US Air Force | Primed for Defense | The Minuteman Missile System

Overview of the US Air Force Minuteman II system.

[@ThomasCox-d7n]

I also was assigned to the 321 SMW from 72 through 75 as a member of the Electro Mechanical Team (EMT). Great times!

[@randywilson944]

I was assigned to the 321st Missile Wing at Grand Forks AFB with the Minuteman III decades ago during my time in SAC.

[@gwilbur1]

I was at Grand Forks with the Minuteman III as well...I was Electronics Lab in the late 70's and early 80's.

[@goldgeologist5320]

I was a Minuteman Launch officer at Malmstrom 490th Strategic Missile Squadron from 1984-1988. Stressful, demanding, work. Round to have served holding the keys!

[@mtrld]

I was stationed at Malmstrom AFB, Montana from 1969-1972. I was a missile control communications tech. Worked in the hole many hours as well as in the Launch control facility.

[@NeverDieKnight]

Give us more info man, would be so interested in your work experience:)

[@bulgingbattery2050]

Every single nuclear ballistic missile is going to be up in the air when NATO and Russia formally go to war in the not-too-distant future.

[@aliskiron4778]

You should have pressed the red bottom!!

[@aliskiron4778]

YOU SHOULD HAVE PRIMED AND LAUNCH A MISSILE. THEN WE WOULD WITNESS THE MAGNIFICENT HORROR IT CAN CAUSE!

[@johnfraser6013]

Me too ~ worked at the 564th strategic missile wing, at Malmstrom AFB, from 1973 to’75. 341st comm. squadron. Was down in those launch control centers regularly ~testing / replacing radio gear. Those blast doors were impressive! It was an exciting job.

[@mra2957]

What memories it brings back from Ellsworth AFB. Driving out to the missile sites in western South Dakota to do maintenance on the LF soft support building generator and the LCF generator.

[@paul06660]

6:10 I use to live close to missile field H and J in El Dorado Springs, MO back in the very early 90's. There were a bunch of launch sites around that region of MO. But now they are all gone. In the lower right corner is a map of Lake of the Ozarks. This video sure does bring back their memory. We use to go hunting in the Schell-Osage wildlife area and would walk by two of them pretty close. Ill never forget the ominous clean white paint and antennae sticking up out the ground, and the warning signs of deadly force authorized.

[@johnmills4821]

I too started at Ellsworth in Combat Targeting in from 77-81, then Vandenberg from 81-85, Grand Forks from 85-92 and finally at Malmstrom from 92-94. Combat Targeting in the first 6 years, then Electro-Mechanical Team for the next couple of years, finally finishing up with Plans and Scheduling. I worked on all Minuteman configurations plus Peacekeeper Guidance Design Testing.

[@jacobsparry8525]

My grand of father worked at Aerojets and helped to designed the Polaris SLBM, the first dry fuels SLBM which could geted launched at +55 feet under waters, go uped in a bubble of super hot dry steam and broach the surface , then popped up and when it did stopped going up it ignitioned and blasted off for space and the targets. Also he did worked at Jackass Flats National Test Areas, Area 25, on to NERVA Project for nuclear space crafts engines.

[@defcon1africa676]

Wow

[@mrlodwick]

Just got to say thank God we are allies, Tim Uk - you guys are on the button!

[@Bert-bx9xp]

Brings back many memories.

[@rubensandri740]

Fantastic video , thanks.

[@oldkstater1114]

I was at Minot (ND) from 1972-74 and was in crew on Minuteman 3. First on African Americans--to be an officer (with few exceptions) you had to be a college graduate, and the Air Force desired technical degrees (like science and engineering). My degree was Chemistry. That is part of the reason that there were so few black officers at the time. However, among the enlisted, there were plenty of blacks, especially in the Security Police (which was the biggest squadron up there, because they had all the bombs, plus they had to guard the 15 off-base missile control centers, any maintenance teams working on missiles. and more. Yes, there were incidents up there, but few when I was there, and probably a lot fewer than in the civilian population. Second, the standard laying up there was that there was 6 months of winter and 3 days of summer; also that the state tree was the telephone pole and the state bird was the mosquito. I took my wife up there to show here around two months and to allow her maid-of-honor to visit with my best-man and former roommate. It was the first week in August, and we left Kansas and 95+ degree weather; it never got up to 70 all three days we were there. The comment about hot summer days really only applies to Missouri, but the missile part of that base shut down decades ago (1990's ?) when treaties reduced Minuteman missiles from 1000 to about 400. Only 4 of the 5 Northern bases still have a missile group.

[@WednesdayAddamsMW]

Thank you for your service, Airman.

[@j.mangum7652]

Hey, you might just be the guy I need to ask this question: Do you have any idea as to why the strategic nuclear missile force didn't fall onto the pervue and custody of the US Army but rather USAF? There seems to be, at least to me that it would be the army that would be somewhat the logical choice to have been given responsibility to oversee the silos. Although I don't understand how such arrangements were/are decided but my thought of this was stemmed from the history of how the USAF and US Navy fought for funding primacy. For example the USN hemming and hawing about how the Convair B-36 being a budgetary waste compared to their then new nuclear subs. My question is mostly about why the three most major branches of the DoD didn't have equal access to the nuclear triad scheme. Not that the army didn't have nuclear weapon responsibilities i.e. Davy Crocket rocket artillery, Honest John, Little John and Pershings I and II short/medium range ballistic missiles and the M65 atomic cannon (AtomicAnnie).

[@oldkstater1114]

@@j.mangum7652 Range is limited on missiles, so Northern bases are closer to Russia than Southern. The same applies to bombers. However, Army bases tend to be in more temperate climates, with the coldest I know of is Fort Riley in Kansas. I do not know of any in the Norther interior states. Second, an important consideration is the distance from the 100 fathom line, which is were the subs are assumed to lurk before launching. Minot is about 15 minutes from that point. The most Southern base (Whiteman in Missouri) was one of the 2 bases shut down in the 1990's treaty result because of that basis (and it had the older Minuteman II missiles). Third is isolation. You do not want them near major population centers. The 4 states with remaining missiles are North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana, which are some of the least populous states. Also the control centers and missiles are spread out (minimum 3 miles apart) so that a single warhead cannot take out more than one spot. That requires a lot of area. At Minot, the farthest control center (in the 1970's) was Hotel at 99 driving miles from the base. The one I normally worked was 55 miles. Some of the earlier missiles were located further south. The 3 Titan bases (18 missiles each, shut down in the early 1980's) were at Wichita, KS, Little Rock, Ark, and Phoenix, Ariz (I think). Some of the earlier 1950's Atlas missiles were located in places near Salina and Topeka in Kansas, but those were completely gone by the late 1960's when they were finishing the Minuteman series.

[@majoroz4876]

For missile MAINTENANCE, they liked STEM grads. But for launch.....any bachelor degree will do. Many launch officers I knew were flight training washouts. I was an enlisted guidance tek on the Matador and Mace TAC missiles and wound up OIC of Maintenance Training Division at Warren, some years later........on to SAC and retirement in '81. Enlisted Minuteman maintenance teks had the LOWEST re-enlistment in the AF (still do, from the reports I get). The Triad works !

[@oldkstater1114]

@@majoroz4876 many pilots took their second tour in missiles because it counted as a combat assignment and looked good on their record when it came time for promotion to major and beyond.

[@carljacobs1260]

It was 40 years ago this week I pulled my first alert at Kilo One at Minot. And this film (though basically accurate) was absolutely hilarious. Let's just say it was "slightly over-dramatized".

[@cullyx2913]

Very informative

[@Roddy556]

When they turned the missile ignition key the sound editor should have put in the sound of an old diesel turning over. I think it would give some mich needed comedic relief.

[@maercyme61]

Great example of an "informational film" putatively for Americans but really aimed at the Soviets: "We're better at this that you are--don't mess with us."

[@jamesbarnard9710]

OMG! Aligning the guidance system using Swiss-made theodolites and targeting using the big console inside the T-van. That was Minuteman I, boys an' girls. The targeting set for MMII was about the size of a briefcase. How do I know? Cause I was a Targeting team chief and Maintenance Field Supervisor, both at Malmstrom AFB 1965-69. Looked simple when the team chief announced (probably to Job Control) that he had completed the job and the bird was "green" (light on the launch officer's panel). Try and do that alignment procedure when the air temp on the surface was below zero! The targeting job took at least three and a half hours...if you were lucky and the guidance system came up the first time! Then there was driving time in the truck that could take several hours, if the road conditions weren't too bad. One time had to wait until the third time we punched the "can" into alignment and calibrate, and Job Control told us our 16 hour timelines had been waived by SAC headquarters..."Stay there until it's green!" Getting there could be interesting if the truck didn't break down. Had one T-van #805 that would blow the freeze plugs in the engine if the temp was below freezing. If we got that truck and it was colder, we weren't going to get to the site! One time, in an Alignment (only) van, we had lunch at a truck stop, and when I hopped in the "shotgun" seat, my assistant team chief, a buck sergeant, handed me the gear shift lever, and said, "Here, lieutenant, you shift for awhile!" Nowadays, targeting is done from the capsule (Missile Alert Facility), and I don't know what else!

[@derrickwilson7467]

That incessant high pitch beeping in the control capsule would be enough to dissuade me from becoming a missileer.

[@MTF.TAU5..Bob.]

That thing will keep me up a night if that is my alarm clock

[@terryadams2652]

if there were a nuclear war, that beeping would be the least of your (or our) problems.

[@slabbadanks5829]

I bet they didnt even tell you about it until you were fully trained and qualified. Oh by the way, there's a non stop beep in your tiny capsule of an office. Enjoy!

[@scootertooter6874]

The incessant high pitched beeping was not the case in real life.

[@donm5354]

17:00 Milking the Cows right next to a NUCLEAR MISSILE .... that must have been weird

[@williamzinser2378]

Great....

[@shawnbaker5909]

These Great American Patriots are in fact very professional

[@aliskiron4778]

WHICH THEY SHOULD NOT AND SHOULD LAUNCH A MISSILE!!

[@amyjojinkerson6745]

The G and C is the final stage that positions the R.V to the assigned window to release the war head

[@1deadhorse]

Nice to see how it worked decades ago... It remember me The Movie War Games (1983). ;-) Be good and don't push the booton.

[@alanboswell9722]

FANTASTIC video! Thank you! Could one be trapped inside? Was there only one entrance (other than the larger missile hatch). How much food and water were these provisioned for? I know the M3 silos were not manned.

[@BeachBum8865]

The launch facilities, where the missile was located, were unmanned. The control center had an escape shaft that could be used as a last resort. I don’t think the main door ever had a problem opening.

[@pericbowen4958]

Most of these test are done in seconds..to keep our deterrence of alert..at all times and conditions.

[@LMTDDS]

I like the old Ford station wagon. I like also the formality upon arrival. Is it like that today or just for the filming?

[@studinthemaking]

What does the anti jam mode mean on the radar ground system?

[@jlscott64]

Heh. They could’ve stopped the truck a little closer to the gate for that guy.

[@LMTDDS]

Show us the maintenance personnel attempting to open the combo. locks in the middle of a No. Dak.blizzard.

[@monsantofungaro5704]

Looks like they're out by the Dahlberg farm.

[@CO84trucker]

The Day After... good one.

[@kansascity1967]

In Harrisonville, Missouri, rsrsrsrsrs

[@WednesdayAddamsMW]

You know what that means, don't you? Either we fired first and they're gonna try to hit what's left or they fired first and we just managed to get our missiles out of the ground in time. Either way, we're going to get hit.

[@johncline7518]

@@WednesdayAddamsMW What about Starr and Boyle?

[@amkrause2004]

Lol good one. Or the Hendry's Farm. The farm that had the silo in their back yard

[@johnnycrash3270]

26:05 aling the missle with a special stone target IE: farmer bobs cow 1000 yards away

[@tinman3586]

10:28 "I got a sneak preview on Netflix..." 😂😅

[@1911Earthling]

1000 minutemen missiles. Wow.

[@everettrhay4855]

I’m sorry, we’re going to bore sight our ICBM is that what I just saw. I realize with a 10 ish meg yield close is good enough. Holy smokes man, a known fixed point of reference is that pylon.

[@glockops]

What are the odds that Russia puts this much effort in maintaining their missiles?

[@F5Storm1]

Makes you wonder lol

[@goldgeologist5320]

The answer is no.

[@christopherleubner6633]

So ironic that i've seen several bits and pieces shown in this video offered on ebay. Makes me wonder what they do now... 🤔

[@General.Longstreet]

America at its finest.

[@malcolmt7883]

I don't see how they worked with that constant fife music and drums.

[@barneylinet6602]

Not bad for 1950s/1960s technology.

[@johnmills4821]

Designed so well by slide rule engineers. They built an awesome system that other nations could only dream of.

[@thomasthomas2418]

15:11 Maybe if IT had this kind of cool music in the background, it might improve their performance!

[@studinthemaking]

Alpha bravo bravo to delta delta road.

[@ashleesue]

So glad I didn't pigeon hole myself into missile maintenance when I joined.

[@timothyhonaker7989]

I was missile maintenance 71-75 but a 316X1(air to air and air to ground).

[@johnmills4821]

I loved my entire career in Missile maintenance. I served on four bases, worked on all weapon systems and thoroughly enjoyed myself as most of my friends. You should have stayed.

[@ashleesue]

@@johnmills4821 I'm glad it worked for you and are happy. I was able to get an assignment to Germany and traveled in Europe with my AFSC, and wasn't stuck in the mid-west US. I finished my 20 in reserves.

[@johnmills4821]

I made friends with ranchers and farmers all over the Great Plains. Grand Forks was my favorite tour and would have loved to stay there, just very few jobs. The city of Grand Forks put on an extravagant Airman Appreciation weekend every year. They would give away a car, truck and a motorcycle plus everyone got something valued at at $400+. Everyone young Airman that is. A local rancher would donate a steer and city council, the PD and FD along with the Officers and NCO’s would serve. They flew in 2 tons of crab legs, 1 ton of lobster tails plus all the fixings. I never saw that anywhere except at Grand Forks. At Malmstrom the locals shot the site signs off the fences thus they installed smaller signs. At Ellsworth, the locals and Native Americans despised us and often bullied us. The businesses of Rapid City demanded we not be seen in uniform except for going to and from the base. They jacked prices for automobiles and stuck it to the military. Same with Vandenberg.

[@jonathanfleet8017]

Does anyone know what the opening intro music is?

[@smj10251974]

is that john facenda narrating??? from nfl films?

[@bobf3598]

Still using hot launch facilities. So antiquated.

[@Uns_Maps_8]

Hopefully not everything is being disclosed but these places seemed heavily understaffed, especially security personnel.

[@thestateofalaska]

i think the general idea is that if the alarm systems on the site go off they’ll send a massive force from the base that will arrive before anyone has time to break through all the concrete. Easier than manning several hundred sites

[@Uns_Maps_8]

@@thestateofalaska could be but then maybe too late… Once again, maybe not everything disclosed. Hopefully

[@xnavyro]

I didn’t see any precautions associated with radiation exposure? Wouldn’t the warheads be a source of neutron radiation? And wouldn’t it be the norm to check for such radiation when working in such close proximity to the warheads?

[@BeachBum8865]

The warheads were remote from the launch center. There wasn’t a possibility of exposure.

[@tricitiesair]

The pit is kept in a sub critical state.

[@johnmills4821]

Yes, neutron radiation was a problem with the old Mark 7 and 11 warheads. Wearing dosimeters was strictly forbidden, but at the same time exposure was kept to a minimum. The Missile Maintenance Teams and the people at the Weapon Storage Area were the only ones who had direct contact with the bomb. I know quite a few friends who have since died from cancers that have only been seen after severe radiation exposure. The new Mark 12 and 21 do not have those issues due to better shielding.

[@aliskiron4778]

I WISH I WOULD BE THERE AND LAUNCH A MISSILE. I WOULD 😍 TO SEE WW3‌!!!

[@justin8894]

8:49 just going to leave the rear window open?

[@nohandleforme....]

They are turning the vehicle over to the crew they are relieving. So the window doesn't matter.

[@tammywelcher6039]

Not totally accurate, but...I do miss those days at Oscar-01 minot...not the snow tho

[@404notfound.....]

What's stark contrast to today if you gave an order 1/2 the people say yeah yeah yeah!!! 😁 😬

[@matthewwaddington2777]

Primed for Armageddon.

[@RicheBright]

Beeep Beeep Beeep Beeep Beeep Beeep Beeep Beeep Beeep Beeep Beeep Beeep...

[@timschutte6924]

Hyper sonic missiles have made the world very small and very dangerous

[@humansvd3269]

The minuteman 3 with the trident still makes these deadly.

[@booklover6753]

The hypersonic missiles mentioned in the news are short range tactical weapons that have no bearing on strategic concerns. Fox news would have you believe that the United States is at a disadvantage when nothing could be further from the truth. All ICBMs are hypersonic on reentry and always have been. The United States has the best and most accurate deterrent force in history.

[@PolishFatBoy]

2022/?

[@kevinday107]

Yes there's still enough to kill everyone; and yes it's hairs away from happening for real.

[@i93sme]

Same WW2 prototypes as ours 😂😂😂As Germany’s 🤣

[@xandervk2371]

Plus solid propulsion and digital guidance on this one.

[@badbotchdown9845]

So many billions wasted for that unbelievably sad

[@johnmills4821]

Wasted? It kept you free. It’s the least expensive portion of the nuclear triad to operate and the only 24/7/365 on alert weapon system in the world. It’s also by far the most accurate.

[@booklover6753]

@@johnmills4821 Don't forget the Ohio class boats. They are always out there too. Not all at once, but some of them are always on patrol.

[@johnmills4821]

@@booklover6753 yes, but the missiles are not on alert. They have to hover at a certain depth while the guidance systems are warmed up, put through something akin to PIGA level which takes at least 45 minutes before it comes up the strategic alert. Then and only then can they launch. Minuteman/Sentinel is bar bar the least expensive program, the most accurate and the only 24/7/365 on alert system out there, including our enemies.

[@booklover6753]

@@johnmills4821 Hi John. I think that all real information concerning SSBN capabilities is probably strictly classified and that what we can find on the internet is for "public consumption". I'm just saying, don't forget the Silent Service. The enemy is justifiably very afraid of them. They are an integral part of the triad.

[@johnmills4821]

@@booklover6753 it’s right off the internet and Tom Clancy. Open source information.

[@maercyme61]

Great example of an "informational film" putatively for Americans but really aimed at the Soviets: "We're better at this that you are--don't mess with us."

[@kevinday107]

Well it seems we may be about to find out if we really are better. Although electronics won't work amd most people will be dead; so not sure where those results will be stored(it won't be google)