Minuteman Missile Site

We were able to get a national park service tour of a retired Minuteman Missile site. Only six people were allowed on each tour, so you had to be early to get a spot.

There were several hundred of these nondescript buildings spread around the South Dakota landscape, most relatively close to the Interstate. In the building were security staff, maintenance, cooks, and missile officers that rotated duty 139 feet under ground in the nuclear launch bunker.




Each bunker controlled 10 nearby nuclear missile silos. They were placed far from the coast so that they could launch before a soviet submarine missile could take them out. The bunkers were designed to survive nuclear blasts that weren't too close.




While the most original silos were destroyed as part of a joint disarmament treaty, there are still close to 500 Minuteman III silos serving as deterrent to a soviet attack (not much help against a rogue nation???)




A little humor from the missile guys, mounted on the outside of the vault door.