The missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. All rights reserved. At a station that small, King couldnt afford to specialize. You may know that theres an Air Force base there. The silos cover, made of hundreds of tons of concrete, was half destroyed. 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.". It is a long and lonely route. Of course the flies didn't swarm on us until we opened the tailgate and started to prepare our lunch. 40 Years Ago, We Almost Blew Up Arkansas. Feeling very unwelcome we decided to try reaching Limon, Colorado, before dark. 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. 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. What Happens to Pilots That Defect to the U.S.? Kennedy went down into the silo by himself to get readings. By the evening of December 3, 1960, eight tests had already failed because of minor equipment malfunctions, Stumpf writes. The complexes were grouped together in missile fields. From Level 2, visitors may climb a spiral staircase to Level 1which previously served as the crew's sleeping quarters and kitchen or descend to Level 3, which housed the communication equipment that kept the facility connected to the larger world. Be sure to fill out all the fields in order to have yours selected. "TheThree Side" 373-1: 373-3: 373-2 . Eighteen were in Arkansas, from which intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying nine-megaton nuclear warheads could be launched to strike targets as far as 5,500 miles away. trademark, including the use of official emblems, insignia, names and slogans), warnings That made the trip well worth the bumps along the way. The first missile silo was listed in november 2019 for $395,000, and sold for $420,000. "So you work on things when you can. 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. In April 2018, Atlas Obscura told the stories of five nuclear accidents that burst into public view. 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. We spent the next 300 miles trying to shoo flies out of interior of our vehicle. [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. [8][17], Jeff Plumb's account of his role in the incident was featured in a 2017 episode of WBEZ's This American Life. An airman dropped a wrench socket and it fell 80 feet and pierced the thin skin of the rockets first stage fuel tank. Entering the next space, where the computers and control units would have been, you can still see the places on the floor where the desks with the key slots sat when it was an active site. The rental space is inside what was once the crew quarters and missile launch control center. [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. Walking across the gangplank feels something like a sci-fi movie, and my childrens insistence on bringing Star Wars costumes was rather apropos. Ayala said Livingston, a native of Heath, a small town in central Ohio, would let him use his ham radio to talk to people in his hometown in the Bronx. I was living out of state at the time, but the disaster was covered in depth by the national press. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the worlds hidden wonders. The state is armed with 150 nuclear missile silos that form a . Senior Airman David Livingston, one of the two airmen on the scene, died from injuries sustained during the explosion. By 1986 these sites were all decommissioned and destroyed. We backed out of the room quickly and asked for another room. Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist living near Glen Rose in rural Hot Spring County. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. Titan Ranch has a little gift shop with some fun coffee mugs and t-shirts and I bought my kids t-shirts. Crews of four men would work 24-hour shifts, followed by 24 hours off. Had the Cold War ever turned hot, it was capable of being launched in one minute and could deliverits 9 megaton warhead to a target 9,000 miles away. That's how far it is from Rockyford to Limon. We always take Highway 71 South taking us through Kimball, Nebraska and Limon, Colorado coming out at Highway 25 at Trinidad, Colorado. "If we built rooms, it would kind of take away from it.". 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 missile silo during the Cold War is now a popular, and high-rated, short-term vacation rental near Roswell, New Mexico. Now she writes adventures to send her characters on journeys, too. And Mondale then refused to confirm or deny when he was asked about it at the state convention. Since it was very hot outside I asked this cadaver of a man, "What's the temperature." The second airmen survived his injuries, while 21 others suffered injuries from the blast and following rescue operation and cleanup. Bottom: Damascus after the explosion. These were giant rockets, designed to fly long distances while carrying nuclear weapons. Created with Sketch. 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." Part of HuffPost Wellness. 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. The film was broadcast by PBS as part of its American Experience series. The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs is famous across the state and [] Titan II was a nuclear-tipped missile, also known as an intercontinental ballistic missile, designed to [], [] the early 1960s, the Air Force built 18 Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Silos in Arkansas. Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? Devlin, now retired in Florida and a childrens book author, says he has osteoporosis and believes the hydrazine he inhaled caused it. It was morning in America, and the Ronald Reagan administration undertook massive military spendingincluding missiles to supplant the Titan II. Airmen Jeffrey Plumb and David Powell were in the silo working on the missile. 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. The discovery of what appear to be hundreds of new missile silos under construction in China has inspired arguments that imply the United States needs more nuclear weapons. locate "There was metal debris, concrete, all sorts of stuff we had to pull out," he said. "We could excavate it, but if you think about it, it's like, 'Why?' The nitrogen tetroxide is kept in a second tank in the rocket's first stage, directly above the fuel tank and below the second stage and its nine-megaton W-53 nuclear warhead. Driving up to the ranch, you would never guess that youre headed to an underground missile silo. The newly formed 308th Strategic Missile Wing oversaw the operation of 18 missile sites, manned by groups of four soldiers 24 hours a day. On September 19, 1980, a second tragedy struck the 308th Strategic Missile Wing. Robert Rhodus, the test conductor for the company that had built the missile, watched in fascination as the elevator, carrying a missile fully loaded with propellants, plummeted to the bottom of the silo, Stumpf writes. "It's a little weird," Hill said. Miraculously, only one person died: Livingston, in a local hospital the day after the explosion of pulmonary edema, sometimes called dry drowning. "Two officers would each turn a key, and 58 seconds later the Titan II would be out the door," Hill said. Fortunately, its safety mechanisms prevented any loss of nuclear material. The entire motel was quite ramshackled and we entered number 20 with trepidation. 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 Titan II missile was the tallest ICBM used by the U.S. military. 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. 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. He was also the station manager and news reporter. See. The incident began with a fuel leak at 6:30 p.m. on September 18, and culminated with the explosion at around 3:00 a.m. on September 19, ejecting the warhead from its silo. Fueled and ready to go 24 hours a day, Titan IIs could be ready to go at a moment's notice. Using decades-old U.S. Air Force training footage, re-enactments and drone . More than half of the potential arsenal is in Amarillo, Texas, at the Pantex plant, which will dismantle them. But not before my kids donned their Star Wars Mandalorian costumes for a little photo shoot. Titan Ranch is located in Vilonia, Arkansas, just northeast of Conway. They were given codes on paper, to be confirmed by the crew in place for a changeover, and the paper was burned. The control room space sits on level two of an internal, solid steel birdcage structure. Accepted file types: jpg, png, Max. 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 . This released a cloud of noxious gas, leaving a few people sick and eager to file lawsuits. Each of the mammoth doors can withstand 1,000 psi of pressure, Hill said. 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. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of the Titan II program. 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. After the missiles were retired, they were again used as space launchcraft until the last one was launched in 2003. "And we don't have any vacancies because there's a tournament in town," he spat. It was the loudest explosion Id ever heard in my lifebefore or since, Devlin says. This photograph is considered public domain and has been cleared for release. They were ordered to leave the launch duct when the measurements proved alarmingly high. We got some weird looks. But we dealt with hydrazine [the fuel] and nitrogen tetroxide [the oxidizer] every day. 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. Missile nosecones from Titan IIs in Arkansas are dismantled. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. The missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. Missile Guidance Speed Image AIM-7 Sparrow: Semi-active radar homing: Mach 4: AIM-9 Sidewinder: Infrared homing: Unverified (Mach 2.7) AIM-120 AMRAAM: Active radar homing: Livingston lay amid the rubble of the launch duct for some time before security personnel located and evacuated him. At about 3 a.m., the two men returned to the surface to await further instructions. Many of the dead were found crowded around an escape ladder. Visitors actually drive over the top of the former missile silo on their way to the LCC. Print Headline: The Titan missile silo disasters. It took a while to locate the nine-megaton nuclear warhead in the dark and gloom; it was still intact and not leaking. 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 . The United States quickly developed a second model of ICBMs called Titan. A bathroom with a bathtub and a double shower helps break up the circular feel of the LCC's top floor. file size: 5 MB. The Air Force decided to take measures to improve security within the launch complexes. One of the strangest things about the master suite is the domed concrete ceiling. The W53 thermonuclear warhead landed about 100 feet (30m) from the launch complex's entry gate. These sites stayed active until President George H.W. The air turned white and chunks of steel-reinforced concrete fell out of the sky after the fuel ignited. by Tom Dillard | May 19, 2019 at 1:45 a.m. Two of the most serious disasters to plague the Titan II missile program during the Cold War occurred in Arkansas. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. It turned out a worker doing routine maintenance on one of the missiles had dropped a nine-pound socket. Powell was working on a Titan II missile fitted with a thermonuclear warhead, tucked away underground in Damascus, Arkansas. It's what happened on the journey that prompts this week's column. Titan Ranch missile control center comes with a full kitchen, stocked with drinks refrigerator, and a massive projector equipped with multiple movie streaming options along with some saved movies. 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. Misiles 46 views. This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. 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. Dig for Fossils in Northeast Texas. Fortunately, the situation stabilized and the grim task of removing the bodies began. 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. 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. Police discussing evacuation plans after the explosion. On Feb. 6, 1963, the first Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile assigned to the 308th Strategic Missile Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base arrived. A civilian crew was working throughout all nine floors of the missile silo, which plunged 150 into the ground. The two airmen had just left the missile silo to await further orders when the rocket exploded at 3 a.m. In southeastern Wyoming, portions of the silo field are . 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. When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into space in 1957, it made the idea of long-range nuclear bombers obsolete. 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. "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 first ICBMs, called Atlas, were ready by 1959 and deployed at air force bases around the nation. A high-end master bedroom, spacious living room and stainless steel kitchen gives a visitor the feeling of visiting a supervillain's lair more than a military facility engineered for Armageddon. 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 . This left the powerful nuclear warheads exposed to attack. 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." Matthew Kroenig, a Defense Department adviser during the Trump administration, suggested in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that "the Pentagon should . Out of 55 workers, only two survived. 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. Originally, the launch control center had standard steps to reach multiple levels. His 4-year-old great-granddaughter held the calf in the passenger seat, trying to hug it back to . He said, "The same as it was when you came in." 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 united states built many missile silos in the midwest, away from populated areas. The facility's master bedroom, on Level 1, features a king-sizedbed and remote controlled fireplace. Unsettling as that history may be, its worth it just to say you did it. 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. The first Titan II missile in Arkansas was installed in a silo near Searcy in 1963. Theres a real risk right now. Both areas were then filled in with concrete, scrap iron, gravel and dirt, and the property wasreturned to the previous landowners. Heres what the terrifying incident was like, from those who were there. Visitors to Titan Ranch stay inside the former ICBM facility's launch control center (LCC), located 50 feet underground. A 1961 decommissioned Atlas-F intercontinental ballistic missile silo complex is for sale. 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. Construction on the Minuteman II structures began in 1946. Two airmen were performing maintenance at Missile Complex 374-7, located 3 miles north of Damascus, the evening of September 18th. I retreated upstairs to enjoy the incredible shower in the master suite and stayed up entirely too late reading a book in bed. The Damascus incident was front page news for at least a few days. They all knew each other. We stopped at Rockyford, Colorado about 6 p.m. and walked into the lobby of the only motel in town. Investigations including a congressional inquiry delved into the Damascus tragedy. He Ended Up With A Titan Ii Missile Silo That Was Decommissioned In Spring Of 1986. 6. Happy #EmployeeAppreciationDay! So every minute counted.". From there, we watched a video all about the missile base, the history, and the long and difficult renovation. The blast completely destroyed the silo and sent the 750-ton silo door . "From a weapon of mass destruction to hosting birthday parties and weddings, that's pretty wild ride," Hill said. Decommissioning the former missile silos included destroying the top 25 feet of each silo and the access portal and elevator to the LCC. 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. All that was left to do was return the missile back to its silo and remove the dangerous oxidizer. 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. This was the first missile site to become operational in Arkansas in 1963. Founder, Native American Journalists Association. They stood 103 feet tall and had a range of 9,300 miles. He started the radio station after his previous employer, Dogpatch, a Li'l Abner theme park, went belly-up. All missiles in the silos are currently Minuteman III (LGM-30G). Jan 14, 2020. They were Titan II missile silos that housed nuclear weapons on a Gemini rocket, designed to be launched into space in under one minute. "When we designed this, it was designed for couples as a kind-of getaway space," Hill said. These sites in Springhill in Faulkner County, Southside in Van Buren County and Center Hill in White County are now on the National Register of Historic Places. 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.

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