That's how far it is from Rockyford to Limon. "Then there was the water.". It was morning in America, and the Ronald Reagan administration undertook massive military spendingincluding missiles to supplant the Titan II. Twenty years ago Kansas, Arkansas and Arizona were littered with nuclear missiles, ready to be deployed at a moment's notice. Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is the editor and publisher of Native Sun News. But the newly constructed test facility was so badly damaged it wasnt worth salvaging. The Reagan Administration decided to . When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into space in 1957, it made the idea of long-range nuclear bombers obsolete. There are no windows in the space and no inclination that the sun had retreated and the moon was up. Taxi from niagara falls ny to canada. 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. 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. [2], At daybreak, the Air Force retrieved the warhead,[9][10] which was returned to the Pantex weapons assembly plant. 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. A socket like the one that punctured the missiles hull. Lately, many have been closed and the . The initial PTS team was sent home. (Kennedy died in 2011 at the age of 56.) Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. The facility's master bedroom, on Level 1, features a king-sizedbed and remote controlled fireplace. The Titan missile silo disasters. It was still dark outside early the next morning when we dropped the room key in the office mailbox and boogied down the highway eager to get back to good old Rapid City. Air Force crews reacted quickly to the disaster, putting out fires and searching for survivors. Nuclear weapons are just ideal for that., The next nuclear bomb to go off will not be delivered by a missile. Police discussing evacuation plans after the explosion. Deactivation of Arkansas' Titan II missile silos began in May 1985 and ended May 5, 1987, with the state's last missile, located near Judsonia, Arkansas, being deactivated. Winner will be selected at random on 04/01/2023. The first Titan II missile in Arkansas was installed in a silo near Searcy in 1963. That made the trip well worth the bumps along the way. 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. This wasnt the first time; in most instances, it hit the platform. If you saw footage from the massive explosion in Beirut this past August, King says, you saw what he saw that morning. "And we don't have any vacancies because there's a tournament in town," he spat. Misiles 46 views. Now she writes adventures to send her characters on journeys, too. All rights reserved. They were Titan II missile silos that housed nuclear weapons on a Gemini rocket, designed to be launched into space in under one minute. Slumbering just beneath the earth, a silent army of nuclear warheads waited for the outbreak of armageddon during the Cold War. It's time for your real estate portfolio to go ballistic! Incredible Active Missile Silos In Arkansas Ideas. 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. Our stay at Titan Ranch began with driving down the gravel road, leading between cow pastures, the reason for the name ranch. Cows looked back at us, munching away, while we wondered if we were headed to the right place. The entire motel was quite ramshackled and we entered number 20 with trepidation. It has a maximum range of 8,700 miles and a maximum speed of Mach 23 . He saw the explosion, and he told the New York Times his first thought was, It kind of reminded me of the old days. The North Star Missile Silo was used during the height of the Cold War in the early 1960s and is up for sale, with a price tag of $989,000. How far is it from Rockyford to Limon? The Doomsday Clock is at 100 seconds to midnight., The odds of a city being destroyed are probably the highest since World War II, says Schlosser. "When it came to mutually assured destruction, the U.S might only have 30 minutes to respond to a Soviet nuclear attack. President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of the Titan II program, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The elderly man behind the counter was a dead ringer for the man lying on a gurney in the movie Young Frankenstein who Gene Wilder, Dr. Frankenstein, assaults unintentionally while instructing a group of medical students. "So you work on things when you can. On September 19, 1980, a second tragedy struck the 308th Strategic Missile Wing. 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. 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. The Titan II missile was the tallest ICBM used by the U.S. military. The initial explosion catapulted the 740-ton silo door away from the silo and ejected the second stage and warhead. Both areas were then filled in with concrete, scrap iron, gravel and dirt, and the property wasreturned to the previous landowners. Level 3 also contains the facility's emergency escape tunnel and ladder. A look inside Level 3 of the Titan Ranch in Vilonia, featuring the facility's emergency escape tunnel and ladder. The master suite is on the very top floor of the birdcage and is housed in what used to be crew quarters. Further, any commercial or non-commercial use of this photograph or any other (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. It is a long and lonely route. Livingston was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant. What to Know Before You Get Started, 4 Essential Tips for Applying for a Mortgage Online as an MBA Student. We backed out of the room quickly and asked for another room. Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? Required fields are marked *. Accepted file types: jpg, png, Max. The state is armed with 150 nuclear missile silos that form a . By 1986 these sites were all decommissioned and destroyed. He called the station, and word spread. Unsettling as that history may be, its worth it just to say you did it. The rental space is inside what was once the crew quarters and missile launch control center. 2023 Farmers Bank & Trust. 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. [2], Kennedy, initially praised as a hero, later received an official letter of reprimand for his first entry into the complex, as it later transpired that he had disregarded an order to stay away. 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. We always take Highway 71 South taking us through Kimball, Nebraska and Limon, Colorado coming out at Highway 25 at Trinidad, Colorado. Eric Ayala was topside, at ground level near the silo. The missile was more than 100 feet in length and 10 feet wide. 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. Basically, you crawl 10 feet and then it's a 50-foot ladder," Hill said. All too soon, it was time to check out. In 1965, dozens of people died after a fire started in a Titan II silo in Arkansas. The man behind the counter actually looked like a street person, a homeless man. 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. The United States built many missile silos in the Midwest, away from populated areas. 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. Created with Sketch. The missile survived the fires and was not damaged. Titan Ranch has a little gift shop with some fun coffee mugs and t-shirts and I bought my kids t-shirts. The chances of all this happening were so remote, David Stumpf, the author of .css-3wjtm9{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#1c6a65;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-3wjtm9:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program, tells Popular Mechanics. 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. I heard somebody yelling "Help me! Today, theres still a giant hole in the ground, now overgrown and given over to wild animals. "You didn't know if it was going to Cuba or if it was going to Moscow," Hill said. The blast completely destroyed the silo and sent the 750-ton silo door . 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. While researching what was going to be a book about warfare in space, journalist Eric Schlosser heard the story of the Damascus explosion. I said, We just left a bunch of dead people back there. He said Yeah, I know. We were sick about it. 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 . Sound good? 2023 Atlas Obscura. Perhaps most famously, as the investigative journalist Eric Schlosser recounts in his book Command and Control, in 1980, a Titan II missile exploded in its silo in Damascus, Arkansas, while carrying a nuclear warhead. The four men at the silo were blown off their feet. The film was broadcast by PBS as part of its American Experience series. But the investigative crew was in a holding position for a while, and finally, around 1 a.m., Devlin and Hukle went into the silo. The blast and thermal effects within a dozen miles or so of each of these silo's will be deadly, and the fallout radiation will . Only two men escaped the silo, both telling stories of horror. At about 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18, 1980, an airman working on the missile dropped a wrench socket, which fell 80 feet before hitting and piercing the rocket's first-stage fuel tank, causing a leak, but not an immediate explosion. Your email address will not be published. The Damascus missile complex was at the Southside location, indicated by the red star on the map above. The missiles were shipped off to a base in Utah, and the silos were destroyed. "Two officers would each turn a key, and 58 seconds later the Titan II would be out the door," Hill said. 40 Years Ago, We Almost Blew Up Arkansas. Will China Give Lethal Support to Russia? 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. Extremist groups like to destroy cities. (February 2011) Air-to-air missiles. While the Polaris, a solid-fuel missile, was developed at the same time as the Titan missiles for use in submarines, the military was attached to the Titan II for diplomatic reasons. We need your stories about the city's hidden corners and unusual places. Theres a real risk right now. Shannon Seidler, a mechanic near Garrison, North Dakota, has lived on family land housing a nuclear missile silo for his entire life. 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. The incident occurred on September 1819, 1980, at Missile Complex 374-7 in rural Arkansas when a U.S. Air Force LGM-25C Titan II ICBM loaded with a 9-megaton W-53 nuclear warhead experienced a liquid fuel explosion inside its silo.[2]. 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. Livingston reentered the silo to carry out the order and shortly thereafter, at about 3:00 a.m., the hypergolic fuel exploded likely due to arcing in the exhaust fan. These shortcomings led to the rapid development of the Titan II missiles, which would become part of the three-pronged nuclear strategy the U.S. military used for the next 25 years. Since it was very hot outside I asked this cadaver of a man, "What's the temperature." More than 600 miles to the south, the F.E. 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. Mondale and Jimmy Carter lost their bid for re-election in 1980. After getting the last fly out of the car, we hoped, everything went as planned. 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. But this never happened. Powell was working on a Titan II missile fitted with a thermonuclear warhead, tucked away underground in Damascus, Arkansas. 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. 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. Because their vapor detectors indicated an explosive atmosphere, the two were ordered to evacuate. 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 missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. 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. 6. In 1978, six months after the trailer leak in Arkansas, two airmen died after a leak in Kansas. Many features won't work correctly, and functionality can't be guaranteed. 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. Airmen Jeffrey Plumb and David Powell were in the silo working on the missile. Tell Us About the Most Amazing Parts of Tulsa, Oklahoma! After nearly being run over by the sheriff, King and Phillips jumped in their car and took off. Each of the mammoth doors can withstand 1,000 psi of pressure, Hill said. The steel structure needed to be able to move within the concrete silo and dome, in order to remain operational regardless of what was occurring outside. The process was eye-opening, and a great history lesson. The missile was not armed at the time. More than half of the potential arsenal is in Amarillo, Texas, at the Pantex plant, which will dismantle them. 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. If we hadnt been ordered off, we would have stayed, Ayala says. Theyd heard on the scanner there was something going on at Missile Complex 374-7, the Titan II Missile installation in nearby Damascus. His 4-year-old great-granddaughter held the calf in the passenger seat, trying to hug it back to . 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. The silos launch door was propelled over 600 feet from the launch complex. AddThis Utility Frame. Of course the flies didn't swarm on us until we opened the tailgate and started to prepare our lunch. However, thanks to the ingenuity and tenacity of one person with a unique determination, one of those missile sites have been renovated into a luxury rental that you can stay in! Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, National Register of Historic Places listings in Van Buren County, Arkansas, "Titan II Missile Explosion (1980) Encyclopedia of Arkansas", "Missile silo blast kills 1, hurts 21; no radiation leak", "Colonel Replaced in Action Linked to Fatal Titan Explosion", "Command and Control American Experience WGBH PBS", "Air Force truck removes damaged warhead", "Titan warhead flown to nuclear arms plant", "Season 4, Episode 4 Nuke Kids on the Block", "The night we almost lost Arkansas a 1980 nuclear Armageddon that almost was", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_explosion&oldid=1137032445, National Register of Historic Places in Van Buren County, Arkansas, September 1980 events in the United States, Nuclear accidents and incidents in the United States, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 2 February 2023, at 12:19. As was the case with the Pangburn disaster, the explosion at the Damascus launch site resulted from routine maintenance work. I turned to Sergeant Green and said, Man, aint that pretty, before I realized what it was, Roberts said in a statement during the investigation. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Only in Arkansas. Thats the idea of the Titan II. The Air Force decided to take measures to improve security within the launch complexes. Jan 14, 2020. At a station that small, King couldnt afford to specialize. A compilation of platforms and weapons, the three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad serve as the backbone of America's national security. By 9 p.m. the Air Force had a team on site and began evacuating personnel as well as some local residents. Livingston died of his injuries [later] that day." 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. Titan Ranch began hosting conferences and meetings in 2019, and added its AirBnB listing in November 2020. The Damascus incident was front page news for at least a few days. 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. There are 1,000 kilotons in a megaton). The Hami missile silo field is in a much earlier . These ICBMs were fueled with Aerozine 50, which allowed the fuel to stay in the missile while stored in its silo. 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 . When the socket fell, it plunged 70 feet to pierce the side of the . They were used to launch satellites into space as recently as 2003. The former disaster took far more lives, but the Damascus explosion posed a far greater potential threat because the missile was armed with its warhead at the time.
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