The Review | MINUTEMAN MISSILE National Historic Site, Interstate 90, Western South Dakota
Reviewed by Brian Nyquist, museum volunteer
Comments of the author are his and do not represent the policy or position of the U.S. Navy.
This article is a teaser. I hope you’ll be inspired to read more and understand more. My interest derives from growing up in the 60s in the middle of the United States. Aware of the WWII history, living through the Cuban Missile Crisis, practicing hiding beneath our school desks all contributed to my curiosity. Strategic Air Command was in Omaha, close at hand. A few miles outside of town, a “missile site” occupied a 5 acre corner of a cornfield. All we knew about it was it was deep in the ground and we could never see it (so of course, we all REALLY wanted to see it!). Surrounded by a high fence with barbed wire atop, it appeared that no one was ever there, however plenty of signs warned serious consequences for anyone who dared to mess with the fence. Sort of off the beaten path, on a gravel country road, it was “hidden in plain sight”.
The Minuteman Missile Program was developed in the 1950s as part of the deterrence against a first strike nuclear attack by our cold war opponent, the Soviet Union. It was a solid fuel rocket. We had more experience at this point with liquid fueled rockets; the disadvantage being they needed to be fueled quickly just prior to use. This took time. In the strategy of the program, we needed to be able to launch within minute, not hours.
First “in service” in 1962, they were planned as a second strike against Soviet cities in response to a Soviet first strike. Polaris missiles launched from submarines had a similar strategic role.
1965 saw the improved Minuteman II deployed which contained upgrades in accuracy and survivability.
In 1970, Minuteman III missiles began being planted in cornfields in the West and Midwestern states. Each missile possessed three warheads; MIRVs (Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicles). Thus these missiles had the potential for targeting to 3000 separate targets.
The Minuteman Missile program is still alive and well today, with plans for replacement by a new program called Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD). These new missiles are in development by Northrup Grumman with planned deployment by 2030. The START treaty 2017 dictated the numbers of Minuteman missiles to be decreased from about 1000 to about 400. These missiles are deployed in “missile farms” in North Dakota and Wyoming. The design of these programs includes the command structure, with separate launch capsules buried deep in the ground. Each launch capsule has a rotating and well-trained crew of Missileers who rotate out every 24 hours. Each capsule controls the launch capability of a number of missiles, each with MIRVs and each separately targeted based upon current world situations. Each capsule controls a number of missiles in sites in their immediate area. The crew rotation is generally accomplished by helicopter daily.
Our Minuteman missile program was the primary leg of our strategic nuclear deterrence from about 1960 until 1980, when the Trident submarine launched missiles assumed the primary role. The United States continues the triad of land-, air-, and submarine-based nuclear deterrence to this day.
The START II treaty has limited the Minuteman program to one re-entry vehicle per missile; however, it has currently been voided.
The Minuteman program has provided an important leg of our nuclear deterrence since 1960, and will be active until at least 2030. Seventy years of deterrence is a proud and remarkable record.
Minuteman Museum Sites
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, US National Park Service. Located 4 miles east of Wall, South Dakota. This is close to Mount Rushmore, the Badlands of South Dakota and the famous “Wall Drug”! This museum has three components:
- The exhibits are in the museum which is right off I-90 with a large sign.
- There is also an actual neutered missile in a cornfield a few miles away. It has a transparent cover and you can gaze down at this huge missile planted in a cornfield.
- The third (and most fascinating to me) component is an actual Launch Capsule. Buried 31 feet 8 inches in the fertile soil, you ride a 60-year-old elevator down to what looks like an anteroom to a bank vault. Within the vault are two chairs in front of panels. Two Missileers were stationed there continuously for more than 50 years, able to launch when given the correct codes. Very heady responsibility for 20 year olds! You must sign up for this part of the “tour” as the elevator is limited to four tourists at a time. Sign up is at the museum, where directions to the missile site and the launch capsule are obtained.
The National Historic Site website includes a photo gallery and virtual tour, where you can tour of the launch control center, with park ranger Jim taking you down the elevator and giving a great video tour of the underground facility!
There is another site which is maintained by the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Site is in the area of Grand Forks, outside Cooperstown, North Dakota.
References for this article:
- Personal interest growing up in Minuteman country in the 1960s and personal trip to the historic site listed above.
- Wikipedia articles on the Minuteman Missile Program
- Website for the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site by the US National Park Service