This is one of the most heavily guarded real estate on the planet. Spread across Wyoming,
North Dakota, Nebraska and Montana are the missile fields, where inside,
guys like “this” are protecting two missile officers, sitting 80 feet underground
in a nuclear bomb-proof capsule behind a massive 90-ton blast-proof door. Their job is to launch
nuclear armed missiles, if they were to receive such an order from the US President.
They work 24-hour shifts and are then replaced by the next crew.
Basically some butts occupy those chairs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
In contrast to the missile officers, the security police above the bunkers are deployed for 96 hours
at a time before rotation. They basically eat, sleep and live there … and you know what else.
To some, this is the best job you can get for obvious reasons.
To others, this is the most boring military job in the world, because on a good day nothing happens,
and most days are good days! Makes you wonder, what the missile officers in there do all day.
But one thing is for sure: this is probably the most impactful job on the planet, because the turn
of a switch … could be the beginning of the end for all of us, and it’s exactly what you think …
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All the human life lost during wars and conflicts in the 70 years post World War
II doesn’t even come close to the number of people who died during World War II.
The theory behind this is “Nuclear Peace”, which argues that the existence of nuclear weapons
decreases the risk for military escalation, because parties will seek to avoid situations
that could lead to the use of nukes. Mutually Assured Destruction, you know.
Proponents of nuclear weapons suggest that this leads to global stability while the
opponents argue that nuclear proliferation increases the chances of a nuclear war,
not to mention the possibility of nukes falling into the wrong hands. While the debate on the
Nuclear Peace theory is ongoing, so far, our planet has avoided a full out nuclear war, thanks
to deterrence. Deterrence discourages an action by instilling doubt or fear of the consequences.
Currently there are five recognized nuclear states,
with some others who claim to possess nuclear weapons and a few who aspire to acquire them.
Four other countries previously possessed nuclear weapons, that no longer do.
To prevent adversary nations from using nuclear weapons, the United States has to demonstrate
that not only they possess nuclear weapons, but that they are willing and capable of deploying
them … if need be. And this is exactly why the Department of Defense publizes their capabilities.
Only a decade or two ago, the information that we present in this video was classified and was only
accessed on a need-to-know basis. But now there are maps of the missile fields on wikipedia,
tons of videos shared by the department of defense itself
and don't even get me started on google maps, here’s one missile site, here’s the other,
and here’s the street view of the site. You can find anything on Google maps this days
The Missile Alert Facility or MAF consists of an above-the-ground support building which
houses about a dozen airmen, a launch control center within an underground bunker, called “the
capsule”, which houses two launch officers, known as the “missileers”, and auxiliary buildings like
sewage lagoons, helicopter pads, garages and a large radio tower. Each MAF controls ten nuclear
armed ICBMs, which are located in unmanned Launch Facilities spread out around the site.
Five MAFs compose a squadron, with any of the five launch control centers having the
ability to control and monitor any of the 50 nuclear missiles within their squadron.
As part of the nuclear triad, there are a total of 450 Minuteman III missiles
located in silos emplaced among raunches and wind farms near three Air Force bases,
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Minot Air Force Base and Malmstrom Air Force Base.
For example Malmstrom base is actually 166 sites as it comprises the main base,
15 MAFs and 150 missiles sites. Note that all the missile sites are located in the northern midwest,
as the shortest flying route to the Soviet Union would have been through the Polar icecap.
Before airmen go out into the field, they go through a pre-deployment briefing
where men and women get their minds focused on the mission at hand. You can’t deny it.
It does get repetitive and sometimes you can lose track of what you are doing, but after all,
you are protecting the most powerful weapons in the world. You must be on top of your game.
In the morning, the cops of the security force squadron get ready to head out to the missile
field. They pick up their weapons, ammunition and gear that they would need during their assignment.
Then the airmen are assigned to teams and they are told which MAF they will
be protecting during their four-day deployment.
The job of the security police is to protect the missileers, who sit 50 to 80 feet underground
in the nuclear-proof bunker. Missileers are the ones in control of the ten nuclear armed
ballistic missiles, and should the President ever give the order, they would be the ones
launching the missiles. missileers basically sit in a little box inside a cement bubble which was
designed to survive a nuclear explosion. In case they get attacked, their bubble is survivable to
make sure they can launch missiles back. However critics point out that the underground capsules
were designed over fifty years ago when the ICBM accuracy was significantly lower than it is today.
A modern Russian or Chinese ICBM will be able to target the MAFs precisely, which questions
the survivability of the underground capsule. But since there are dozens of MAFs spanned
across four states, it would be no easy task to destroy all of them. Not that it would matter,
since in a full blown nuclear war, MAFs would fire their missiles several minutes before getting hit.
Hopefully the missileers would never have to launch their rockets. The fact that
they haven’t so far, is what makes this strategic deterrence program so successful. That said, they
have launched ICBMs for testing purposes, as they randomly pull out a Minuteman III from an existing
silo, remove the nuclear warheads, and launch it empty or with new experimental re-entry vehicles.
Usually, the ICBMs fly over 6000 miles to a range near Guam in the pacific ocean.
ICBM tests verify the accuracy and reliability of the weapon system,
to make sure that existing ICBMs provide safe and effective nuclear deterrence.
Speaking of ICBMs, you need to know two more things.
First is that ground based missiles are only one prong of the US Nuclear Triad,
with the other two prongs being bomber-launched and submarines-launched nuclear weapons.
Second, is that ICBMs are very old! How old you ask? Well,
let’s just say when they were being designed, this is what smartphones looked like!
On November 26th, 1956, the US Air Force was assigned to develop intercontinental ballistic
missiles or ICBMs. The first ICBM, the Atlas, was able to strike a target area up to 500 miles away.
The goal was to have the ability for a quick nuclear attack and to have a reliable nuclear
deterrent. But there was a huge problem with the early ICBMs, and a solid solution was needed!
Early ICBMs were fueled by mixing liquid fuel with an oxidizer.
These ICBMs were known as hypergolic missiles. But due to the volatile nature of the fuel,
the rocket could only be fueled immediately prior to being launched, which would take
at least 30 minutes. Not only this slowed down the reaction time in the event of a nuclear war,
but if something went wrong during fueling, missiles might not even get launched.
Just think of NASA’s recent attempts to launch their new SLS rocket in the summer of 2022, which
were scrubbed, twice. Both times due to fuel leaks during the fueling process. Therefore the issue
with earlier ICBMs such as Thor, Jupiter, Titan I and II was the launch delay due to fueling.
The solution was a solid propellant which could be loaded in advance and allowed
for instant combustion. This eliminated the fueling step during the ICBM launch
altogether. Other benefits included increased accuracy and range, but most importantly, solid
propellants were much safer to handle compared to mixing liquid propellant with an oxidizer.
The first solid fuel ICBM, “Weapon System Q”, was developed in 1958. It was later renamed
to “Minuteman” as a symbolic reminder of the country's military past and its
ability to launch within a minute compared to the 30+ minutes for hypergolic missiles.
Minuteman was designed to be an inexpensive, reliable and efficient weapon system,
which is why it was mass-produced. By 1965, the US Air Force had 800 operational Minuteman missiles,
located across six states. By 1975, Minuteman was replaced with Minuteman II, which had longer
range and increased survivability. Both versions of Minuteman carried one warhead.
That changed with Minuteman III, which could carry three warheads. But more importantly,
Minuteman III had a rapid re-targeting capability, making it easy to switch targets.
Additionally, an improved guidance system called Multiple Independent Delivery System, or MIRV,
made ICBMs much more accurate, and was able to strike missiles up to 8000 miles away.
By 1977, the United States had increased its stockpile of Minuteman III ICBMs to 550, while
reducing its Minuteman II missiles to 450. In 1985, the US Air Force developed the Peacekeeper
missile that was able to carry 10 warheads. While the Peacekeeper was highly responsive and
accurate, it was expensive to maintain, and thus all 50 Peacekeeper ICBMs were retired in 2005.
This left Minuteman III as the sole ICBM in the US arsenal, which means what protects the US today
is 1970s Minuteman III technology. Of course, these missiles were continuously maintained and
upgraded, but still a lot of it is legacy hardware which is very old yet incredibly reliable,
as opposed to some other technologies that needs to be replaced every couple of years!
The United States is currently developing a new “Ground Based Strategic Deterrent” ICBM
to replace Minuteman III. This initiative has an estimated lifetime cost of $264 billion dollars.
For the nearly half a century long cold war, the nuclear mission was America's top
priority, but all that changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then,
United States’ priorities have changed, and some missileers feel less relevant than before.
Many would not want to do this job, because you are waiting for hopefully nothing to happen,
but that doesn’t mean this job is not important. Sitting down in a capsule or protecting something
that is already impenetrable, is not for everyone. In fact not many people pass the mental screening
tests required for these jobs. But for those who do, the Air Force tries to relieve the stress of
this incredibly monotonous work. That’s why they have a pool or ping pong table, a TV, and a gym
at each missile alert facility. Mandatory days off are also a thing to keep you sane.
While security police and missileers are the two primary roles at these missile alert facilities,
there are others jobs. Each MAF has a chef who cooks with each individual in mind,
and even delivers food to the missile officers underground.
Then there’s a facility manager, who makes sures everything is in order. Other jobs
include helicopter ops, bringing people in and out of the facility. Missile maintainers who inspect,
repair and troubleshoot any issues with the ICBMs. Finally, there is a “tactical response team”.
Basically a SWAT team which has snipers, breachers and so on, and they are on a 24/7 stand-by in the
main Air Force Base. Their primary responsibility is to recapture and recover the missile base,
if anything were to go wrong. Making sure that the government doesn’t lose
control of their own ICBMs. But how do they actually guard the missiles?
The missiles are located underground and the small fenced facilities occupy a small
patch of land the size of a football field. Chances are you wouldn’t even notice it,
unless someone pointed it out to you. But if you ever wander too close to one of the sites,
you would be definitely noticed by security. According to the US Military,
these patches of land are some of the most heavily guarded real estate on the planet.
First off, there is continuous video surveillance of all the sites,
with automatic tracking of anything moving.
Motion sensors and other classified security systems are both inside and outside the launch
sites. If an alarm is triggered in one of the missile sites, the security police team would be
immediately dispatched while being continuously monitored from a remote control center.
They would sweep the missile site area for any suspicious activity before resetting the alarm.
Of course, it's almost always a false alarm due to wind … or a Russian spy disguised as a rabbit!
There are also training exercises. The presence of security police alone can be
a deterrent to threats, and the use of deadly force is 100% authorized … against anything!
Even if a foreign special op’s team took over the missile site by neutralizing the security,
they would still face some challenges. First of all, to get into the missile silo you have to
enter a security code that will hydraulically lift a 2,000 pound access hatch. That’s an “A-Circuit”.
But even if they had the code or torched their way through, below is the “B-Circuit” which is
a 14,000-lb steel plug that locks in place with 12 massive bolts. Try to blow it up with explosives,
and you permanently seal off the shaft. Opening the “B-Circuit'' also requires a security code.
But before it opens, there’s a time delay of 20 minutes. This would be more than enough time
for the “Tactical Response Team”, to arrive via helicopters and overwhelm the intruders.
Rumor has it that in the 1980s, during training exercises,
“Seal Team 6” successfully captured missile bases on multiple occasions.
We couldn't verify if this was true or just a myth, so leave a comment if you know!
Realistically speaking, it's incredibly improbable that someone would ever try to capture a missile
field. But since we are talking about the most powerful weapons in the world, nothing
can be left to chance and all the necessary precautions have to be taken. While no one
would be able to steal ICBMs, given their weight and size alone, they might be able to sabotage
them. A somewhat realistic scenario is that a massive synchronized diversions across multiple
sites might sabotage the alertness level of the missileers inside their capsules. Otherwise,
the current threats to the missile fields don’t go further than protesters, instagramers trying to
take pictures in front of the missile field … and those russian spies smelling their rabbit suits!
Thanks again to Conflict of Nations for sponsoring today’s video.
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