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. Little Rock, Conway, Searcy, Benton, Heber Springs, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, West Memphis, Batesville, Mountain View, Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Texarkana, Arkadelphia. 40 Years Ago, We Almost Blew Up Arkansas. "You didn't know if it was going to Cuba or if it was going to Moscow," Hill said. Top: Vanderberg Air Force Base, for reference. The second fuel tank, sitting just above the first, contained a different fuel that could spontaneously ignite if a collapse occurred and it came into contact with the aerozine 50 already in the launch duct. 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. Police discussing evacuation plans after the explosion. By then, a lot of the documents detailing just how bad the incident wasand how close wed come before to accidental nuclear explosions had been declassified. 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. Arkansas missile silo now a bunker on Airbnb | Miami Herald The Hami missile silo field is in a much earlier . Its a bit of a chilling experience. Nobodys saying its from that, but nobody else in my family has a thyroid condition.. 5 Specifications. 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. 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. Don't go passed the gate without permission! The PTS crew stayed at the site as an investigative crewDevlin, Rex Hukle, David Livingston, and Jeffrey K. Kennedyarrived. 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. Nodak, based in Grand Forks, served 55 missile silos around the region. President Reagan announced plans to retire the Titan II program in September 1981, only one year after the Damascus disaster. Crews of four men would work 24-hour shifts, followed by 24 hours off. The first missile silo was listed in november 2019 for $395,000, and sold for $420,000. Going Nuclear: Locations of Nuclear Weapons in the United - BatchGeo And Mondale then refused to confirm or deny when he was asked about it at the state convention. He was the first Native American ever inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2007. 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. Titan II Missile Explosion in Arkansas - 40 Year Anniversary Then it faded into relative obscurity. To Find America's Nuclear Missiles, Try Google Maps The next morning, my kids enjoyed the donuts Id brought for them and another movie on the projector. Fortunately, its safety mechanisms prevented any loss of nuclear material. 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. These are MAJOR nuclear war targets, each one of these silo's will be hit with minimum one warhead with a fairly large yield as part of a Russian counterforce attack. The second airmen survived his injuries, while 21 others suffered injuries from the blast and following rescue operation and cleanup. Two airmen were performing maintenance at Missile Complex 374-7, located 3 miles north of Damascus, the evening of September 18th. 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. Titan I missiles were stored in silo lifts and had to be raised to the surface to be fueled before launch. 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. 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. 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. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard with the Class of 1990. 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. Our destination in the vicinity of this sleepy little town was an enormous subterranean Dvina missile silo complex, once the home of R-12 medium-range ballistic missiles (NATO designation: SS-4 Sandal) of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. Minuteman Missiles on the Great Plains - National Park Service To this day, those Titan II targets remain classified, he said. The 308th Strategic Missile Wing was created and operated from the base, overseeing the missiles, [], Your email address will not be published. One of the strangest things about the master suite is the domed concrete ceiling. He gave us a key to Room 20. 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. 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. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. See. It took six years to retire the missiles, demolish the launch ducts and fill in the silos with debris. 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. Titan Ranch is located in Vilonia, Arkansas, just northeast of Conway. Unsettling as that history may be, its worth it just to say you did it. 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. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. An airman dropped a wrench socket and it fell 80 feet and pierced the thin skin of the rockets first stage fuel tank. Here are some maps showing the locations of U.S. Minuteman III ICBM silo's along with coordinates. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. They tried to recreate it in an empty silo, and it bounced into the wall. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. Theyd heard on the scanner there was something going on at Missile Complex 374-7, the Titan II Missile installation in nearby Damascus. 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. "When it came to mutually assured destruction, the U.S might only have 30 minutes to respond to a Soviet nuclear attack. [2] The entire missile launch complex was destroyed. 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. This wasnt the first time; in most instances, it hit the platform. We backed out of the room quickly and asked for another room. It was morning in America, and the Ronald Reagan administration undertook massive military spendingincluding missiles to supplant the Titan II. It was sitting there at a moments notice, and putting the enemy on notice that they couldnt win the war.. Sid King had just sat down to dinner on September 18, 1980 when he got the call. Driving up to the ranch, you would never guess that youre headed to an underground missile silo. Eventually, it was foundin a ditch about 200 yards away from the silo. The Titan II missile program was terminated by the Reagan administration, but memories still burn brightly among many Arkansans. 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. But not before my kids donned their Star Wars Mandalorian costumes for a little photo shoot. Before the unit inactivated, a Mark VI re-entry vehicle from the last Titan II ICBM on alert status in Strategic Air Command was dedicated in Heritage Park. The Titans sat fueled and ready to go at a moments noticebut that meant constant monitoring and maintenance. Because their vapor detectors indicated an explosive atmosphere, the two were ordered to evacuate. "There was metal debris, concrete, all sorts of stuff we had to pull out," he said. Designed by The Twiggs Group. "That way if there was a nuclear explosion, they always wanted to have one door closed to protect the facility," Hill said. In the early morning hours of September 19th, two airmen entered the complex to measure the airborne fuel concentration. "It's all illuminated. The master suite is on the very top floor of the birdcage and is housed in what used to be crew quarters. No purchase necessary. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). 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. The control room space sits on level two of an internal, solid steel birdcage structure. I heard somebody yelling "Help me! By comparison, a house my be blown down by 5 psi of pressure, he said. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of the Titan II program. Jackie and I set out from Rapid City to Albuquerque for two reasons. The land is now under private ownership. 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. 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. PBS explores 1980 nuclear threat triggered by socket wrench Over its 25 years in the service, the Titan II series had it share of accidents, two of the most well-known occurring in Arkansas. 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. Maps to the LRAFB missile sites - 308SMW The initial explosion catapulted the 740-ton silo door away from the silo and ejected the second stage and warhead. For a one-night stay, I would recommend bringing all of your own food. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. Maps to the LRAFB missile sites Be warned Arkansas Farmers aren't against shooting trespassers! You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. 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. King was part owner of KGFL-AM in Clinton, Arkansas. The team had met its goal. 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. At around 6:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday, September 18, 1980, two airmen from a Propellant Transfer System (PTS) team were checking the pressure on the oxidizer tank of a USAF Titan II missile at Little Rock AFB's Launch Complex 374-7. Where Are All The Missile Silos In The US? - On Secret Hunt 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. 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. Two airmen were performing maintenance at Missile Complex 374-7, located 3 miles north of Damascus, the evening of September 18th. Titan Ranch began hosting conferences and meetings in 2019, and added its AirBnB listing in November 2020. The facility was one of 18 underground Titan II missile silos in Arkansas that helped formthe backbone of the United States' nuclear arsenal from the 1960s until the 1980s. Titan II ICBM Launch Complex Sites - Encyclopedia of Arkansas It is eerie to see military vehicles and military personnel going to and from these scary silos in the middle of wheat country. 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 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.