Ground Zero - Main Street, Wyoming

The first and final battles of the Cold War were fought from F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne. Wyoming played a key role in winning the Cold War, from the dawn of the Atomic Age to the decommissioning of the controversial Peacekeeper ICBM in 2005. Incredible archives and interviews reveal this fascinating history, and take viewers into the remaining missile silos where a new generation of missileer keeps watch over launch facilities.

[@CC-te5zf]

I'll retire in a few months with a little over 37 years with the Minuteman. I'm proud of my career, the family and friends it brought me, and I'm most proud that we landed in Cheyenne to plant our roots. This was a great video!

[@bigredinfinity3126]

At least you didn't get to push the button so to speak

[@-jeff-]

I was a Missile Comm Tech in the 2149th for a year at F.E. Warren from 79-80. Living in a basement appartment on the corner of 16th and G streets. Loved Cheyenne!

[@kaypro2872]

Thanks for your service and sacrifice.

[@jimbutke655]

I only spent a few years at Warren in the 80s. EMT Team Chief. Lots of great memories of the “good old days” in SAC 😂seriously though still keep in touch with friends I served with. Big flat country out there!

[@nenblom]

Thank you so much for your service.

[@tallwalls76]

Barry Mcguire sang “Eve of Destruction” over 50 years ago. Longest twilight ever.

[@kennewton9369]

Wasn’t the missile crew motto a dark joke on the Dominoes Pizza delivery promise. Something like, “We deliver anywhere in the world in 30-minutes or less, else it’s free”?

[@tomp8094]

We had one squadron of Minuteman IIIs at Malmstrom AFB MT. That system could carry three Re-Entry Vehicles and the CDB crew members used to say "If the first one's not there in 30 minutes - the next two are free."

[@jackpleier5534]

I retired from the 320 MS. Lots of people are not aware, but the Cheyenne bar called the Eagles Nest on Lincoln Way has a sign that says BAR. That sign is on a Atlas Missile Cradle.

[@Celphtitled585]

Now that’s a fun fact!!! Thanks for sharing

[@Ammo08]

I was stationed at FE Warren AFB in the early 70s and helped to put the Minuteman III in.

[@gozorak]

90th FMMS PMT 1988-1990 I wasnt at FE Warren and in Cheyenne very long but I loved it so very much there. Dern, I miss Taco Johns

[@williamferro1738]

I was stationed there as well. From 1970 to 1974. This was when Boeing was in the middle of upgrading from the Minuteman 1 to the Minuteman 3. Everyone hated us and call us Baby Killer, spit on us. Guy's were hiding long hair under their caps so they would get pick on. It broke my heart. I waa so proud of What I had done.

[@thetreblerebel]

I dig the "My Own Summer" background music for 10 seconds. You cant miss that guitar riff!

[@bobsnyder3309]

Years ago we were doing some work in the soft support building and for some reason the A circuit tripped. It took security 20 minutes to get there. Not a knock on the cops, they were on the far side of the area.

[@michaelquillen2679]

We had a Peacekeeper site just a couple of miles from us. Miss seeing the Air Force personnel in town every day.

[@mrrobertwolfiii1079]

Appreciate you all and hello from Colorado USA Montrose

[@jackkreighbaum783]

I served in the 321st SMS as a launch officer and sector commander (1975-1978), and the launch command center certainly didn't look like it is today...very digitally upgraded. And, the above ground security was certainly more primitive than today.

[@pandoraeverett5715]

Jack Kreighbaum i was there too 78-82 in Base Comm ctr

[@tomp8094]

I was a Minuteman II Crew Member and my crew time was also in the old Boeing Capsule prior to the REACT Upgrade (was actually working at HQ SAC and helped implement that modification after getting off crew). I was a Flight Commander of Delta Flight 10th SMS, an Evaluator for one year and finished up my time in DOTI as an Instructor Crew Commander and Chief of the Training Materials Branch in the Minuteman Instructor Division. Peace ... is our profession.

[@pandoraeverett5715]

Served at FE Warren 78-82 rem being 17 and had no real idea what i was involved in,, youth is scary

[@jasonstacey8577]

You can't just let one go and say ,(oops my bad).😂😂😂😂😂

[@nynomadfjc3907]

with as windy as Cheyenne is, it actually makes me happy I was in Minot and Malmstrom. ~ Minot Mechshop/ SST Malmstrom

[@walcoman]

Actually, and I speak from experience, that barren, boring state is the definition of non stop fucking wind! Unbelievable, you can definitely have it, all of it is, minus maybe 8 percent of it, is basically the surface of the moon, yawn! 😩

[@nmelkhunter1]

So, you don't live in Wyoming?

[@r64g]

Deterrence is a state of mind. It only works when your adversary is fully convinced that you will carry out the ultimate counter strike. This counterintuitive thing is what keeps the peace. It’s as ugly as human nature itself, but it’s as necessary as we are to remain human.

[@chetpomeroy1399]

This was the philosophy behind Mutually-Assured Destruction (MAD), and it worked for 45 years.

[@rochpremier]

The problem with this philosophy is that some of our adversaries believe they will be joining their 11 virgins in the sky when they go to eternity and that we will no longer exist. When they have the same nuclear capabilities they will wont care if we launch because we as infadels will pass and they will go to the heavens. They will want us to launch.

[@rochpremier]

This will fail against an enemy that believes their life starts in an afterlife.

[@chuckg7311]

Making the unthinkable routine

[@kellywright540]

Spent two weeks at F. E. Warren when I went to visit my sister and brother-in-law - bro in law was a USAF officer. The history of the base is awesome and the USAF folks are top notch!

[@mikes7639]

Ive worked at bangor sub base and im telling you those guys are not kidding and im am sure glad they on our side

[@jackpleier5534]

Missileers are only on site for 24 hours. The security, chief, and facility manager are out for 3 days.

[@RCPM1]

Right now it is for 36 hours

[@mrrobertwolfiii1079]

Lot of team work.

[@longrider42]

I've lived in Cheyenne since 1974, and I've seen lots of changes. As far as the folk in the silo's go. I knew one. In the evenings he would often call me when he was missile sitting cause he was bored stiff, course this was back in the 90s. I actually watched the building of a "practice" silo on the base, and I have a reasonably good idea where "extra" war heads are stored. At one Silo site, I think in western Nebraska, the antelope where so bad the security guys carried "Hunting" Slingshots and would lob 3/4 inch steel ball bearings at the critters. One guy hit one in the head and dropped it, didn't kill it. That's just the way it is.

[@tommym321]

All these soldiers out there with their huge guns, protecting the base against any stray cow that might wander on over.

[@williamball2392]

I was stationed at FEW 1993-1997 as a Security Police Response Force member (RF4)

[@10314347]

God bless these HEROS!!!!!

[@tulpfiction8920]

Duck n cover greatest example of morale propaganda

[@BradfordGuy]

Thank God none of these systems was ever activated. But the world is still on the brink of destruction - unfortunately.

[@nenblom]

God bless these men and women keeping us safe and keeping the ultimate weapons of mass destruction safe.,

[@mrrobertwolfiii1079]

University credits might be do, pretty cool thanks.

[@MissilemanIII]

I only got to do ten years in missiles at FEW. MHT/MMT. 83-93. My DD-214 states "subject to recall". I wish they would recall me. I'm ready anytime.

[@doncleaver5994]

Sad to say they never adopted the peacekeeper however I’m not convinced any icbm is worthwhile if not mounted on a mobile platform

[@geraldberliner5260]

Twilight's Last Gleaming

[@pontifixmax]

Every job I've had, from working in a homeless shelter during the opiod crisis, to finding myself working in a hospital during the current pandemic, leads me wondering if i'm a magnet for danger. I should never be a missiller.

[@pensacola07]

Anyone stationed at GFAFB around 1978

[@keayrhyasen3071]

wow. no mention of the USAF's involvement in the building of Joint Force Ground Launched Tomahawk Cruise Missiles in five separate European Countries around the mid to late '80s? each MOB (Maintenance/Operations Base) consisted of six flights with deploy-able missiles, crews and Security Forces, capable of launching a theater-wide 480 terrain tracking, 1500 mile range, undetectable, unstoppable Nuclear Capable, "I'm Going To Shit On Your Parade and There's Nothing You Can Do About It" Weapons System. i believe the Cold War battle was won more closer to the Enemy Lines than in the Bread Basket of America. 487th Tactical Missile Wing; 487th Missile Security Squadron, Comiso, AS, Italy, USAFE 1985-86

[@gulfwarveteran3832]

Worked on these sites from 1986to1990

[@jimbutke655]

90th OMMS/EMT ‘86-89

[@bobsnyder3309]

Make no mistake many of the ranchers weren't happy about how the government went about getting their land for the Minuteman system.

[@tomp8094]

One of my fondest memories of being on crew is traveling out to the field to pull an alert tour and stopping in small Montana towns such as Stanford and Judith Gap (we were allowed a brief stop if we were not transporting Classified Targeting Materials or Code Materials). Each of these towns usually had a General Store and when we walked in to stock up on snacks for our upcoming time on alert we were wearing our distinctive Crew Blues uniforms. The place would have local Farmers / Ranchers socializing while drinking their morning coffee. Almost all of these men were WWII or Korean War combat veterans. To a man, they would walk over, greet us then shake our hands while thanking us for as they put it - "Protecting their Freedom." Still get a little watery eyed when I think of how these men respected and appreciated the job we did.

[@darthsk8ter480]

I got a good friend that sleeps in the silo ...he dreams about turning the key ...thats some hard ass lyrics...

[@brandonheston8608]

I wish I got into the army 33 years old doing Labor work

[@berylrosenberg704]

Do they install a Dominoes logo on the side of those Minutemen missiles? Delivered in 30 minutes or the next one is free?! LOL! G-d Bless and sustain our service men/women for acting as G-d's servants to protect the freedoms of the USA! Install those new superfuzes in the warheads and spend more to keep up moral, training and lethality. You are working at a CRITICAL role within the military even if it may be tedious or boring.

[@jackpleier5534]

Beryl Rosenberg, when Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City SD had a missile wing, Delta Flight area had the Dominos Logo on the blast door to the capsule. That site is now the US Missile Museum, just off I-90 near Phillip SD.

[@55commander]

Trident 2 Missile.

[@ElectoneGuy]

No mention of the Titan?

[@sarge505050]

Titan's were decommissioned decades ago. These puppies are solid fuel and require a lot less maintenance than the liquid fueled Titan's. My dad used to be commander of the Western Test Range and I got to go to the command center a couple of times and watch a launch of the Titan II's for space use, not nuke tipped.

[@tombyrd1790]

9 years at GFAFB Missile Security , SET,MFT. Campers

[@sircampbell1249]

Lived it in good old Cheyenne..

[@bammab977]

Peacekeeper important but the third leg of the nuclear triad, the US Navy SSBN force was the primary force in keeping eastern bloc countries in line. They knew were the land based assets were. They could not find the SSBN force. No matter what they did, the SSBN force could retaliate.

[@JayWalkerTexasRadio]

@ 5:45 - 5:53 now there's a scary thought for you to consider at this point in time....

[@greghawkins1025]

The President of the United States isn't the only one who can authorize the launch of nuclear weapons. No one person has that much authority. The proper authorities at NORAD & secretary of defense all have to agree. The president isn't allowed to even see the launch codes without permission form the person who's in control of the nuclear command suitcase.

[@harryflash4680]

Correct me if I'm wrong but 'POTUS' is the only one who can authorise launch, but confirmation that it is him has to be given by an official of cabinet rank - thr two man rule.

[@sunray8136]

That's good to know. We don't want Grampa Joe in charge of nuclear weapons

[@odar9729]

Hahah whatever they recently got in trouble for ordering pizza to a secret places bc guys are sleeping there

[@humphrey4976]

How on earth do you steal a missile

[@Chu3505]

You don’t steal to take the whole missile.You just take the missile nuclear warheads that are around 100 pounds or less.If you’re ever manages to penetrates the nuclear weapons laundering sites the last lines of defenses.

[@mrrobertwolfiii1079]

Save them up. 100 MX Missiles. Old program new technology with platform. Good but pause before go. 6:13 June 16 2023 Astrodes Buster's.

[@krakenwoodfloorservicemcma5975]

Wyoming is so badass.

[@CN-dv9nj]

I was two and a half when my dad went to Air Force Missile School at FE Warren. He enlisted in 1950-51 and retired in 1973. His expertise became the remote assignments of Missile Maintainers. The Missile bases of the Pacific Theater (a stretch of silo's along an island hopping route from West of Hawaii ie Wake and Midway to Guam) and areas from Azores Islands up into the North Atlantic over to North America Continent. I value being raised the daughter of a MMS Airman. I embrace the title that dependent kids of servicemen that travels as a military family go by. We are B.R.A.T's. Queen Victoria researched identifying the cause of damaged morale of her military. The science found that soldiers felt abandonment guilt and love of home unfulfilled. The Queen in her ledger budgeted for BRITISH REGIMENTAL ASSOSSIATED TRAVELERS. BRAT. We are all inclusive, no divisions between branches or allied countries. And I dare say the 15,000,000 BRAT's would , if left up to us, would include the children of our enemies. They serve the same role at the moment of their birth into a Military family. But I digress. We were stationed at MacDil AFB in 1962. Dad was in the Silo's for quite a few days preceding, during and after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Tampa Florida and Homestead AFB near Miami were initial targets of Communist Missile Weapons built up on the sly in Cuba. Maintainers are the ultimate of cool calm collected speak softly and carry a big stick. In my entire life, I have never heard my father raise his voice. He made sure we had reason to respect our dad as property of the Federal Government by his choice, AF MMS was his purpose and he served you and me and every citizen in the USA and our allied countries by protecting our freedoms, conditions of Justice remain the outcome desired. Peace is the profession war is just a hobby.

[@jamespeddycord4705]

And now the Chinese own all the ground around these silos....hack proof ...unless you tunnel in under ground. You could never do that before from above ground. You'd be seen and caught. Now they can tunnel in from a nearby structure where all the dirt is hidden... I was an airman in the late seventies working on the launch facilities. 90 fmms.

[@howardalteisen2281]

TANYA she the one who can face Boris😂🤣

[@xmanhoe]

Boris Johnson too 🤣

[@yeticlimber2768]

What you do,After the shooting of your Atomic Missel? Your live are over at this Moment😥

[@adamantturner5019]

We are less safe with fewer weapons.

[@jeffw6401]

I don't think that is true; although you would imagine and hope to be true. Analyze the current weapons currently fielded in all the European and Asian theaters of 'conflict'.. Some 'less weapons' but more, insanely destructive. Other 'higher quantity of weapon systems' and more radically, insanely, and more destructive. We haven't even addressed those weapons being developed globally, in chemical, and biological research laboratories. We can develope methods of destroying mankind, but we cannot live in peace with each other. Leaving it up to our 'species' we will never get the formulae for peacefulcoexistence, no matter how we try. Mankind only wants to dominate; with a lust for power and control.

[@adamantturner5019]

Lindi was a today's Karen. We should have kept the MX and replaced all Minuteman III with MX.

[@Chu3505]

The United States still have around 200-250 Nukes missiles in the MX configuration.The rest of it 800-900 configuration are in Minuteman 3 Nukes missiles.That enough to destroying the Russian,Chinese and any countries with any kinds of nuclear weaponries missiles three times over.Also most of our NATO allies countries have some too and with Minuteman 3 Nukes missiles.So no needed to spend more money to building any more those weaponries that can wipeout the human species.

[@henryvagincourt4502]

Adam Ant Turner+ Down to cost.

[@bhbluebird]

Just as boring as it is important.

[@BRUtahn]

Are all these people just ok with killing their own family? Or lots of other families? Because that's what it means if you actually push that button.

[@VideoArchiveGuy]

Yes. That's what the military does, sorry if that bothers you.

[@allandavis8201]

I find it a little conceited that the missile bases in Wyoming “won the Cold War”, but as with everything concerning wars involving the USA, from WWI through to Iraqi and Afghanistan wars the USA makes claims based on the USA being the victorious, when in effect the USA is a member of the allied forces that fought those wars, admittedly a large part, but still only a part, the USA couldn’t have been victorious alone, even the war of independence, colonies of the Americas needed the French, otherwise the now USA would perhaps of still been a Great British territory. Whilst the free world needed and appreciated the industrial and military might of the USA it seems that those feelings are not reciprocated by any documentary makers or large proportions of the USA citizens or military. The USA stabbed the British squarely in the back post WWII by refusing us the full access to nuclear weapons information that the British scientists had played a major role in developing, right up to the point they were unceremoniously sent home, only bringing with them the information in their brains, and then the USA administration put into law that those secrets could never be shared with any ‘ALLIED’ nation, but were quite happy to station American missiles on British soil, so, thanks for nothing USA, it really great having a “special relationship” with you.............NOT. 😔😡👎🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 P.S if you think I have a chip on my shoulder you are 100% correct, but if you think I care what others think of my opinions then........DILLIGAF.

[@henryvagincourt4502]

Dj Phantom+ Well that was a rant.

[@ronlee5571]

Seems Stalin comments and Churchills comments toward the end of the war don’t align with what you are stating above…..

[@stephaneracicot791]

at 23.56 new world order wtf....lolo