His weekly column won the H. L. Mencken Award in 1985. Vince Guerrieri is a writer based in the Cleveland area. The initial explosion catapulted the 740-ton silo door away from the silo and ejected the second stage and warhead. The Air Force also chose two other states to site Titan II missiles: Arizona and Kansas. regarding use of images of identifiable personnel, appearance of endorsement, and related matters. They were used to launch satellites into space as recently as 2003. By 9 p.m. the Air Force had a team on site and began evacuating personnel as well as some local residents. Further, any commercial or non-commercial use of this photograph or any other Jan 14, 2020. During the 25-year period of operations, Arkansas experienced two disasters connected to the missiles. Please try viewing this website in Edge, Mozilla, Chrome, or another modern browser. Wed been there for a while, and we were like, Send us in or send us home, Devlin recalls. 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. So every minute counted.". You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. 5 Specifications. 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. A compilation of platforms and weapons, the three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad serve as the backbone of America's national security. Arkansas, and involved the missile exploding after the first-stage Aerozine fuel tank was punctured by a tool which fell from a maintenance platform near the top of the missile. It was used for the Gemini project, which launched men like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Jim Lovell into space in the 1960s. Placed on the western edges of the Soviet Union due to their limited range of 2,000 kilometers, the Sandals could . If the Soviets had missiles, then the Americans needed them, too. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. I was living out of state at the time, but the disaster was covered in depth by the national press. There do remain some active missile silos, in montana, north dakota, and at warren air force base, which is in both colorado and wyoming. They all knew each other. Air Force crews reacted quickly to the disaster, putting out fires and searching for survivors. My son was absolutely thrilled to learn how to use the tablet to control the lights in the room. Crews of four men would work 24-hour shifts, followed by 24 hours off. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. There are 1,000 kilotons in a megaton). Crews of four men would work 24-hour shifts, followed by 24 hours off. 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 . Airbnb feels you, so now you can for $324 a night. Level 3 also contains the facility's emergency escape tunnel and ladder. This wasnt the first time; in most instances, it hit the platform. All rights reserved. The countdown to launch started and thenright before the signal to ignite the rocket would have been givenit was stopped. The AirBnB listing even drew the attention of a couple central Arkansas musicians, who filmed three music videos inside the facility. The Titan II Missile program was a Cold War weapons system featuring fifty-four launch complexes in three states. file size: 5 MB. For us, there were two, queen size beds set up for my children. 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. I can recall vividly the September 1980 explosion which destroyed a missile in its silo located near Damascus on the Faulkner-Van Buren County line. 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. The entire property spans 18 acres, with the silo near . This released a cloud of noxious gas, leaving a few people sick and eager to file lawsuits. Two of the most serious disasters to plague the Titan II missile program during the Cold War occurred in Arkansas. At about 1 p.m. the launch duct was suddenly filled with intense heat and billowing smoke." Heres what the terrifying incident was like, from those who were there. The missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. Reports in the Arkansas Gazette described the devastation: "The inside of the 155-foot-deep silo was reduced to rubble and its concrete doors which weigh 740 tons were blown to pieces. Unlike its predecessor, the Titan II used hypergolic propellant, with fuel and oxidizer stored in the missileat room temperatureand mixed to launch almost instantaneously. From 1963 to 1987, crews maintained the missiles on 24-hour alert and were ready to initiate launch within minutes after receipt of authenticated orders from the National Command Authorities. "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. Around 1 a.m. on September 19, they watched a helicopter and a bus full of people enter the base. The 18 Arkansas Titan II sites were a third of the total Titan II fleet in service from 1963 until 1984. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. On the night of September 18, 1980, a Titan II missile carrying a thermonuclear warhead exploded in rural Arkansas. [5], A 1988 television film, Disaster at Silo 7, is based on this event. President Reagan announced plans to retire the Titan II program in September 1981, only one year after the Damascus disaster. 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. The next morning, my kids enjoyed the donuts Id brought for them and another movie on the projector. Arkansas' missiles were manned and operated by airmen from the Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville, Arkansas, with air bases near Tucson, Arizona, and Wichita, Kansas, maintaining nearby Titan II silos there. Ten years ago, Hill purchased the site that Titan Ranch sits on. On September 19, 1980, a second tragedy struck the 308th Strategic Missile Wing. Visitors to Titan Ranch stay inside the former ICBM facility's launch control center (LCC), located 50 feet underground. Eventually, the missile combat crew and the PTS team evacuated the launch control center, while military and civilian response teams arrived to tackle the hazardous situation. Pen & Quin: International Agents of Intrigue - The Mystery of the Painted Book is her debut novel. 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. It never bounced into the missile.. In 1965, dozens of people died after a fire started in a Titan II silo in Arkansas. 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. A bathroom with a bathtub and a double shower helps break up the circular feel of the LCC's top floor. The warhead was found 100 feet from the launch complex. Also some used to be in Arkansasthe Titan or Atlas missilesuntil one blew its fuel loadbecause of a dropped wrenchand threw its payload quite a distance. It takes a certain mental toughness. But this never happened. The second airmen survived his injuries, while 21 others suffered injuries from the blast and following rescue operation and cleanup. Then it faded into relative obscurity. 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. This photograph is considered public domain and has been cleared for release. The team started running the procedure for readying the missile for liftoff. That night, the only clue we had that it was way past bedtime was our fatigue. Its a lot of heavy information in a short time, but worth absorbing every minute of it. Say what? The first Titan II missile in Arkansas was installed in a silo near Searcy in 1963. Powell was working on a Titan II missile fitted with a thermonuclear warhead, tucked away underground in Damascus, Arkansas. King and Phillips arrived at the site at the same time as Van Buren County Sheriff Gus Anglin, and they were all greeted by military security personnel, who told them no evacuation of the area was necessary at that point. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. [14], In September 2013, Eric Schlosser published a book titled Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety. Fueled and ready to go 24 hours a day, Titan IIs could be ready to go at a moment's notice. He was the first Native American ever inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2007. A socket from a large socket wrench rolled off a platform and punctured the missile's lower-stage fuel tank, starting a fuel leak that eventually led to the explosion a few hours later. Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist living near Glen Rose in rural Hot Spring County. Delta- 09 was believed to be assigned the name "Cassandra's Missile . 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. The Pentagon plans to spend $264 billion on its next-generation ICBM program, which . During the Cold War, Arkansas played a role in the protection of the nation by housing a series of intercontinental ballistic missiles across otherwise peaceful farmland. 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. Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is the editor and publisher of Native Sun News. We got some weird looks. The 308th Strategic Missile Wing was created and operated from the base, overseeing the missiles, [], Your email address will not be published. The man behind the counter actually looked like a street person, a homeless man. (AP) For about 10 hours in 1980, the United States faced a nuclear threat of its own making after an airman performing maintenance on a Titan II missile dropped a 9-pound socket 70 feet, ripping a hole in a fuel tank and leading to an explosion that propelled a 9-megaton warhead out of the ground. At a station that small, King couldnt afford to specialize. In southeastern Wyoming, portions of the silo field are . They were situated in north-central Arkansas to ensure ready access to Little Rock Air Force Base, where the 308th Strategic Missile Wing coordinated the work in Arkansas. In the silo, they have a close-up view of the missile from less than ten feet away. Kennedy, his leg broken, was blown 150 feet from the silo. All the guys that walked down with their RHFCO suits, I just assumed they were all killed.. The team had met its goal. Today, theres still a giant hole in the ground, now overgrown and given over to wild animals. "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? Tell Us About the Most Amazing Parts of Tulsa, Oklahoma! The Air Force decided to take measures to improve security within the launch complexes. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Christ explained that the deaths were not caused by the explosion itself, but by the rapid loss of oxygen. A civilian crew was working throughout all nine floors of the missile silo, which plunged 150 into the ground. https://www.dimoc.mil/resources/limitations, Maps to the LRAFB missile sites Be warned Arkansas Farmers aren't against shooting trespassers! Slumbering just beneath the earth, a silent army of nuclear warheads waited for the outbreak of armageddon during the Cold War. Level 3 now serves as the living room and kitchen area. The team was then ordered to reenter the silo to turn on an exhaust fan. "But that was part of the psychological training. Titan I missiles were stored in silo lifts and had to be raised to the surface to be fueled before launch. Its safety features prevented any loss of radioactive material or nuclear detonation. [8][17], Jeff Plumb's account of his role in the incident was featured in a 2017 episode of WBEZ's This American Life. We drove maybe 10 miles before we said anything to each other, King recalls. The 308th SMW was the last active titan wing, but after 23 years of continuous service, the ICBM mission at Little Rock AFB was over. But it doesn't come cheap at $600 a night but only if you can . The W53 thermonuclear warhead landed about 100 feet (30m) from the launch complex's entry gate. The Damascus missile complex was at the Southside location, indicated by the red star on the map above. 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. For a one-night stay, I would recommend bringing all of your own food. Amazingly, we all slept wonderfully. Arkansas was home to 18 Titan II ICBMs in a missile field located north of Conway. The missile not only survived the explosion in 1965, it was the same missile which exploded in 1980 near Damascus. 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. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were developed in response to the Soviet Union achieving nuclear capabilities. He started the radio station after his previous employer, Dogpatch, a Li'l Abner theme park, went belly-up. "This was a half-a-million project, and I didn't have half-a-million," Hill said. The Damascus Titan missile explosion (also called the Damascus accident) was a 1980 U.S. nuclear weapons incident involving a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). It was the loudest explosion Id ever heard in my lifebefore or since, Devlin says. Part of HuffPost Wellness. It appears that you're using a severely outdated version of Safari on Windows. 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. The silos cover, made of hundreds of tons of concrete, was half destroyed. It was time-consuming and costly, but thanks to GTs determination to recover and preserve some history, you can experience it firsthand by touring or staying the night at Titan Ranch. 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. [1][15][16] A documentary film titled Command and Control from director Robert Kenner, based on Schlosser's book, was released on January 10, 2017. Eventually, it was foundin a ditch about 200 yards away from the silo. By comparison, a house my be blown down by 5 psi of pressure, he said. If we hadnt been ordered off, we would have stayed, Ayala says. We didnt want to leave, but I understand why they wanted us to leave.. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard with the Class of 1990. 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.
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