After leaving the capital of South Dakota, we moved on to Bismarck, North Dakota. We continued to see miles and miles of agricultural fields. We have mentioned this several times, but that is because the scale of the farming operations across the country are immense and very impressive.
As we moved into North Dakota, the terrain went from flat to a rolling landscape, but that did not stop the farmers from planting every available piece of soil.
As we would drive along these fairly narrow, two lane highways, we kept coming across farm equipment that was being repositioned. They drove on the highway just like everybody else and the reason they are able to do that is because there isn't very much traffic. The equipment was massive and would take up the entire lane and if they were going in the opposite direction from us, it took a lot of care to pass them without touching or leaving the roadway because of our size.
When we arrived in Bismarck, we found our campground for the next few days. It was located inside a city park that was massive. There were over 100 RV sites as well as at least that many tent sites with bathrooms and showers scattered throughout the park area. Even though we arrived in May, the trees still had very few leaves on them. That's when we learned that there are two seasons in North Dakota. July, August, and winter! It was cold the whole time we were in North Dakota and the wind never stopped. Good news was that it was sunny most of the time.
The campground was immense, and when we got there, it was almost empty. When we spoke with the park ranger when we checked in, we commented that the park looked kind of empty. They told us that they were sold out for the weekend and we were lucky to have gotten a spot. As you can see from the video, the park was lush green, and would be amazing once all of the trees filled in with leaves.
As we walked around the park, we saw that the trees were much different than we were used to. They had very thick bark and grew to a giant size.
As we drove around Bismarck, we discovered the state capitol building and history museum. We were surprised that the capitol building was a modern structure. This internet photo gives you an idea of what it looks like.
The house and senate chambers were also quite modern.
Located next to the state capitol is the natural history museum. It was quite large and covered a variety of topics including Native American history and agricultural history. They also had a large archaeological display.
After a hard day exploring, we were hungry and found a little hole in the wall pizza parlor where they bragged about Chicago style pizza. We had no idea what that was, but we got one just to make sure we didn't miss anything.
It was one of the best pizzas we have ever had. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go back and have another one because it was time to move on to Jamestown, North Dakota.
Once we set up camp in Jamestown, we took a day trip north out into the middle of nowhere, surrounded by cultivated fields for as far as the eye can see. That is where we found the Ronald Reagan Minuteman missile historical site.
This was a deactivated missile launch control center from the Cold War era. It consisted of a single story, office and residence complex sitting on top of an underground bunker system that was used to control Minuteman missile launch sites that were dispersed around the launch control center.
After we bought our tickets to tour the facility, we went on a guided tour. The facility was always manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by Air Force personnel. There were both officers and enlisted men assigned to the facility. They acted as security, maintenance, and launch personnel. A typical shift at the facility was 72 hours on site (3 days), and then three days back at the base located at Grand Forks Air Force Base. There were untypical shifts as well.
These would occur in the winter when the snows would come. Our tour guide told us that there were times when it snowed so hard and so much that the crews were not able to rotate back to Grand Forks. During those times, the snow could pile up so high that the men were able to walk out of the facility, over the top of the chain-link and barbwire fence described earlier.
The snow would completely cover the facility, and made it impossible for the crews to leave because the roadways were completely covered. There was a helipad located at the facility and helicopters could be used to ferry crews, but that was also dependent on the weather.
After watching a short video on the construction of the site, we went on a tour of the above ground facilities.
Remember, this was before internet or wifi and they were stuck here for 3 days at a time trying to stay alert.
Kitchen
The cooks had separate quarters so they wouldn't disturb sleeping team mates as they got up early to start preparing meals.
They had a bunk room for the crews as they spent their 3-day shifts here.
The facility manager was a non-commissioned officer and had a private room. He was responsible for all of the operations above ground, including maintenance, security, and caring for the men.
The front of the building, closest to the road, was the security office. This is where the security teams were dispatched from. Their weapons were also stored here. Note the old technology, including the old style fax machine and computer. The interesting thing about this room was they had an overall view of half of the facility grounds, but the glass was not bulletproof, and if an actual assault of the facility occurred, the men in this office would be sitting ducks, although they were armed with M-16 rifles.
This completed the above ground facility tour. The next step was to go into an elevator for the trip underground to the missile control facility. The entire tour group crammed into the elevator, and then the tour guide, closed the mesh gate, and the elevator began its descent underground.
This is the 50-year old elevator motor the parts are no longer available for. Tour guide told us it usually works fine.
Once we survived the descent underground into the missile command module, the tour guide opened the gate, allowing us out of the elevator, and I soon realized that my problems were not over. The control center was also triggering my claustrophobia.
When we got off the elevator, we turned to the right and went into the equipment module. This was the location where the auxiliary generator was crammed, along with all of the electronic devices that were used to support the 2-man crew of officers that were always on duty underground ready for immediate missile deployment.
The equipment module and the operator's module were both protected with gigantic blast doors.
This is what one of the shock absorbers that holds up the floor looks like.
The yellow and black edge tape marks the edge of the floor and you can see the gap between the floor and the edge of the actual pod.
When they originally built the facility, they dug a gigantic hole and then began building the underground pod structures. They had to build the structures in segments so that all of the equipment that was too large to ride on the elevator could be installed prior to the enclosing of the pod with concrete and rebar. In the following picture, the LCEB is where the equipment was located and the LCC is where the missile launch crew spent the majority of their time, waiting for the big one!
This picture shows the relationship of the launch control facility to the surrounding missile fields. There were no missiles located at the launch control facility. They were all located around the launch control facility from 3 to 15 miles away. There were 10 missile silos controlled by this launch control facility. In the picture below, the red arrow shows the missile control facility and is pointing at the equipment pod portion of the facility we're in now. The blue arrow shows an outlying missile silo with a large white trailer erected over the silo. That trailer would contain a missile that would be lowered down into the silo. The green arrow shows a fully loaded missile silo.
Suzie is standing with her back at the large generator enclosure. This was a soundproof box that held a very large diesel engine which was connected to a very large generator that was used to power the facility in the event of external power disruption.
Next, we headed into the actual missile launch control room. As we were walking to the launch control room, we walked past the now missing elevator. Much to my relief, it was very slowly coming back to rescue me.
In the next picture, Suzie is standing next to the blast door that secures the launch control pod.
We were moving from the relatively large equipment pod into the launch control facility, and just when I thought my claustrophobia couldn't be any worse, this happened.
There was a very narrow doorway located in the corner of the pod and it turned out that the door concealed a tiny little toilet area. That definitely would not work for me!
This is where the assistant launch control officer, sat.
This status board was directly in front of the officer sitting at this desk. Each column of lights represents a different missile silo assigned to this pod.
In order to launch a missile, first, they had to receive an authorization order directing a missile launch. That authorization had to be verified using code books that were locked inside this red box.
Each of the officers in the pod had their own lock for the red box, and the box could not be opened until both officers entered their combination into the lock. Once the box was opened, each officer removed a code book which contained a launch code verification and a key.
If the incoming order that they received was verified using the launch code verification system, then each launch control officer would go to his station and insert the key into the console. Then, at the same time, they would turn their keys and initiate missile launch from their 10 missile silos.
At this point, the missiles still would not launch. The missiles would not lunch until two officers located in a different missile launch facility confirmed the missile launch order and initiated their keys, verifying that the launch was, in fact, authorized. Once all four officers agreed that the launch order was valid, and they all turned their keys, then the missiles would launch. All of this redundancy was designed to keep one crazy person or crazy crew from initiating a launch by themselves.
The 2-man crew stayed locked in the below ground bunker for 24 hours. Then a relief crew would come down and spend the next 24 hours and then that rotation would repeat itself as crews came and went from the facility.
While the crews were locked in the pod, at least one of them had to be awake at all times. There was a bunk for their use, as well as food storage and preparation equipment, so that they would not have to go topside to eat.
We asked how the missile launch crew could escape the pod if the elevator were to quit. They told us that there was an escape hatch that could be opened that had a tunnel that went to the surface. That was a relief!
Then they told us that when they put in the parking lot for the visitors, they paved over the exit to the tunnel!! This was the below ground hatch that used to lead to the surface.
You would have had to climb over a bunch of radio cabinets to get to the escape hatch, but I guarantee you, I would not have had trouble getting to that hatch.
Finally, the below ground portion of the tour was over, and it was time to cram ourselves back on to the elevator for the long, slow ride to the surface.
There were a few pictures on the wall at the entrance to the visitor center. They helped explain what it was we had just seen.
The red arrow in the following picture points to a small star. That is the launch control facility that we are currently at. The diagram shows where all of the missiles are located that this launch control facility is responsible for. Each star in the diagram represents a missile launch control facility and each of the numbered circles represents a nuclear tipped missile.
Once we had escaped the underground launch facility, we headed back to Jamestown and prepared for the next leg of our journey.
We know this was a long episode, but we hope you made it through. If you think of anything that we should see as we head to the northeast corner of the country, please let us know.
Tom & Suzie
