Building a Titan II Missile Silo

What did it take to build the 54 Titan II missile silos around the United States during the 1960's?
Watch this to find out!
Thanks to Whitesand for the background music. Listen to him below...
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[@ScaleModelKitReview]

I was a Missile Maintenance Technician who worked in these Silos in the early eighties, it was a real thrill. Great video.

[@Pricklyhedgehog72]

Can't get enough of these vids, the construction and the operation of the facilities is fascinating stuff. Watching them being repurposed is a journey of Cold War discovery.

[@maxwellsilver6588]

O KK k0úm0í

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

This could be ten times longer and it would still be fascinating. 👍👍👍

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Haha! So glad that you enjoyed it! Have you seen the other videos on my channel yet?

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

@@ThompsonAtomicRanch Not yet but I will be👍👍👍

[@fido2006]

In the early 60's my dad worked for the General Electric Re-entry Systems Division in Philadelphia. They made the re-entry vehicle for the Titan II. That's the nose cone that held the warhead plus a lower skirt that held the electronics and the penetration aids. The upper part of the nose was made of "ablative" material. Basically a metal honeycomb with some sort of high-temp resin poured over it. The ablative material functioned as the heat shield during the re-entry phase. The lower portion of the re-entry vehicle housed penetration aids or decoys, in tubes mounted crosswise. The pen-aids would be ejected during re-entry and would inflate to confuse ABM systems. To open the side of the vehicle so the pen-aids could be ejected, long, about 1/2 inch wide, shaped charges that outlined where an opening needed to be, would be blown by the electronics. Dad said the tooling that GE had in Philadelphia at the time was WW2 era and had trouble holding the tolerances required by the contract. At the Hill AFB Museum near Ogden they have or had a re-entry vehicle on a trailer transporter on its side and you can see the tubes for the pen-aids and the shaped charges bolted to the inside of the lower skirt of the REV. The National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque has a complete static Titan II and a REV on display (along with an atomic cannon.) On the base of the REV is a little GE nameplate. And of course there's both an REV and full missile at the Titan II Missile Museum south of Tucson. There's also a Titan II re-entry vehicle mounted in front of the Moon Valley High School ("Home of the rockets!") on Cactus Road just west of 35th Avenue in Phoenix. Thanks for the video!

[@Bramon83]

That last one is a little odd but cool as hell.

[@gatorshd]

I worked at Chestnut St. So did my dad. He was a guard. Great place to work. Brilliant people.

[@Telephony954]

In the late 80's early 90's I worked on the natural gas gathering systems as a xray tech doing nondestructive testing on the pipelines in the Roswell area, on the way back from the right of way one evening, Ii had the occasion to enter one of the abandoned Atlas missile silo. They were smaller than these, I remember how much cooler the air was down there. And dark. there were 3 of us and I was still pretty nervous. down the inital stairs to a curved door, right turn then a quick left down more stairs in the dark, when i turned on my flashlight I could see the giant round room with the floors suspended by steel rods. down more stairs to a really long hallway that entered into the silo. looking up I could see daylight way the hell up there. pretty spooky. The other thing I remember was the wind blowing in that hallway. later on I heard there was a nasty accident with fueling a missile and someone was hurt in that.

[@fido2006]

@@gatorshd The Chestnut St. plant is where my dad worked. Later he transferred to Manned Spaceflight at King of Prussia. 😀

[@fido2006]

@@Bramon83 When I drive by it I always imagine it's in a Nicholas Cage movie like National Treasure; a fully fueled Titan II, put there by modern Illuminati, waiting for someone to find the two launch keys hidden behind some bricks at the school.

[@destinationunknown7857]

This is one of the best vids I have seen about a missile silo's construction. Thank you.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

So glad that you enjoyed it!

[@gregdevlin2162]

Sliding and burning 60’ on my back on the morning of September 19, 1980 in Damascus Arkansas, as a result of the Titan II explosion, along with the loss of David Livingston, and the injuries to all my Titan II Brothers that morning will be forever burned in my brain. But with that said, I truly loved my job as a PTS (Propellant Transfer Systems) technician from 1977-1981 at Little Rock Air Force Base, and most importantly I value the great friendships with all the guys and girls I worked with there. It’s awesome we still have reunions every few years bringing anyone and everyone whoever worked on these complexes together.

[@SteveWright-oy8ky]

The story told in the book, " COMMAND AND CONTROL " is one of the most frightening incidents in our nuclear history ! That the loss of Livingston could have been avoided along with the the injuries of the others had the officers allowed the fully experienced PTS crews to do they're jobs as they had been trained to perform ! My heart felt THANKS to you and all who underwent this horrific ordeal !

[@ricochetaz3846]

Thank you for making it possible for United States of America citizens to sleep without worry. 🇺🇸

[@sscalf31]

I spent a great deal of time in one of those silos. Hooah SAC elite. USAF retired

[@pi.actual]

One of the sites near Tucson was preserved and made into a museum. We visited it back in August of 2023 and I highly recommend taking the tour if you get a chance. They even run a mock simulated launch procedure with all of the bells and whistles. Pretty spooky.

[@FlyGuy2000]

We took the tour a few years back but didn't get the launch simulation, that sounds pretty cool. We did have a guy who worked in the control room for a decade while it was operational though; the one thing that really stuck in my mind was that the final destination for the warheads is still classified. Really neat seeing it live and in person, just the way it was when it was operational.

[@insideoutsideupsidedown2218]

@@FlyGuy2000that is one thing that will remain classified, if not Top Secret.

[@robertslugg8361]

The portable concrete plant that my dad used for highway construction began its life building silos.

[@brentmiller7075]

BMAT at 570-3, 570-7, 570-5 (ACP) and other 570 sites from 1969 to 1975. Long boring days and nights with a few times of WTF mixed in. Wouldn't trade the experience.

[@marvinschmitz3442]

I grew up with the silo at cheney lake kansas, I would work our farmland about five miles from it. When I got bored I would try to imagine it going off. Thank God it never did. Then in the beef packing house in Wichita, KS. I worked with a guy who said he was on a construction crew that built it. Funny how lives mingle with each other. Those were the days.

[@SteveWright-oy8ky]

Watch the movie/video, " THE DAY AFTER " and there you will get a much more detailed viewing of what you had imagined !

[@albertoclipper]

2-9 was my favorite site to visit. The lake always looked nice. It was the last site for me as my discharge in 76 was coming up.

[@garypillischafske1425]

I spent a lot of time in these silos as QC&E. Loved it all.

[@BeechSportBill]

btw… there are three missile Titan II Missile launch complexes at Vandenberg… They were built first and went on alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis…. and were used for many test launches. They are still there.

[@roostercogburn2600]

One is a museum that is no longer in use. A few years ago when I had the opportunity to tour it everything was still in place.

[@silopedia]

@@roostercogburn2600 what year did you visit 395-C (the museum), and what condition was it in?

[@roostercogburn2600]

@@silopedia 2015 or so. It was leaking ground water at the time due to the high water table. Power was still on. Dead animals inside. All of the equipment was still in place as if it was walked away from yesterday. A couple of k-spans with equipment are still rotting away topside.

[@silopedia]

@@roostercogburn2600 very interesting! So far, you’re the most recent person I’ve talked to that’s been underground at the site. A former care taker said mold and “bad air” was becoming an issue back in 2012, but didn’t mention water infiltration. Could you see how much was at the bottom of the silo? There’s literally only four pictures of the site on the internet.. somewhat of a “holy grail” for enthusiasts

[@warrenjones744]

I was stationed in Little Rock 1982-84 as a heavy equipment operator. We would often go out to the sites to perform maintenance on the facilities. Usually in support of the plumbers. Sometimes we would have to go down inside the silos to work or get our briefing after entering the facility. It was always fun to go through the blast lock doors and into the control center. Once I was able to look inside the silo and see the missile. impressive facilities for sure.

[@sebell69]

WOW They certainly made them well!

[@GM8101PHX]

The blast doors are still perfectly balanced in 2024, they were placed in about 1960!!

[@allenludwin]

The titan missile museum off Duval mine rd in Sahuarita Arizona is well worth the visit.

[@rogers7884]

Thank you great video

[@chinesechicken20]

Undertakings such as these and the Manhattan project show the awesome capabilities of Americans when there is a common goal. This is what is needed to bring America together.

[@blipco5]

Vote Blue 🇺🇸

[@insideoutsideupsidedown2218]

The Titan II was a retaliatory weapon, not a first strike weapon. The sites were designed to withstand a near miss, and then retaliate, not the other way around.

[@anotherguy9402]

Who told you that the government? 😂

[@insideoutsideupsidedown2218]

1. Because if they were first strike weapons, they would not have based silos in Arkansas or Arizona. They would be in Alaska. 2. The US Air Force would not have spent that much money to insure they could survive a near miss.

[@albertoclipper]

That's true. I was stationed at McConnell. The thing that got me was we would have known an attack was launched against us {I was out once when they went on alert, going through the procedure to launch ours. We had the DEW line and other ways of telling. The point being, if Russia targeted the sites they would be firing out an empty hole. That made no sense to me.

[@geniferteal4178]

Fun to watch this after having seen many of the current recovery videos. people that bought these and tried to make something of them again.

[@Anolbea]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Thanks for watching!

[@PaletoB]

Wow, that some impressive engindering.

[@SteveStoltz]

I love the documentary's.

[@markclark1654]

Another awesome video! Titan was an amazing weapon system, and I'm glad to have been a part of it. Major Mark Clark, USAFR (Ret), former senior DMCCC at MAFB and LRAFB.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Thanks for your service and thanks for watching :)

[@ibbylancaster8981]

Thank you for your service. Much love and thanks for protecting our country 🤙

[@Hey_MikeZeroEcho22P]

Major Clark, OS1 (SW) Mares.....as a Former 'Cold Warrior' also, I Thank You for your Service, Sacrifice and Time (SST Baby!!!). Thanks for standing the 'Mid-Watch' with me, Thanks for training those Men/Women, and Thanks...... for All you Sacrificed during your time!

[@jessejohnson6435]

Thanks for your service Sir.

[@taxpayer6079]

Proud to be an American. We were much more capable than.

[@labman9912]

What a great video. Should be played at the Titan Missile Museum Green Valley Arizona. These weapons systems never should have been deactivated instead they should have been updated and retrofitted.

[@dundonrl]

I'd guess it's cheaper to build new than completely removing all the old stuff and building new in it's place.

[@rubbermannequin6595]

Seriously? You're hilarious.

[@ronjon7942]

The Titan missiles used liquid propellant, which was expensive and difficult to maintain and replenish; the solid fuel Minuteman had a much longer shelf life. If you’re referring to repurposing the massive silo complexes, they were decommissioned and made unusable per START treaties with the Soviets.

[@txtifosi]

So even by the 1970s the writing was on the wall. The guidance systems would be no longer supported by IBM and by 1977 the fleet would have compromised readiness. They were able to adapt the inertial guidance system from the 747 to work on the titan as essentially a stopgap. But the obsolete electronics coupled with the hard to manage liquid propellant marked these magnificent missiles for replacement. We are looking at a similar problem with the minuteman iii today. I’m an AF aficionado, but I have to wonder if the SLBM isn’t the better platform after all.

[@ForbiddTV]

I made an effort to see many of the missile sites in 2017 and I gotta say the Titan was the most interesting. Also saw; Atlas E in KS, Minuteman in SD, Nike in CA, Titan in AZ. Always wished I had the money to buy one, instead I'm building underground structures now for myself.

[@JamsheedRpgGodBoss]

Grew up around the Kansas City area, seen and been in my fair share of Nike bases. There’s one in Missouri that I used to play airsoft at. Never have gone down into the magazines but would love to. My favorite site would have to be a Titan 2 and I’ve never been to one.

[@ForbiddTV]

@@JamsheedRpgGodBoss If you ever go to San Francisco there is a Nike site just north of the Golden Gate bridge that you can tour that has fully operational hydraulics to open the doors, raise the missile to the surface from the magazine and orient the missile into the near vertical launch position. You can observe this from inside the magazine, then from the surface when returned to the magazine. I made a video of the entire process and posted it on my channel. My understanding is it's the most complete Nike site left in the country that you can visit.

[@danielmcconnell1096]

Hats off to the workers and engineers who designed and then built these so quickly.

[@gmcinnis6304]

in the scorching heat of the desert that has 8 months of SUMMMMMER HEAT. 120* in the shade? means 160* in the desert sun

[@mattstone8878]

They gambled with the lives of every American and it paid off.

[@raymondebbs]

Was on Titan II missile crew from 1975-1978 at McConnell AFB, Kansas (Wichita). My first AF operational assignment. Loved it.

[@dundonrl]

The only thing I have to disagree with, 12.6 million in 1960 is worth 124 million in 2022, not the over a billion as the video said.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Not sure. I read it in a book. Perhaps it is not accurate

[@robdavy4468]

@@ThompsonAtomicRanch certainly isn't. Probably worth calculating yourself as you present if with some confidence, even though it doesn't pass the sniff test

[@omnianti0]

@Amethyst for sure it is the calculation but duno how it translate in 60years

[@MauricioVives]

Thank you for putting this together! I wondered how such an underground complex could be built, and your explanation definitely satisfied that curiosity.

[@williamhaynes7089]

I have visited the Titian missile museum outside of Tucson, az... If you have the chance its worth every penny of the tour...

[@goulartaf66]

I bet we're still paying for these. Unbelievable.

[@milesinfront]

While it's intended purpose was in many ways a shame, you must be so proud to now own one of the most over-engineered structures ever created by man... I wonder how they will fare over the next 1,2 or 3,000 years?

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Time will tell! :)

[@SeeLasSee]

It depends on how wet or dry future climate is.

[@ChatGPT1111]

@@SeeLasSee We'll be long overdue for another ice age in 3,000 years so everything north of Arizona will be raked by glaciers anyway. Anything we can do to slow that down would be a bonus for perhaps one generation.

[@sanfranciscobay]

I believe Concrete Buildings have a lifespan of 100 years. After that, the Concrete starts deteriorating.

[@GaiusCaesarAugustusGermanicus.]

Unless it’s preserved by man or nature it will return to its original form, dirt.

[@johngaither3830]

In the summer of 1968 the oil company seismograph crew I worked on had permission to cross a corner of a Titan II missile site near Greenbrier, Ar. The permit said we were to give 24 hours notice in advance of our operations. That detail failed to be passed along and we entered unannounced. Yes, our operations literally stirred up a hornets nest of activity. Helicopters full of armed men and then trucks descended upon the 5 of us making the trespass. We had guns pointed at us for the 45 minutes it took to sort things out.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Wow! Quite that made for quite the story to tell! Haha

[@schwags1969]

Wow, the government sure knows how to get things back then. Nowadays it is nearly impossible to build a family house without some form of bureaucracy.

[@Name-ps9fx]

Weapons can be quickly designed and built, when one is staring down many Soviet missiles, and orbiting objects (Sputnik).

[@Fossillarson]

Remember gov can when they have to

[@c1ph3rpunk]

The environmental impact study alone would take 5 years today.

[@alanrogers989]

This is a weird comment. Do you think they were building Nuclear Missile Silos, costing 1.8 billion dollars each in today's money, without any bureaucracy?

[@david7384]

That's because it was built when men were men

[@nicholaspayne349]

Dream house.

[@michaelhawk8230]

We’ve several abandoned sites built the same time frame in Northern California

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Thats awesome! Have you ever explored them?

[@lorriecarrel9962]

this would be ultra bad ass to own...

[@jungleb]

Great video! You should like Isaac Arthur btw

[@montanaplease]

I’d love to know how much water Has to be pumped out of these things in just a 24 hour span ?

[@blurglide]

The distance between sites is to protect them from a first strike by the Soviets. In a retaliatory strike by the Soviets, the silos would already be empty. I'd love to see something about Titan 1. Colossally expensive, MUCH bigger facilities, and were only used for a few years.

[@marzsit9833]

3 former titan 1 sites in my state, i've visited 2 of them and they are crazy big..... and yes they were only active for about 5 years, then abandoned...

[@blueboats7530]

Yeah, the Titan I had to be fueled-up just before launch, so the whole facility was much more elaborate and vulnerable. The big change with the Titan II was the fuel could be in the rocket all the time that it was waiting for Armageddon.

[@krashd]

The distance was in case the US was a retaliatory strike, if the US was a first strike it wouldn't matter where the silos were located.

[@blurglide]

@@krashd Why would we care if our empty silo's were targeted? The distance is to survive a Soviet first strike so WE can retaliate- not to survive a Soviet retaliatory strike after we strike first

[@user-yd4rn4ez6m]

US first strike could’ve been from a bomber or submarine instead of these silos though.

[@NoSuffix]

All Titan II Missiles were retired in the 1980s. Billions of taxpayers' dollars went down those silos & missiles. Sigh, what a necessary evil.

[@spacecoyote6646]

An unnecessary evil

[@NoSuffix]

​@@spacecoyote6646 Not really. If you're not prepared militarily, warmongers may attack you w/o hesitation. Look at Ukraine. That's exactly what has happened.

[@thomaspavelko9412]

Right? Always wondered how many ICBM's is enough? After a certain numbers it just becomes a waist of money,I understand the want of them but unfortunately the need of them really screwed the population issues. We need wars to control are population its not an environmental issue per say its a population issue. The planet has only so many resources to support only so many people, so now we have 2 choices,space or go back to conventional world wars.

[@codymoe4986]

@SimonSays... I would assume they were referring to the "royal" unnecessary evil... As in multiple nations stock piling enough nuclear weapons to destroy the only planet that's capable of supporting their existence...

[@spacecoyote6646]

@@NoSuffix we were plenty prepared. Our adversaries were Hollow and weak and scared. Our country sits at the edge of bankruptcy due to the Folly of the money spent on the cold war.

[@shane41225]

Let’s not forget about the titan 2 that exploded in Arkansas and almost wiped us off the map, only thing keeping the warhead from detonating was a simple switch wasn’t flipped, crazy to think a small switch is what kept a huge nuke from insta-wiping Arkansas off the map!

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

This weapons system did pack a punch! Thankfully the warhead was unharmed in the Damascus incident. Crazy to think tho that the warhead was unaccounted for until they found it laying out in a field nearby. :P

[@dickiebrewer1232]

I guarded complex 47 the month after it exploded. 308th Security Police Squadron, SAC. I worked in the silos from 1981 -1984.

[@user-hw1cr5uq4z]

Remember the Martin plant southwest of Denver where the Titan Missiles were built. They would be trucked under canvas covers to Lowry AFB and Buckley ANG, to be loaded on USAF cargo aircraft for deployment around the US.

[@eatcommies1375]

Still work with some old timers that built them….

[@StapleMaster5]

unless im missing some math here, the cost should only be about 103 million in 2018 money. not 1.8 billion.

[@jamesthompson8008]

Thanks for posting this, I think it's a cool video myself. Amazing how much was put into these so fast, & then equally amazing how much work it is for guys like yourself to bring them back just for your own use. More updates as you can please. Thanks

[@blueboats7530]

I was born in Tucson and was in First Grade in school right after these were finished. Even that young I remember the "duck and cover" drills, and I remember the huge windows I was looking out of from under the desk. Now I grasp the gravity of those drills, though now I'm pretty sure those flimsy grade school desks wouldn't have done much for us.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Those were some scary times I’m sure!

[@sganzerlag]

Amazing system! Thanks so much for sharing this. Best regards from Brasilia, Brazil.

[@sanfranciscobay]

8:24 You can claim you own a 60 year old Nuclear Missle Silo Complex that you bought for 1 Million Dollars and would cost 1.8 Billion Dollars today.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Pretty cool eh!

[@sanfranciscobay]

@@ThompsonAtomicRanch Kind of like buying a retired Nuclear Reactor that cost Hundreds of Billions of Dollars New, then was intentionally disabled by being partially destroyed. You're buying at a fraction of penny's on the hundreds/thousands of dollars. Now the question is, "what do you do with it?"

[@michaeldumais1784]

Very informative piece of Cold War history. When I served in the Navy I knew , in general, about their existence, but never these details. Kudos for posting.

[@JxH]

$12.6M in 1960 = about $123M in 2022. The $1.8B in 2018 quoted here seems a bit inflated.

[@Shrouded_reaper]

Inflated like the national currency unfortunately...

[@montanaplease]

Imagine adjusting for inflation just in the past 18 months for this build😳 The price of everything has just skyrocketed since the 2000 mules did their thing.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Prices are nuts right now! Hoping it starts to come down :)

[@montanaplease]

There’s nothing indicating price is coming down unfortunately. They just keep printing more money causing inflammation for all of us to pay

[@Veldtian1]

They're a sturdy shelter, worthy of 'The Withstandinator' moniker.

[@GermanMic]

Fascinating, mindblowing & truly shocking! What a waste of precious earth & minds!

[@ldr9146]

During 1966 I was in the Air force stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson AZ 390th SMS. While there I worked with a SGT Brewer, we were good friends but lost contact, would like information where he lives

[@cstraws]

My father was an electrician on the Rock, Ks. sites in the mid 1960's. He said it was interesting work but scary to think about what could happen if the missile had to be launched. Once that job concluded he went to work at Boeing in Wichita, Ks. building...what else but B-52 bombers that are still in service today.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

That’s awesome! He was part of sometime great, that’s for sure

[@williamwisener5778]

Unfortunately the site at Rock Kansas was to be the site of 2 major events. On August 21st 1978 during a propelent transfer, a accident took place that killed and injured many personnel. Many of the personnel that responded were exposed to chemical residue, and were not given proper discharges, and never received any treatment or benefits for their injuries or disabilities caused by the incident.

[@cstraws]

@@williamwisener5778 I had never heard of that situation. Could it have been covered up by the powers that be?

[@dods2002]

@@cstraws Check out the History Guy. He has done stories on several near US nuclear detonations. Very interesting Stuff.

[@albertoclipper]

@@williamwisener5778 What was the other event? I asked that once before but no one answered. I went to the sites the mid seventies and had heard of an incident but I don't remember what it was. I thought at the time 3-7 was jinxed. I was there also in Rock when an F105 went down. We could see the smoke from topside.

[@franknsnodge]

How many schools or hospitals or houses could have been built for the same cost?

[@montanaplease]

Or think about how many more welfare checks could’ve been cut to all those that didn’t feel like working for the price of just one of these stupid Silos

[@rogermenendez4052]

I believe the one west of Oracle is for sale.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

That one sold actually. My friend bought it and is doing some neat stuff with it :)

[@chefchemist7343]

I live 1/4th of a mile from the Titan II missile museum in Sahuarita, AZ...there are many abandoned sites around this area that are just absolutely fascinating to visit. Thanks for the video...the site you have here is near Madera Canyon recreational area...Continental 571-5, Site 6.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Nice! We must live pretty close to eachother actually. My brother and I both live in Sahuarita and have always loved to go to the museum. We still remember when the long cableway at 571-5 was topside just sitting there. Eventually it was hauled off and scrapped, sad day!

[@BPerezsr]

The missile site in Madera Canyon recreational area 571-5, is Site 1-5. Former MCCC 571SMS Site 5-1. Retired Major Ben Perez Sr.

[@kiereluurs1243]

Yes, makes me realize what a gigantic task this was. And costs.

[@michaelgallagher2663]

Did Each Titan Have It’s Own Launch Crew?

[@JustinHunnicutt]

Those inflation costs seem to be off by at least a factor of 10x. I quickly checked multiple cpi inflation calculators for 1960 and the highest I got was much less than 180 million which would be 1/10 of the value you mentioned. Awesome video though. Would have been cool to hear about what's happened to them since the 80s if you want to make a follow up.

[@kentkirkpatrick7953]

There's one west of Spokane Washington in medial lake WA.

[@FJ80Coop]

You couldn't even begin construction on something this size today due to satellites always watching and tracking... Back then there were none and no one saw anything unless they were in country and eyes on..

[@josephbennett3482]

With how there is so much construction work here in the US it wouldn't be very obvious what is being built and there is technology to block satellites from viewing certain areas of the country. But these days we don't need to have underground silo's because we have other ways of launching warheads.

[@greglewis8041]

If you live in this ED, you would never worry about 🌪️ tornado's again!!

[@mayakovski]

It's amazing how efficient and effective construction used to be. Now the entire industry is mired in red-tape, consultants and graft payments. It has becomes an embarrassing joke.

[@SJR_Media_Group]

Amazing what man can build when presented with a negative outcome if not built. They did the almost impossible, in an almost impossible location. Glad we were never 'tested' for our resolve. I have seen where some of these silos have been repurposed; private home, high end doomsday bunker, etc.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

They built these places in record time!

[@SJR_Media_Group]

@@ThompsonAtomicRanch very impressive

[@LeicaM11]

I assumed, the US is modernized and do not use inches, feet and miles anymore. 😮

[@floorpizza8074]

Great video, but the background music overwhelms the narration to the point that captions are necessary. IMO, background music detracts from narration as a general rule, serving no purpose other than to make the narrator more difficult to understand. Just a thought for future videos.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Thanks for your input :)

[@riverman4798]

WOW.. And thank you. I have always wondered how these were built.

[@ropeaccessinspection9472]

Excellent video, thanks so much for all the photos and video of such a great piece of history.

[@klettersteig599]

Great presentation, curious how you calculated inflation though, 12.6 mil would be a lot closer to $115 mil today..

[@robdavy4468]

Yeh that's what I got too. Over a billion just didn't pass the sniff test

[@montanaplease]

Perhaps inflation of the materials but now you have to pay so much more per worker especially by the time you include a 401(k), healthcare.

[@montanaplease]

1960’s at maybe $5 an hour compared to $30 plus today for 5000 workers

[@VaporheadATC]

Back when the Corp of Engineers actually knew how to do things quickly. CoE now would never be able to accomplish this. They are so incompetent that it took them nearly 3 years to pave a thousand foot section of road leading up to a entry gate on our base.

[@SteveWright-oy8ky]

Basically, it's the way the funding gets spent and list of priorities, Bean counters and politicians get in the way of doing the job !

[@randbarrett8706]

And how much utility have been provided by these facilities? How much benefit did all the money spent provide anybody?

[@jimritter9769]

COE didn't build these. Martin Thycol chemical Corp. Built most of them

[@radsdad1]

That's 2 billion dollars in 2024.

[@travelinman70]

wow, what perspective on the enormity of this construction. Thank you for the reference.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

No problem at all! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@byronking9573]

Fascinating presentation. Love the background music. Great narration and information. Visuals are excellent. Many thanks for creating this video and posting it.

[@bb21again.67]

Is it really a hummer or just body panels?

[@cruisemissle87]

Seeing this in a new light since the war in Ukraine. We under-appreciate how vital these efforts have been for global political stability even today.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

So true! They play a key role in keeping the peace in this crazy world!

[@VasE1980]

Безумие просто. 44 закопанных небоскрёба.

[@buckmanriver]

Correction. There is a complex in Colorado of HY 70.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

I think there are some Titan I complexes in Colorado. The only places Titan ii complexes are located are in California, Arizona, Kansas and Arkansas.

[@bubbaseth1]

My dad helped build those. Cool video!

[@MCarrick-ss7xc]

Greetings from SAC Omaha . Never knew how close the Soviets could hit. No bad but not good enough. CCP will make this call, well it was a good run. Time to skin that smoke wagon.

[@SteveWright-oy8ky]

In the several books I've read, the USSR could hardly get their missiles off their own country, let alone make it to the USA and hit the target ! Gary Allen's book, "Say NO To The New World Order" is a chapter of a Congessional Investigation of the Commerce Dept having shipped in 1962, PRECISION MICRO BALL-BEARING GRINDING MACHINES TO THE USSR ! It was noted the USSR had real problems getting their servos, gyros, and other related equipment to function accurately. Only the USA possessed the ability to mass produce precision micro ball-bearings. The BRYANT CHUCKING GRINDER CO. was the ONLY company IN THE WORLD that made such a machine,... and the US GOVT SOLD 6 of these machines to the USSR ! Later, when NIXON was pres, He gave 12 more machines to the USSR ! Within a few years, the accuracy of the USSR's missiles could now find and hit the targets ! PLUS ,... we gave them the ability to MIRV their warhead ! ( Multiple Independent Re-Entry Vehicle ) !

[@JoshHookerJoshhook123]

The museum in Tucson is definitely a must see

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

It really is! They do such a good job over there of preserving this awesome history!

[@barriewright2857]

Absolutely amazing. These buildings have to be put back in to use. For civilian usage otherwise it's a waste of a brilliant asset.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Yes, exactly

[@donchaput8278]

You can tour the last remaining one in Tucson, worth the visit! If you want to volunteer you can turn the launch key as well. The engineering of this is absolutely amazing and it's over 60 years old.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

The museum is such a great experience! I’m glad you’ve been able to go there :)

[@mhughes1160]

That’s a drop 💧in the bucket 🪣 compared to what it cost 💰💰💰💰to build Stargate Command in 1997 LoL 😂

[@krashd]

0:40 This documentary only covered one of the four phases...

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Check out my video page and you’ll see that part 2 is there as well :)

[@phillipkalaveras1725]

San Francisco could have built 5 of these Missile Silos for the amount of money they have spent so far on that lop-sided New East Bay Bridge that they are quietly but desperately trying to keep from falling into the bay

[@krashd]

Would five missiles be of more use to San Franciscans than a bridge across the bay?

[@dahur]

I would love to have one of these in my backyard.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

It is SO fun to go out and work at our Titan ii site. Lots of work but it is a blast! Get it?! Jk

[@reallyhappenings5597]

You can buy one if you don't mind the flooding

[@PacoOtis]

Why the pitiful corny music? Did an adult review this video prior to release?

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

How about you just don’t comment and move on. Like the old saying goes…. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all! You should try it!

[@DavidHembrow]

Sickening. People could have been housed, fed or educated but instead we wasted resources on weapons.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

So true my friend. It’s sad that the world is the way it is. Still tho, there are always those that are selfish, destructive and hateful and because of that, nations must take measures like this to hold evil at bay. If only the world was peaceful, then we could spend time and money on what matters most, helping others to thrive :)

[@robertsimmons3556]

Good video. Very informative! Forgot to ask you last post, your new to you case 540...did you get a 4x4, 4 and 1 with the extend a hoe? It definitely will come in handy for you guys.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

We purchased the 2wd without the extendahoe

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Thanks for watching!

[@winstonsmith478]

I don't know who did the inflation adjusted cost calculation, but it seemed WAY too high, so I checked and it was. $1 in 1961 equals $10.29 in 2023. $12,600,000 x 10.29 = $129,654,000 So, that's $129.6 million, NOT $1.8 Billion

[@syntaxerorr]

Where is @Titan Ranch death wears bunny slippers? We need some new content!

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

GT is keeping way busy out there. He is now renting out his site as a vacation rental and also does other events. Way cool!

[@deejayimm]

Imagine being a part of something like that.

[@odustbrown1836]

How did you come up with $1,800,000,000.00? You think maybe you're about an order of magnitude off?

[@anotherxander]

My high school was named after the titan rockets

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

No way! Thats awesome! What school did you go to? I know the Palo Verde Titans here in Tucson were named after the Titan II program

[@803mastiff9]

I toured the one in Tucson. If I rembwr correctly, the monthly electric build for a site was close to $90,000.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

Yikes! Ours stays at 65 degrees year round since we have no computers or other equipment running.

[@803mastiff9]

@@ThompsonAtomicRanch I could be wrong but as I remember the rocket propellant required the temperature to be maintained at specific degree otherwise it went boom.

[@ThompsonAtomicRanch]

@@803mastiff9 correct! It has to be maintained at about 60 degrees or so

[@803mastiff9]

@@ThompsonAtomicRanch You live in a silo? For what ever reason, I have always found the idea of subterranean living fascinating . What is the most interesting thing you have noticed about living under ground and how does it affect the quality of sleep?

[@mirkopg69]

I like the logo u used in your channel 😉....is doctor strange love right😅