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 Strategic Air Command facility of Little Rock Air Force Base was one of eighteen silos in the command of the 308th Strategic Missile Wing (308th SMW), specifically one of the nine silos within its 374th Strategic Missile Squadron (374th SMS), at the time of the explosion. Investigations including a congressional inquiry delved into the Damascus tragedy. 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of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. Material from the Associated Press is Copyright 2023, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Missiles were programmed with three potential targets. Today, the area is home to one of the most mind-blowing destinations in the state. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. But now, the socket fell all the way down the missile shaft66 feetbounced off the shaft mount ring, and hit the side of the missile, puncturing its eighth-inch hull. The large underground facility at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of the Titan II program. Arkansas was home to 18 Titan II ICBMs in a missile field located north of Conway. It was the same warhead that had been atop the missile during the deadly Searcy fire 15 years earlier. We spent the next 300 miles trying to shoo flies out of interior of our vehicle. "And we don't have any vacancies because there's a tournament in town," he spat. [2] The warhead landed a short distance away and no radioactive material was lost. If we hadnt been ordered off, we would have stayed, Ayala says. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. 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. Part of HuffPost Wellness. The 390th Strategic Missile Wing, headquartered at Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, was active from 1962-84 and had command of the 18 sites in Southern Arizona. The first missile silo was listed in november 2019 for $395,000, and sold for $420,000. Then it faded into relative obscurity. 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. Due to the safety features built into the warhead, it did not detonate and was recovered about 300 feet away from the explosion. Twenty years ago Kansas, Arkansas and Arizona were littered with nuclear missiles, ready to be deployed at a moment's notice. The first Titan II missile in Arkansas was installed in a silo near Searcy in 1963. Its a bit of a chilling experience. Misiles 46 views. All too soon, it was time to check out. The newly formed 308th Strategic Missile Wing oversaw the operation of 18 missile sites, manned by groups of four soldiers 24 hours a day. Titan Ranch has a little gift shop with some fun coffee mugs and t-shirts and I bought my kids t-shirts. 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. At the end of the 1950s, the United States military began developing the Titans as part of its growing supply of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The discovery follows the report earlier this month that China appears to be constructing 120 missile silos near Yumen in Gansu province. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Suddenly the flies began to land on everything and in the process they flew by the hundreds into the back of our SUV. My son was absolutely thrilled to learn how to use the tablet to control the lights in the room. It is a long and lonely route. You know you're definitely in someplace different, but we wanted to make it nice enough that you didn't think you were in a silo.". One of the workers, Airman David P. Powell, had brought a ratchet wrench 3ft (0.9m) long weighing 25lb (11kg) into the silo instead of a torque wrench, the latter having been newly mandated by Air Force regulations. "We never wanted to build rooms," Hill said, referring to the circular layout and feel to the LCC. A concussion of wind hit me like a truck, and I slid 60 feet, and every foot, it felt like I was going faster. 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. 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. Thats the idea of the Titan II. Just as they sat down on the concrete edge of the access portal, the missile exploded, blowing the 740-ton launch duct closure doors 200 feet into the air and some 600 feet northeast of the launch complex. [8][17], Jeff Plumb's account of his role in the incident was featured in a 2017 episode of WBEZ's This American Life. "Then there was the water.". The Reagan Administration decided to . "It's all illuminated. 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. KGFL, Sid Kings radio station, had a daytime-only license, but this was a big enough exception that King was on the air by 3:30 a.m., telling everyone to get the hell out of there. By 4 a.m., the studio was full of people and a flurry of activity. The missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. The missile survived the fires and was not damaged. Civilian construction workers were working in all nine levels of the launch duct, painting and flushing the hydraulic systems that operated the steel platforms beside the missile. Email him at Arktopia.td@gmail.com. [2], Kennedy, initially praised as a hero, later received an official letter of reprimand for his first entry into the complex, as it later transpired that he had disregarded an order to stay away. tercontinental ballistic missile wing, has the largest number of active fense Council (NRDC) and Hans M. Krisair force weapons. However, the missile sites represented only 3 percent of the cooperative's annual sales of $26 million, according to a . The AirBnB listing even drew the attention of a couple central Arkansas musicians, who filmed three music videos inside the facility. Rex Peters was up to get a blood pressure pill. For us, there were two, queen size beds set up for my children. The united states built many missile silos in the midwest, away from populated areas. Theres a unique history surrounding Little Rock, Arkansas that you may not know about. Air Force crews reacted quickly to the disaster, putting out fires and searching for survivors. Slumbering just beneath the earth, a silent army of nuclear warheads waited for the outbreak of armageddon during the Cold War. Kennedy went down into the silo by himself to get readings. Your email address will not be published. Many of these locations hold warheads awaiting dismantlement. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were developed in response to the Soviet Union achieving nuclear capabilities. We stopped at Rockyford, Colorado about 6 p.m. and walked into the lobby of the only motel in town. He Ended Up With A Titan Ii Missile Silo That Was Decommissioned In Spring Of 1986. 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. [18], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}352451N 922350W / 35.4141N 92.3972W / 35.4141; -92.3972. Heres what the terrifying incident was like, from those who were there. 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. The first Titan II missile in Arkansas was installed in a silo near Searcy in 1963. "You didn't know if it was going to Cuba or if it was going to Moscow," Hill said. His 4-year-old great-granddaughter held the calf in the passenger seat, trying to hug it back to . Greg Devlin and his wife, Annette, in 1980. As my stepdaughter Sarah, a rodeo girl, used to say about the distance between Rapid City and Faith, South Dakota when asked the distance, "About as far as you can drive and 20 miles more." If you would like to republish please give the photographer appropriate credit. It was used for the Gemini project, which launched men like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Jim Lovell into space in the 1960s. Find out more at KSMitchell.com. The Titan II missiles were located near three air force bases around the country: Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas and Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas. Pen & Quin: International Agents of Intrigue - The Mystery of the Painted Book is her debut novel. He saw the explosion, and he told the New York Times his first thought was, It kind of reminded me of the old days. Designed by The Twiggs Group. The aim was to bring the weapon right up to the point where it could be launched, without actually sending it off: They needed to know the missile would be ready to use in attack, if needed. "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. Meanwhile, as a countermeasure, the silo was filling with water to douse potential flames and dilute the vapor. The tanks that held the rockets fuel and oxidizers broke open, mixed, and exploded. The blast completely destroyed the silo and sent the 750-ton silo door . Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. 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. After getting the last fly out of the car, we hoped, everything went as planned. I said, We just left a bunch of dead people back there. He said Yeah, I know. We were sick about it. Each launch complex contained underground operational offices as well as living quarters for a staff of four. On Sept. 19, 1980, a silo near Damascus, Arkansas, exploded, killing one airman. Around 1 a.m. on September 19, they watched a helicopter and a bus full of people enter the base. More than 600 miles to the south, the F.E. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Lieutenant General Lloyd R. Leavitt Jr., the Vice Commander of the Strategic Air Command, commanded the effort to save the launch complex. On May 22, 1958, a crew was servicing Nike missiles at a site in Middletown, N.J. One missile exploded, starting a chain reaction that set off seven others, causing what the Associated Press . [14], In September 2013, Eric Schlosser published a book titled Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety. There was a lot of white smoke, Ayala tells Popular Mechanics, but it was hydrazine.. [2] The entire missile launch complex was destroyed. The explosion scattered debris across 400 acres of farmland. Where's this story? See. 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 . It is a long and lonely route. Why the Air Force Wants a Stealthy Tanker by 2040, Why Runaway Mines Are Detonating in the Black Sea, How This Humble Drone Shrugs Off Russian Jamming. Fortunately, the situation stabilized and the grim task of removing the bodies began. The missiles were shipped off to a base in Utah, and the silos were destroyed. 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. Today, theres still a giant hole in the ground, now overgrown and given over to wild animals. From there, we watched a video all about the missile base, the history, and the long and difficult renovation. Illustration: Ada Amer/Background image: Public Domain. The blast and thermal effects within a dozen miles or so of each of these silo's will be deadly, and the fallout radiation will . When in service, the 110-foot long, 10-foot wide Titan II missile carried the largest warhead the United States military ever placed on an ICBM. What to Know Before You Get Started, 4 Essential Tips for Applying for a Mortgage Online as an MBA Student. The first thing that makes this particular route interesting is the still active missile silos that dot the highway from Kimball to the Colorado border. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the worlds hidden wonders. One can visualize men in uniform going about their business far below the surface of the earth, manning and maintaining the silos with their guided missiles armed with nuclear warheads smack in the middle of Colorado while cattle graze peacefully just outside of the wire fences enclosing the silos. The triad, along with assigned . Dig for Fossils in Northeast Texas. Pieces of debris were taken away from the 400 acres (1.6km2) surrounding the facility, and the site was buried under a mound of gravel, soil, and small concrete debris. You don't know who you were killing. Jan 14, 2020. They realized it was way worse, not worse than we felt it would be, but probably worse than a lot of other people thought, Devlin says. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard with the Class of 1990. The first missile launch facility was located in jersey shore,. The missile could launch in 60 seconds, without the cumbersome raising and fueling procedures the Atlas and Titan I models required. regarding use of images of identifiable personnel, appearance of endorsement, and related matters. Janet Choate: An Everyday Hero of Small-Town U.S.A. Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist living near Glen Rose in rural Hot Spring County. God, help me! Delta- 09 was believed to be assigned the name "Cassandra's Missile . That night, the only clue we had that it was way past bedtime was our fatigue. Warren Air Force Base oversees ICBM fields that cover parts of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado. Whiteman Air Force Base (AFB) was headquarters for the 510th Strategic Missile Squadron of the 351st Strategic Missile Wing, consisting of 150 Minuteman II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) silos and 15 launch control facilities spread over 14 counties of west central Missouri . There are 1,000 kilotons in a megaton). locate While renovating, GT decided to put in a spiral staircase to save space and it adds to the industrial ambiance. "If we built rooms, it would kind of take away from it.". 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." 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 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 . He gave us a key to Room 20. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. Decommissioning the former missile silos included destroying the top 25 feet of each silo and the access portal and elevator to the LCC. Once clear of the silo, the second stage exploded. The 308th Strategic Missile Wing was created and operated from the base, overseeing the missiles, [], Your email address will not be published. The large master bed appears to be floating above the floor, thanks to a creatively designed cantilever. What Happens to Pilots That Defect to the U.S.? So the Titans stayed in placeand demonstrated time and again their peril. Happy #EmployeeAppreciationDay! But somethinglater determined to be an elevator malfunctionwent wrong. It never bounced into the missile.. From 1963 to 1987, crews maintained the missiles on 24-hour alert and . 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. [5], A 1988 television film, Disaster at Silo 7, is based on this event. Jackie and I set out from Rapid City to Albuquerque for two reasons. In Arkansas, three launch sites remain with both launch pads and control centers. When I needed a break from writing the series, I found myself scrolling around Nebraska and Colorado, looking for silos and . Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If a rocket could be launched into space, it could also be launched at something, and far faster than bombers could fly to targets to drop their payloads. The most common sites have been the . Livingston was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant. "It's a little weird," Hill said. This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. AddThis Utility Frame. 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. God. The Titan II entered active service with the U.S. Air Force in 1963. The unique Cold War-era relic is part of an 11-acre Kansas lot on the market for $380,000. 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. Wed been there for a while, and we were like, Send us in or send us home, Devlin recalls. A civilian crew was working throughout all nine floors of the missile silo, which plunged 150 into the ground. Two airmen were performing maintenance at Missile Complex 374-7, located 3 miles north of Damascus, the evening of September 18th. This hidden gem, a former missile silo in Vilonia, Arkansas, was designed not only to survive a nuclear explosion, but also launch a nuclear . We were joined by GT himself, who gave us an incredible tour, along with stories about the restoration effort and a few SNAFU moments during the massive project. King was part owner of KGFL-AM in Clinton, Arkansas. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. 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. The missile base I visited, Foxtrot-01, is right there on Google Maps. 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. Matthew Kroenig, a Defense Department adviser during the Trump administration, suggested in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that "the Pentagon should . The elderly man behind the counter was a dead ringer for the man lying on a gurney in the movie Young Frankenstein who Gene Wilder, Dr. Frankenstein, assaults unintentionally while instructing a group of medical students.