The Missile Plains: Frontline of America's Cold
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The Missile Plains: Frontline of America’s Cold War Historic Resource Study Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, South Dakota Prepared for United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Midwest Regional Office 2003 Prepared under the supervision of: Dr. Jeffrey A. Engel, Principal Investigator Authors: Mead & Hunt, Inc. Christina Slattery Mary Ebeling Erin Pogany Amy R. Squitieri Recommended: Site Manager, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Date Superintendent, Badlands National Park Date Concurred: Chief, Cultural Resources, Midwest Region Date Associate Regional Director Date Cultural Resources and Stewardship Partnerships Approved: Regional Director Date Midwest Region Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Historic Resource Study Table of Contents List of Illustrations ................................................................................................................ iv List of Abbreviations ...........................................................................................................viii Preface....................................................................................................................................x Introduction ..........................................................................................................................xi Establishment and Purpose................................................................................................................... xi Geographic Location ............................................................................................................................. xi Significance of Minuteman Missile National Historic Site............................................................... xi Organization of the Historic Resource Study....................................................................................xii Section 1 – The Cold War and National Armament..................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Cold War (1945–62)....................................................................................................... 1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 1 Origins of the Cold War.......................................................................................................................2 Eisenhower and Waging Peace...........................................................................................................5 Sputnik .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Kennedy Administration and the First Minuteman Deployment................................................. 8 Chapter 2: U.S. Strategic Missile and Armament Systems (1950s–60s)........................................... 14 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Program Beginnings ................................................................. 14 Liquid- Fuel Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles: Atlas and Titan................................................. 17 Chapter 3: Minuteman and the Next Generation (1960s–present).................................................25 The Missile Gap and Minuteman.....................................................................................................25 Development of Solid- Fuel Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.................................................. 26 Minuteman I....................................................................................................................................... 26 Minuteman II ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Minuteman III and the Next Generation........................................................................................32 Section II – Life on the South Dakota Plains: Before, During, and After Minuteman...........40 Chapter 1: Life and Landscape Before Minuteman (to the 1960s) .................................................40 South Dakota Plains Geological Formations.................................................................................40 Native American Settlement ............................................................................................................40 Early European Exploration and the Fur Trade ........................................................................... 42 Euro- American Land Speculation, Settlement, and Immigration.............................................. 42 Western Plains Settlement and Agricultural History.................................................................... 43 Chapter 2: U.S. Air Force, Strategic Air Command, and Ellsworth Air Force Base (1940s–90s)49 Establishment..................................................................................................................................... 49 Strategic Air Command..................................................................................................................... 50 Ellsworth Air Force Base ...................................................................................................................52 Chapter 3: Minuteman Missile Sites in South Dakota (1960s- 80s).................................................61 Site Location........................................................................................................................................61 Land Purchase.....................................................................................................................................61 Minuteman Missile Area Landowners Association...................................................................... 62 Site Construction............................................................................................................................... 64 Site Activation .................................................................................................................................... 66 Economic and Social Impacts on the Region ................................................................................ 67 The Cold War Continues.................................................................................................................. 70 Chapter 4: Delta- 01 and Delta- 09 (1960s–80s) ................................................................................. 81 Overview of the Complex.................................................................................................................. 81 Launch Control Facility Delta- 01 .................................................................................................... 81 Launch Facility Delta- 09 ................................................................................................................. 87 Conversion to Minuteman II ...........................................................................................................90 ii Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Historic Resource Study Chapter 5: Missileer Culture: Day- to- Day Life (1960s–91) ...........................................................108 At the Launch Control Facility .......................................................................................................109 In the Launch Control Center: Missile combat crew .................................................................. 113 Changes in Missile Culture...............................................................................................................117 Section III – Peace Movement, Nuclear Disarmament, and the Future............................... 134 Chapter 1. Opposition to Nuclear Armament (late 1950s–90s)...................................................... 134 The National and International Debate ........................................................................................ 134 Activist Groups – Beliefs and Mission ...........................................................................................137 Efforts in South Dakota (1980- 90s) ............................................................................................... 137 Continued Activism.......................................................................................................................... 138 Chapter 2: Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and Disarmament of Minuteman II (1990s)........ 142 End of the Cold War ........................................................................................................................ 142 START Treaty ................................................................................................................................... 142 Deactivation of Minuteman II Sites ............................................................................................... 143 Deactivation of Ellsworth Air Force Base’s Minuteman II Missiles..........................................144 Chapter 3: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (1990–present)..........................................153 Site Selection ......................................................................................................................................153 Delta- 01 and Delta- 09 Deactivation ..............................................................................................153 Enabling Legislation........................................................................................................................