Minuteman tour

Last remaining Minuteman silo site off I-90 in S.D. We go on short tour here, in the middle of nowhere.

It's the last silo from the 150 missiles that used to be clustered in southern S.D. Something like 450 MM still active.

Best attempt to capture training missile in silo thru glass.

Sense of the cap that would track off to left to uncover silo.

Veteran Minuteman missileer explaining launch room.

Launch board (just flip switch)

Missileer explains launch procedure.

This guy the only man to actually launch Minuteman from U.S. soil in '65 test.

Comments

[Brian]

We toured a silo but it was on Ellsworth. The guide there told us that the cap would slide back on that track about 25 feet in less than a second if they ever needed to launch. And, of course, after the missile launched, the entire silo would be rendered unusable again as they were one-use only silos.

The one on Ellsworth is sealed with no clear-glass top (pic here).

[Carl Stidsen]

I, too was a Missileman (390SMW, Titan II) back in the late 60's. The Term Missileer did not come into the lexicon until women entered the Force in the mid-70's.

I also give lectures on the Titan II through the local Air Museum (New England Air Museum). While I can still wear (read: fit into , barely) my old MA-1, It would be nicer to do them in Whites. Where did the "Veteran Missileer" pictured find his replica "Missile Whites". My old sets have somehow...shrunk....in the past 40 years............... Any leads would be appreciated.