as it was for an ICBM, Stumpf says. silo: [noun] a trench, pit, or especially a tall cylinder (as of wood or concrete) usually sealed to exclude air and used for making and storing silage. Designed by The Twiggs Group. But the site King and Phillips were driving to in their company Dodge Omni was worse. The elevator structure and the launchertons and tons of steel that one witness later likened to red spaghetticame flying from the silo as the test team ran for cover. The incident occurred on September 18-19, 1980, at Missile Complex 374-7 in rural Arkansas when a U.S. Air Force LGM-25C Titan II ICBM loaded with a 9-megaton W-53 nuclear warhead experienced a liquid fuel explosion . The Hami missile silo field is in a much earlier . The film was broadcast by PBS as part of its American Experience series. I enjoyed a cup of coffee in the master suite thanks to the in-room coffee bar and read a few more chapters. The silos launch door was propelled over 600 feet from the launch complex. Many were built in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The missile sites in Arkansas fanned out from the base into Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Van Buren and White counties. President Reagan announced plans to retire the Titan II program in September 1981, only one year after the Damascus disaster. "You didn't know if it was going to Cuba or if it was going to Moscow," Hill said. 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. He's the author of two books, and his byline has appeared in Deadspin, Jalopnik, CityLab and POLITICO, among other places. During the Cold War, Arkansas played a role in the protection of the nation by housing a series of intercontinental ballistic missiles across otherwise peaceful farmland. Locked into a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, the United States developed the Titan II rocket system in the 1960s to be the nation'sfirst missile that could be launched from an underground silo. Investigations including a congressional inquiry delved into the Damascus tragedy. Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is the editor and publisher of Native Sun News. In the early morning hours of September 19th, two airmen entered the complex to measure the airborne fuel concentration. 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. When the socket fell, it plunged 70 feet to pierce the side of the . Titan Ranch is located in Vilonia, Arkansas, just northeast of Conway. Where's this story? That's how far it is from Rockyford to Limon. We spent the next 300 miles trying to shoo flies out of interior of our vehicle. A look inside Level 2 of the Titan Ranch in Vilonia, a decommissioned Titan II nuclear missile facility, featuring two-queen sized beds and a spiral staircase. 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. We met with Nick, one of the current hosts, who led us down the steps into the bunker. Owen Sims, a cattle farmer, says he is breathing easier now that the last Titan 2 nuclear missile silo, situated over a ridge less than 2,000 feet from his home, has been dismantled. A concussion of wind hit me like a truck, and I slid 60 feet, and every foot, it felt like I was going faster. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. 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. We need your stories about the city's hidden corners and unusual places. This was the first missile site to become operational in Arkansas in 1963. Lieutenant General Lloyd R. Leavitt Jr., the Vice Commander of the Strategic Air Command, commanded the effort to save the launch complex. The rental space is inside what was once the crew quarters and missile launch control center. It turned out a worker doing routine maintenance on one of the missiles had dropped a nine-pound socket. The first missile launch facility was located in jersey shore,. tercontinental ballistic missile wing, has the largest number of active fense Council (NRDC) and Hans M. Krisair force weapons. Visitors actually drive over the top of the former missile silo on their way to the LCC. The two airmen had just left the missile silo to await further orders when the rocket exploded at 3 a.m. 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. The control room space sits on level two of an internal, solid steel birdcage structure. Unsettling as that history may be, its worth it just to say you did it. Say what? Soviet Ukraine held around one-third of the U.S.S.R.'s nuclear arsenal, most of . 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. It was time-consuming and costly, but thanks to GTs determination to recover and preserve some history, you can experience it firsthand by touring or staying the night at Titan Ranch. Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, National Register of Historic Places listings in Van Buren County, Arkansas, "Titan II Missile Explosion (1980) Encyclopedia of Arkansas", "Missile silo blast kills 1, hurts 21; no radiation leak", "Colonel Replaced in Action Linked to Fatal Titan Explosion", "Command and Control American Experience WGBH PBS", "Air Force truck removes damaged warhead", "Titan warhead flown to nuclear arms plant", "Season 4, Episode 4 Nuke Kids on the Block", "The night we almost lost Arkansas a 1980 nuclear Armageddon that almost was", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_explosion&oldid=1137032445, National Register of Historic Places in Van Buren County, Arkansas, September 1980 events in the United States, Nuclear accidents and incidents in the United States, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 2 February 2023, at 12:19. Sid King had just sat down to dinner on September 18, 1980 when he got the call. First Security Bank, Member FDIC. At about 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18, 1980, an airman working on the missile dropped a wrench socket, which fell 80 feet before hitting and piercing the rocket's first-stage fuel tank, causing a leak, but not an immediate explosion. NORTHERN WELD COUNTY If it weren't for the 184-foot tall antenna tower stretching far above the prairie, many . Ed's daughter-in-law drove the pickup truck past the missile silo and out toward the cow pasture. The following is a list of active missiles of the United States military. The Air Force decided to take measures to improve security within the launch complexes. The man behind the counter actually looked like a street person, a homeless man. These missiles had a range of 5,500 miles, but they required a high level of upkeep. An airman dropped a wrench socket and it fell 80 feet and pierced the thin skin of the rockets first stage fuel tank. The most common sites have been the . Livingston was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant. When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into space in 1957, it made the idea of long-range nuclear bombers obsolete. These sites stayed active until President George H.W. The missiles were shipped off to a base in Utah, and the silos were destroyed. Air Force crews reacted quickly to the disaster, putting out fires and searching for survivors. God. But we dealt with hydrazine [the fuel] and nitrogen tetroxide [the oxidizer] every day. Then we realized what it was and started grabbing for masks.. "From a weapon of mass destruction to hosting birthday parties and weddings, that's pretty wild ride," Hill said. They were Titan II missile silos that housed nuclear weapons on a Gemini rocket, designed to be launched into space in under one minute. It is eerie to see military vehicles and military personnel going to and from these scary silos in the middle of wheat country. The nosecone from the Judsonia site sits atop a time capsule that will be opened Aug. 17, 2037. The Titan II missile program was terminated by the Reagan administration, but memories still burn brightly among many Arkansans. At about 3 a.m., the two men returned to the surface to await further instructions. From 1963 to 1987, crews maintained the missiles on 24-hour alert and . Construction on the Minuteman II structures began in 1946. The missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. Six Young Women of Color Making a Difference in Arkansas, Crystal Bridges 2023 Exhibitions Unveiled, Things To Do In Independence and Stone Counties, KOKY: The Peoples Station in Little Rock, This Month in Arkansas History: September | Only In Arkansas, Military Bases in Arkansas - Only In Arkansas. Perhaps most famously, as the investigative journalist Eric Schlosser recounts in his book Command and Control . A total of 54 Titan II missiles, capable of going from launch to a target 8,000 miles away in about half an hour, were installed in Arizona, Kansas, and Arkansas. Crews of four men would work 24-hour shifts, followed by 24 hours off. My son was absolutely thrilled to learn how to use the tablet to control the lights in the room. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). Level 3 now serves as the living room and kitchen area. Winner will be selected at random on 04/01/2023. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. [1][15][16] A documentary film titled Command and Control from director Robert Kenner, based on Schlosser's book, was released on January 10, 2017. Despite the criticism, the U.S. appears to be committed to the idea of a nuclear sponge in those five states. This left the powerful nuclear warheads exposed to attack. GT has renovated the second level to be a multipurpose space, complete with projectors, a sound system, party lights, multiple whiteboards, and tables and chairs if needed. Sequential photographs showing the launching of the Titan II ICBM weapon firing from underground silos, circa 1965. The first launch complex completed was situated near Pangburn northwest of Searcy, going operational on July 31, 1962. Thats the idea of the Titan II. The land is now under private ownership. You don't know who you were killing. Its worth it, I promise. You may also know that it was an important location during the Cold War, a difficult time in the US and World History. 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. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Part of HuffPost Wellness. Eric Ayala was topside, at ground level near the silo. Livingston died of his injuries [later] that day." Level 3 also contains the facility's emergency escape tunnel and ladder. The AirBnB listing even drew the attention of a couple central Arkansas musicians, who filmed three music videos inside the facility. 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. I retreated upstairs to enjoy the incredible shower in the master suite and stayed up entirely too late reading a book in bed. A 1961 decommissioned Atlas-F intercontinental ballistic missile silo complex is for sale. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The team started running the procedure for readying the missile for liftoff. [1] It focused on the explosion, as well as other Broken Arrow incidents during the Cold War. 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. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the worlds hidden wonders. From 1963 to 1987, crews maintained the missiles on 24-hour alert and were ready to initiate launch within minutes after receipt of authenticated orders from the National Command Authorities. More than half of the potential arsenal is in Amarillo, Texas, at the Pantex plant, which will dismantle them. Matthew Kroenig, a Defense Department adviser during the Trump administration, suggested in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that "the Pentagon should .
Which Of The Following Individuals Can Access Classified Data, Articles A