One of the two airmen who initially responded to the Lima 2 silo was my father. He had been previously servicing communications and radar equipment but had requested a transfer to Ellsworth because he was born and raised in the Black Hills and wanted to be closer to his family. After Lima 2 he transferred out of the Missile Wing and was stationed at Yokota AFB where he was decorated for his work in keeping radar systems operational when typhoon Ida hit in 1966. He was medically discharged as a Staff Sargent in the late 60s after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, he and my mother settled in the nearby town of Sturgis to raise our family. He passed away in 2003, just shy of his 65th birthday. In the 90s a young reporter, who would later go on to be the Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today, came to interview him about the incident. The article was published without much attention and the incident continued to go largely unacknowledged until the Rapid City Journal picked up the story again. Thank you for making sure this part of history is being remembered.
I was a Minuteman 2 facility maintenance tech back in the early 90s (in Montana), and they were always getting on us about using the right tool for the job. So much so that if we used a screwdriver as a prybar or the wrong type of wrench to remove a bolt, we got a qualification failure from our QC inspectors (when they were on site with us). It always seemed a little uptight that they made such a big deal out of it, but I'm guessing this might be the reason why.
Additionally, the Titan Missile explosion in Damascus, AR, was caused by improper tool use. An incorrect wrench was used, the socket came off, feel down the side of the missile and punched a hole in the oxidizer tank. The resultant explosion killed at least one, injured others, and totally ruined the silo. Not to mention scaring everybody within earshot to death.
I was a missile maintainer from '08 to '13. Every bolt I dropped had to be retrieved immediately via the cageman. I was a boardman. 2M052 (missile and space systems journeyman).
That's cool. I live in Helena, not far from where you probably worked. A lot of people in Montana are big on the history of the state, and all it's little details going back to the early settlement days and even further with the natives. Montana is still a really small place and always has been, so most of the major history is known, but it's interesting that there's this kind of parallel history that the air force and all it's contractors have that no one really knows, and probably will never know outside of that small community. Really interesting!
@@pfadivaAnd perhaps one reason For using uncorrect wrench was tiredness. Saw a documentary. They Said, the Team was in His 12th working hour! This should be avoided!
In 1975 I was in TTB and was directly involved with training the first FMT for the 341st MMS. I guess FMT's existed into the early 90's! Thanks for sharing your experience! I hope working conditions were improved by the time you were on the job out of MAFB. Being on our feet for many hours, driving 3 hours just to get to an LF, poor nutrition, changing shifts constantly, no toilets on site and on and on led to constant fatigue. Previous to TTB I was in EMT and I went thru evals by the 3901st mentioned in the video.
In the mid-1970s, I worked at an Amoco in Presho SD along Interstate 90 pumping gas. Tourists would see these cement pads inside a chain link fence along the side of the interstate and ask me what they were. I will never forget the look on their faces when I told them they were thermonuclear missile silos.
The best One of the best museums for rockets about the Cold war and the missiles is in Hutchinson Kansas at the space museum it goes into the whole story on how things started and I think anyone who goes to visit that would greatly enjoy it.
I did missile systems maintenance for Titan IIs in Southern Arizona. We'd be driving to one site near an RV park and the old folks would wave at us -- and we'd say "If they only knew what is less than a mile away..."
I was a Minuteman I missile maintenance officer (targeting team chief and later field supervisor) at Malmstrom AFB, from November 1965 - January 1969. As part of our Missile Safety class, we were told of this incident, and warned about using unauthorized tools/procedures while working in missile Launch Facilities.
I also was a CTT Team Chief at Ellsworth, but knew nothing of it. However, this incident was included in the the Maintenance Officer Courses we taught at Chanute AFB.
I had three nuclear weapon assignments in my Air Force career, including 3 years in Minuteman in the mid-80s. We were held to incredibly high standards of safety, performance and reliability. Everyone I served with were professionals who just wanted to do a good job in a tough environment and get home to their families. Yes mishaps are not good but they are extremely rare, and the lessons learned inform system design, training and operations. The weapons have always been designed to fail to their safest possible condition in the event of an accident. They have always worked exactly as designed. It’s easy to think of the entire enterprise as the movie Dr Strangelove, but it’s not like that. Maybe to understand that environment you have to actually work in it for a while…it’s that different from anything else I have ever done.
"Maybe to understand that environment you have to actually work in it for a while…it’s that different from anything else I have ever done." Very well stated. I agree...I worked USAF aircraft weapon systems for most of my career and I know exactly what you mean. A salute to my AF colleagues in the missile fields!
This sort of thing better not become 'forgotten history'. My dad had relatives in North Dakota. On a road trip to North Dakota in 1965 we visited a family farm of one of our relatives near Grand Forks. On his property was an under construction missile silo. Dad's cousin took us to the site. There was nobody there at the time (after hours? a weekend?) I remember that Dad's cousin would not let us approach the silo until he took a look at it. It was, after all, an 80 foot deep hole in the ground. He was checking to be sure that a wooden 'safety deck' was in place. It was, about 5 feet below grade ( that it why it could not be seen as we approached). As we peered down we saw a circular concrete silo in the ground, with a wooden deck about 5-8 feet down. There were a few planks missing in one corner of the deck. I could see the reflection of water that had accumulated in the bottom of the silo. It was a long way down! What a 'cold war memory' I got on that vacation! The Grand Forks missile field has been decommissioned. There are maps showing where the silos were. I wonder which one I saw in 1965.
I had 38 years with the Minutemen: 24 years active duty, 14 years civil service. Thanks for this historical look back. Much was learned from this incident that still affects how maintenance is conducted today.
I'm a proud member of the 44 SMW (90-92) and worked on that site several times. We were told the story during TTB training. Thank you for including this video in your series. My days on the 44SMW sites were some of my best memories.
I was a 9 yo boy in Rapid City on that day and remember visiting Ellsworth AFB several times in my childhood, unaware of the destructive capabilities residing in our neighboring communities. Thanks for your research and stories.
As retired electric trolley tech. It’s common sense not to use any conductive tool to remove anything that has electric power. It’s first step in the any repair manual. - Turn off the power. Test to see there’s no residual power. Use correct steps and tools to repair. Rather then poking screwdriver into the fuse box.
I served in the 321st Missile Wing (Minuteman III) at Grand Forks AFB, ND during my stint in SAC. Some of the nicest people I’ve met in my career lived in Grand Forks.
I was a toddler living in Rapid City, South Dakota when this mishap occurred. Little did I know at the time that my young life was in peril. Kudos to our local newspaper The Rapid City Journal for their investigative reporting. I moved back to Rapid City (in preparation for retirement) a couple years ago. Even now, I can’t help but think that nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base is a prime target for the current generation of ballistic missiles in the hands our enemies. I encourage tourists to the beautiful Black Hills to visit our two museums dedicated to the Minuteman missile… one near The Badlands National Park and the other one at Ellsworth Air Force Base. History that deserves to be remembered.
very true on that ive been to the museum at the infermation and to the delta 9 missle silo have yet to see the delta 1 launch contol facility ( reservation needed ) whitch i think is wrong for it but it is what it is. i want to thank my father for being in the missle comand his job was important also.
Sandia likes to say, "The Air Force tried to go it alone!" and if they were there on site, they would have done the exact same thing and hauled it up with a cargo net. As I understand the warhead, they don't just go off without a lot of sequencing and consent that happens first. The Air Force would have kept that quiet because the public simply doesn't want to know how incompetent humans can be with nukes. The one in AR that blew the missle up in the silo and tossed the warhead out some distance away was caused by dropping a wrench that penetrated the liquid fuel sidewall of the launch stage. That would have been a doozy too but it still wouldn't set the warhead off.
I was stationed at McConnell, another Titan base, a couple years after an oxidizer leak (also caused by not following maintenance protocols) killed an airman and destroyed the silo (corrosion). The very notion that we kept fully-LIQUID-fueled launch vehicles (also used to launch the Gemini capsules), underground in a severe freeze-thaw climate, for months on end, still boggles my mind. Amazing we only lost 2 out of 54 in 30+ years on alert. The big warheads were dangerous to enemies, but safe on the ground (withstood accidents). The Titan rockets were dangerous to us! SAC regulations made for a stifling place to work, but necessary for nuclear safety. Noooo individual experimentation allowed!
The Titan II ICBM was liquid fueled but its fuels were hypergolic and storable in the missile itself at room temperature, so the rocket did *not* have to go through the fueling procedure prior to launch. This saved time and allowed the missile to be launched quickly. The Titan II first flew in March of 1962, and was first deployed in 1963.
My dad was a Titan II site commander at Davis-Monthan back in 1965. He actually took me into the site. I got to stand on the W-duct right underneath the fully armed and fueled missile. Looking up the silo I could see the liquid nitrogen venting. Waaay cool--all the more so because I was a Chem E. student at UNH and knew ...just enough....to ask decent questions. One of the great experiences of my young life.
Indeed. Some Titan II missiles were never once de/refueled during their entire service period which, in some cases, reached 24 years. Once the missiles were equipped with the improved inertial guidance system, liftoff would occur a mere 58 seconds from turn of keys and the 9+ megaton W53 warhead was on its way to its predesignated target. If all went as planned, the Titan II could deliver its warhead to a target over 5000 miles away with a circular error probable (CEP) of less than 1/2 mile, delivering a devastating air or ground burst obliterating the target. Each launch control system was preloaded with data for three separate targets. The launch order would specify which target would be attacked and the appropriate setting would be made by the launch crew. The Missileers never knew what the targets were and they remain highly classified to this day.
LOX can't be stored at room temperature. The liquid nitrogen I saw venting from the missile's side was used to keep the LOX very cold. The nitrogen had to be periodically replenished.
@@jelink22 Well, we aren't talking about the Atlas missile, which is probably the one you are referring to. The Titan II (*not* the Titan I) used dinitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer and a mixture of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) as the fuel. These are liquids at room temperature, so the Titan II was almost always fully fueled and ready to go with the fuel stored inside the missile over long periods of time. The Atlas and Titan I's used LOX for the oxidizer and RP-1 as the fuel, but they were phased out as the Titan II became operational. Eventually, the solid-fueled Minuteman missiles replaced all of the liquid-fueled ICBMs in the US arsenal, although the Titan II and Atlas both became repurposed as launch vehicles for orbital satellites and spacecraft.
My mother was a civil service employee at Myrtle Beach AFB hospital in South Carolina. The Air Force was heavily involved in community activities and USAF officers often visited our school, always with ultra cool stuff in hand. One day in June 1969 a Minuteman arrived in Myrtle Beach to "show the colors" in our annual Sun Fun parade. I was the alpha science geek in my sixth grade class, so my mother asked the Base Commander if I could visit the Minuteman in the hangar where they were storing it and he agreed. Boy howdy did he agree! The next day I was instructed to wait in my Scout uniform on the front steps of the base hospital for further instructions. At the appointed time, two APs pulled up in a VIP vehicle, got out, saluted tiny little me and said, "Sir, we have orders to escort you to the Minuteman missile." They loaded me in the car, drove me to the hangar and let me play on the Minuteman for fifteen minutes. It was beyond awesome! In hindsight, I'm sure the missile was completely inert and almost certainly a public relations parade item, but on that June day in 1969 I felt like I was king of the planet... and the United States Air Force nade a friend for life.
I was a Titan II missile launch officer from 1977-1982. Your comment about the launch response time, at least regarding the Titan II, was totally wrong. The Titan II would be fueled underground and the propellants only needed to be serviced every 7 years. It could be launched at any time in less than 60 seconds. The Titan II was an amazing piece of engineering.
Titan I was shown launching during that comment. Titan I was not a quick launch. Titan II was indeed a minute to launch due to storable hypergolic fuel and oxidizer. It was a truly awesome weapon.
I used to see stupid mistakes all the time when I was in the Navy. I remember a friend who had been an electronic tech on USS Nimitz telling me a scary story about working in the reactor control room and every alarm in the room going off at once. Turned out to be a faulty circuit breaker or some such thing. The alarm panel was defective, not the reactor. We build these extremely complex death machines, put 20-somethings in charge of them, and sometimes they break. It is a miracle we have not accidentally detonated one or more of these nukes.
I was a Minuteman technician in the USAF stationed at Ellsworth a few years after this event. Your description of missile procedures is nearly perfect except for two minor and inconsequential details likely the result of the necessity of brevity as opposed to an actual factual error. Unfortunately I cannot elaborate as I am bound by law and ethics not to discuss secret or top secret issues regarding anything as pertains to the Minuteman program. In any event, good job as always.
Always enjoy your videos and thank you for telling our story. Missileers seem to always be eclipsed by the cocky 'fly-boys' but we stood our vigil and did our job just the same and you have made sure that "we few" are not forgotten.
Spoke to an officer on that Air Force team. He spoke of test after test after test to keep the whole system operating w/ no flaws. Don’t think I could have survived in the pressure cooker like that.
My grandfather and father's construction company helped build a large number of those silos. Years later, these systems are all gone, but the new GBSD is under development. The museum at Ellsworth AFB is fascinating.
I don't know why, but this was one of your most fascinating videos for me. The digging was obviously deep. You discovered the almost trivial and hilariously understated fact that Hicks was named Maintenance Man of the Month! At any rate, although I was fascinated by these missiles, I never knew they used solid fuel.
Cool, never heard of this before. I have driven past the Vale highway more times then I can recall, my wife and I even drove over to Vale one day just to have a look around. I can remember all the silo's along the highways of South Dakota from when I was a young man, now many of the square chain link fences are filled with bales of hay, once in awhile there are sheep in them eating the grass.
I used to hunt western SD in the 70s and we'd see a few silos. After Reagan started putting the squeeze on the USSR, new ICBM silos for the PeaceKeeper (MX) started popped up faster than prairie dog holes.
Great history documentary, Lance. Thank you for your research, production, and presentation. Your hard work shows in the Splendid videos you present. Love, from Louisiana.
That accident revealed a system weakness and was, fortunately, a minor incident. Although nearly impossible to get an accidental nuclear explosion, more likely is a discharge of one or more of the initiating explosives, ejecting the core.
I remember taking the Amtrak Empire Builder train from Chicago to Glacier NP (Montana). While listening to the docent on the train, in the middle of a field, we noticed a chain link fence around a large cement pad and a small shed, with a small gravel driveway leading from the road. He said that it was a cold war missile silo. It looked very similar to the one at 10:00 in your video. As a kid that grew up during the cold war, I always thought they would look much "cooler" than that!
I had 3 of those within 10 miles of the house I grew up in in Central Montana. They are quite unassuming.... until you ride your bikes out to one and play in the driveway... You get a helicopter flying over your head REALLY quickly. ;-)
When I was a kid, in the '80s, there was some anti-nuclear group that made a big hullaballoo going around to map out all the "secret" ICBM missile sites. It seemed incredibly stupid since 1) all you had to do was drive down the road to see them and 2) anyone with a satellite or access to an airplane could just take a photo from overhead and see them all.
in 1978-9 i drove a school bus out that way, east of bell foolish town. kids on ranches around sites. i think near one when easter blisard blew bus roll over. step dad was supply srgt. at base about that time.
After this incident, it would have made sense to require a three-member team to verify that every maintenance person has the right tools prior to going in to the silo. The same error caused the 1980 accident in Arkansas.
None of them had full sets of tools, even the vital suits for handling refueling operations on the Titan II were often unserviceable. Maintenance was given a low priority unfortunately.
I was in Minuteman tech school in 69 and this incident was common knowledge. The description was of a Missile Maintenance Team (MMT) safing the missile and recovering the RV. Minuteman 2 and 3 did not have sneak circuits like this. EMT Force Mod and Command Data Buffer. Lot of good and fairly accurate facts in the video.
I live in this area and saw the SDPBS story about the silo. Blew my mind, lol. We've always joked that we're either in the safest area to live or the first to go. As far as keeping it from the public, that was easy to do, considering how few people lived here and how much open country there is between Vale and Ellsworth.
Eric Schlosser has documented the US Air Force's attitude towards nuclear weapons in his book: Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety. This fits right in. F safety, we gotta have the weapons available at all times.
@@33moneyball Not at this time and not until there was enough to have spares to allow for safe handling. This incident, the Damascus Incident, Palomares, etc. show that safety could have been increased to allow for not losing a device to the Soviet Union, Palomares, nor nuking our own country, with the other two and yet more incidents involving nuclear devices on US soil.
I worked security at 45 missle sqdn. I worked most of the missle wings in my 4 years there at Ellsworth. All kinds of things small and large happen in the missle field.
Well THG, I was a Missile Communications Technician for a few years of my USAF career and I suppose now I know what all that special training was all about. Thanks for telling me a "war story" that in my time in missiles from 1975-1980 I'd never heard about. Probably because at that time an incident like that would have been classified above Top Secret.
AS a Missile Com Tech, I would think you would be high on the security "need to know" Just because you went to a service academy, they often cannot teach people to think, not to malign those organizations, I have notice in the past few years that it is a rare instructor who can really teach people how to think. If it ain't politically correct it just ain't so.
It would be worth another episode to explore the USAF's accidental dropping of an atomic bomb near Goldsboro, NC. This was when Seymour Johnson AFB has B-52s, and the only thing that prevented a detonation was aid to have been a single safety fuse. Local rumor has it the bomb landed in an area swamp, and at the height it was dropped from, the bomb buried itself at such a depth it was never recovered.
Just looked this up. The crashed plane had two nukes on board. One was ejected as the plane disintegrated in the air and was recovered intact, the other was partially buried and was never fully recovered - but they did recover the nuclear core. One of the bombs came dangerously close to detonating; all but one of its arming switches had activated.
The History Guy devoted only about a minute of his "Operation Chrome Dome and Palomares Incident" video (ruclips.net/video/yIrSBmG46n8/видео.html) to that.
My recollection of that nuclear bomb was that 4 levels of safety switches failed or didn’t activate but the last one (#5) prevented an actual detonation. Just my unconfirmed memory.
@@Sashazur That's called "One Point Detonation Safe". Unless all switches activated simultaneously, you might get scattering of nuclear material, but NOT a full-yield nuke explosion.
Dear History Guy: I love the way you lay out the landscape, the features and then the um ... occurrence. Your matter of fact point of view is so refreshing. Thank You
Just one minor correction to your narrative, the 44th Missile Wing was not "deactivated" but was, rather, inactivated, leaving the unit designation available to the Air Force for future reassignment. In case you're wondering, I'm a historian for the Air Force, and the basis for my statement is derived from the Air Force's 84 series of Air Force Instructions. Great content and a very timely narrative, with the future replacement of the Minute Man III coming soon.
Technically you are correct but as an ICBM missile wing it was deactivated. I was part of the 321 MW deactivation. The 321st could, at some point, stand up again as an aircraft wing.
There was an incident where a liquid fuel Nuke exploded in the silo sending the warhead about a mile away . Several people in the military died during the incident .
I was 11 and in sioux Falls in 64. 8 years later i was in college in rapid city. Driving on I90, a couple of times i drove beside missles being transport ed. Quite unsettling. Good video History Guy. Thanks
I'm surprised they even acknowledged the mishap in 1981: last thing you want is for your adversary to know your systems aren't foolproof. It was also unsurprising that the maintenance guy who used a screwdriver to pop the fuse because he didn't have the prescribed tool was later criticized for not using the "available" correct tool.
I'm not surprised it took the USAF 57 years to disclose its "little goof;" after all, all of the facts regarding the assassination of JFK have yet to be disclosed. It will be a century before Pfizer's/Moderna's documents regarding their concoction come to full light (if ever).
Who knows with the military, they might deem that as the tool existed somewhere in the world, that it was "available", even if the technician didn't have it. I would also not be surprised if the right tool was really complicated and slow to use compared to a screwdriver... hence the use of a screwdriver!
The History Guy. "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it". I believe this quote from my childhood is why I'm such a WW2 student as an adult. 🤘
Same, started with a time life book about ww2 submarines in the 7th grade. To hear people call other Americans "fascists"or "knot z" (can't say the word on touyube without the comment being deleted, so much for history) shows astonishing ignorance about what those words mean
The Minuteman missile was not so-named because it could be launched in about a minute, per se. Rather, the missile was named after the Revolutionary War "minutemen" militia members. They, of course, were so named because they could be ready at a minute's notice, so the missile is only indirectly named after its time-to-ready.
As I recall from school, The Minute Men from The Revolutionary War were no doubt quick to respond, but somewhere I got the impression that the term “Minute Man” referred to the reloading of the muzzle loaded weapons, which took about a minute. Of coarse, I could have missed class that day.
@@LGR605 The vandals at Wikipedia would have us believe "Some towns in Massachusetts had a long history of designating a portion of their militia as minutemen, with 'minute companies' constituting special units within the militia system whose members underwent additional training and held themselves ready to respond at a minute's notice to emergencies, which gave rise to their name as Minutemen." Which is not to say that they weren't able to reload in a minute, but that appears to have had less to do with their nickname.
Well if you don't trust me to be making a accurate comment Sir. Go Google it for yourself. Once upon a time a wise old man told me "Far better to thought to be ignorant, than open your mouth. Eliminating ALL doubt" J/S
In case anyone was wondering, the reason why liquid-fuelled missiles couldn't be fuelled up indefinitely is because one component of the fuel is highly corrosive.
My uncle served in the army during the cold war. He was stationed in what was West Germany at the time. He told me a store one day about one of the nukes they had on base. They started to move it with a crane. It slipped of and slammed into the ground. He said he never heard silence like he did for that moment after the nuke stopped rolling around.
With theTHG around, there is no such thing as "forgotten history". I'm waiting for him to come up with an incident so forgotten that even the participants don't remember it.
MMII/CDB ICBM Combat Crew Commander. I survived 4 years of missile combat crew duty. Line crews pulled 8 alerts per month and if a crew got lucky they might get 7 and a backup some times. An inner zone alarm was a Sit 6. An outer zone was a Sit 7. If you got a sit 7 followed by a sit 6 you then had a sit 4 which started getting serious. And God help you if you missed a SC 281, 283, 285 and your missiles went OS 328 because God may forgive you but SAC would not. Yep, I still remember this stuff. Four years of missile crew duty. Left with 5 HQs.
Spent a couple years working Lima Area back in the early 90's with the 812th/44th Missile Wing. If you sneezed while driving through Vale, you'd miss it. Good Times.
My dad was in Missile Maintenance, and he spent his entire career working on the Minuteman 2. The Air Force let him take early retirement when they were decommissioned because it would cost less than retraining him to work on one of the newer missiles. I actually got to go to the silo once when I was a kid. I can't remember all that much about it, but it was cool to see where he worked.
There are some things the general public just does not need to be aware of to prevent hysteria and panic. If the public knew of every mistake, fatality, near miss of the military over the years, fear and panic of the great "what if" many of the advancements and technology we have today would not have been allowed to proceed with development. The creation and management of any weapons great or small comes at a cost of human lives to a degree. This should not be seen as unique because it is not. Everything in the modern world food, medicine, infrastructure, agriculture, even our clothing in some way has taken a human toll in it's development. The reason secrets exist is because we know some people are simply not capable of dealing with "knowing". Great video!
It was amazing footage of actual procedures by actual military personnel that was shown in the movie The Day After and First Strike although they were uncredited.
I was stationed at Vandenberg AFB Calif in 1965/66/67. I was an Aerial Combat Documentary Photographer and part of what was called LDCT (Launch Disaster Control Team)...we had to photograph every launch on Vandenberg and take 3 individual pictures of every part of any Missile that Blew Up over land when there was a Launch Accident ! Needless to say that I have taken Thousands of pictures of Missile parts strewn all over Vandenberg ! The scariest job they ever sent me to do was after there was a Failed Launch on a MinuteMan 1 Missile they put me in a Basket hooked up to a crane and lowered me into the Silo to take pictures of a failed Locking System/Latch that was suspected of causing a previous Launch Explosion ! *Staring Up at the exhaust Nozzles in the Launch Silo of a Missile that had such a bad reputation for accidents was Unsettling to say the least !* I have watched (in person) lots of MinuteMan Missiles Blow up in the Silos, Do Loop de Loops as they clear the Silo....even watched one Lay Down Horizontal as it cleared the Silo and Blow up a Launch Facility nearby... One Blew up in the Silo and Blew the Cement Doors on the Silo a Mile away in the sand dunes of Vandenberg before I got there ! Got to fly B-52s and KC-135 Refuelers 1967/68 over No. and South Vietnam out of U-tapao RTAFB in Thailand.... *BEST JOB IN THE USAF !*
Better check your story. The missile explosion that blew the launch door off was a Titan II. The only way you would be looking up at stage i Minuteman nozzles would be if the missile was intact, not blown up. At worst that would have been a hang-fire. I did Minuteman maintenance and launch facility preparation at Vandenberg in the 394th. Entering the launch tube in a crane suspended work basket was a routine post launch operation done by Pad Refurb. It was not unusual it was routine . There were launch failures of Minuteman but that is why they tested them at Vandenberg. The Minuteman had the best safety and reliability reputation of all the missiles being launched from Vandenberg until the MX came along. I have no idea where your comment about" a bad safety reputation" comes from.
@@paaat001 OK... That is the only one that I presumed was an older Minuteman silo door as I saw one of those doors still in a sand dune while flying in a Huey doing other Launch Facility Construction progress over Vandenberg.! I didn't mean that the MinuteMan missile that I was in the Silo with had already blown up... a previous Minuteman missile had blown up and the authorities suspected it was caused by a faulty "Release latch" and that was the object that I was required to photograph.
I enjoy the replica security sign the park service sells at the guest store in SD at the Minuteman site, now hanging in my garage: “WARNING: Restricted Area It is unlawful to enter this area without permission of the Installation Commander”… “Use of deadly force authorized.”
In September 2022, during a cross country car trip, I visited the National Park Service historic site. It was a very hot day, temps pushing 100 F but it was nice and cool inside the visitor's center and a good break point in my journey. The NPS site is not far from the eastern entry gate to Badlands National Park and just off the interstate. It was interesting to learn about the history of these missile site including this and other mishaps from their operation. Some of the bunker buildings use to store explosives and missile parts near some missile sties became popular with 'preppers' and others during the Pandemic with some converting them into 'end of the world' shelters loaded with supplies.
My two hunting buddies and I were sitting around a campfire when they realized they were at the same USAF bases when missile incidents occurred. Although they knew each other for a couple of years they never spoke of it before. In the following years, stories from the silos had us laughing so hard we probably chased all the deer away. Like the young airman in this story, one of my companions was hustled out of a DC restaurant, placed in the back seat of a fighter jet and was subjected to a quick flight to a silo on the other side of the country....he ended with "that is why I was in AA". But the most hilarious stories were about the ghosts that everyone knew was there, but was never to speak about it. Quickest way to lose your top secret clearance. When you saw a Senior Master Sargent pumping gas at the motor pool...he spoke about the ghosts. One of my guys built the silos and the other maintained it and they pointed fingers at each other for the cause of the "mishaps". Ignorance is bliss....there were many mishaps.
@@anderstrygg3188 The people that fell into the concrete or just deadly accidents on the job. Their souls were not at peace so they roamed the silos. The work did not stop...they retrieved the body if possible....if not...oh well, they were on a schedule. I was not there, these are from the people that was there and what they saw and heard.
The Minuteman is a pretty cool family of missiles, but my favorite has always been the Titans--they carried Gemini capsules into space AND were our main missile defense for a time.
The Titan II had highly explosive liquid fuel. The Air Force kept 54 on alert due to the 10MT warhead to show the Russians we meant business because the far highly more accurate Minuteman III had MIRV warheads of 200KT. The liquid fuel was not only highly explosive, it was corrosive and required specific maintenance that resulted in multiple accidents. The AF decommissioned them in due time. A 10MT warhead accident would make Chernobyl look like a firecracker explosion.
Hi THG, I love your Work, always very thorough. As an Amateur Rocket Historian I need to point out a Point of Clarification: The Titan I ICBM used RP1 + LOx (Kerosene + Liquid Oxygen) as Propellants, and therefore not “Storable”. The Titan I’s Successor, the Titan II, used storable (albeit nasty) Hypergolic (self igniting) Fuel: Nitrogen Tetroxide + Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine (UDMH). Apologies for the Pedantry. Dave in Philly
Here is another history that deserves to be remembered: Edward Hall who led the Minuteman system and advanced US ICBM weapons against the USSR had a younger brother, Theodore Hall a phycisist that worked in the Manhatan project and was a spy for NKVD and provided nuclear secrets to the Soviets! The whole story of the US ICBM history is amazingly described in Neil Sheehan's "A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon". It's a must-read story that includes all the who-is-who of US military, scientific and military elite of the US in the 40's, 50's and 60's.
Military commander are primarily concerned that blame for something like this be placed OUTSIDE their command and that information regarding the incident be buried as deeply and quickly as possible. The higher the rank the more CYA is used to obscure and obfuscate any such incident.
Stationed at Vandenberg AFB, Ca. Assigned to 394th. SMS Refurbishment Section. Launching practically one a week. We had duty to refurb launch tube, make it ready for the next test launch down pacific test range. The famous statue and pictures of one Colonial Minuteman standing ready with his rifle to be called to fight British at a moments notice. Part of missiles history that should not be forgotten.
Yep. After 1992, SAC became less important and actually dissolved as a distinct branch of the Air Force. Obama approved a 10 year program that will cost about $ trillion to modernize (actually replace) our strategic nuclear forces. Everything of our nuclear forces is old and the Russians have began introducing new systems, and China have been building their forces, and they have been paying Americans such as Trump, Mannafort, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and others as agents on their behalf.
There's a lot of "forgotten history" in the military. Incidents, accidents, and just plain incompetence or stupidity that gets buried (or the people transferred). A friend (since passed away) was assigned to the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line in Alaska back in the early 60's. They had this SSgt show up one day at their remote Radar Site. It seemed weird as most assignments to the DEW line have certain protocols and set of procedures to minimize crew disruptions and prevent suicides (isolation at those places is hard on people). This guy showed with their weekly supply truck and handed his orders to his boss (a 1st Lieutenant). The LT didn't say much and welcomed him to the DEW line. He stayed with them as an extra maintenance body (he seemed to know electronics, but didn't have any specific career specialty, which is strange as we're all about our career fields in the Air Force.) and he left in the same way on a supply truck six months later. They normally rotated shifts on the site and changed crews every few weeks. This SSgt didn't leave the site until the six months was up. About 15 years later during his final assignment to a SAC base as the Senior NCO in the Avionic Maintenance Squadron (AMS), he meets the Senior Ops Officer for the Wing and almost had a coronary. The Colonel was the SSgt from his radar site in Alaska. He didn't say anything to him, and the Colonel didn't say anything, though he recognized my friend immediately. He ran into him during Wing Staff meetings, maintenance issues on the flightline, and around the base until my friend retired a couple of years later. He never learned the real story, but he and I think someone (the Colonel) was getting punished as a junior officer (he would have been a Lieutenant or Captain at the time) for something stupid he did (we don't what happened to get him sent to the DEW Line, did he get caught with some other officer's wife or did he crash an airplane???). He was probably given the option to get kicked out of the Air Force, get RIF'd (reduction in rank (usually a reduction to an enlisted rank for an officer to stay in the service to get their 20 years, or take punishment (temporarily assigned as a SSgt) at a Radar site in Alaska and come back as an Officer. Whatever the reason, he said it was a strange experience to see your old maintenance duty dog as the Wing Operations Officer. PS. According to the Colonel's official career description he had never been enlisted, but it does mention a classified assignment around the same time as my friend worked with him at the Radar site in Alaska. Also, he had a degree in Electrical Engineering (which explains his knowledge of electronics). As far we could tell he wasn't some kind of secret squirrel evaluating Radar sites. He was only assigned to that one site and didn't go anywhere for six months until he left. That sounded like punishment to us.
Those who install and maintain our nukes are largly untold heros. Working with this type ordinance is more than dangerous and those who endeavor to help defend our nation from our enemies are without a doubt the most patriotic among us.
I.m actually impressed by the design and the staibility of a solid fule rocket. I had heard that they were "stable", but....a rocket firing inside a fueled rocket and the "only" thing that happened was the top fell off? Very impressive that the whole thing didn't go up.
I remember reading that it's actually pretty "difficult" to get the solid fuel burning exactly because they don't want just any old fire to blow one up.
@@playgroundchooser I know, I just really didn't know how "really difficult" it was until this. "Burn a rocket with a rocket" is sort of the definition of "difficult to ignite".
@@paramounttechnicalconsulti5219 haha, now that you mention it, a rocket's exhaust that has cooled too much to light another rocket is pretty freekin sweet! And makes me wonder even more what it takes to get the original one going 😲
I would like to suggest specialized T-shirts for most popular episodes. Or nice dress/ golf shirts with THG logo on them. Good stuff! Keep up the great work!
In the early 1980s, I lived on a farm in Sumner County, KS. There was a Minuteman silo visible from our kitchen window. I always figured that if we got into a war with the Soviets, I was gone before any Red missile could reach us.
Three of those Minuteman III missiles were less than 10 miles as the crow flies from the house I grew up in. There may have been a forth as well, but we never really though much about them. It's only now that I'm older I realize how crazy that was.
I worked for 2 years at Lima flight area, 1983-84 as a security alarm response team leader and flight security controller. Spent many hours at Lima 2, and was totally unaware of this accident.
One of the two airmen who initially responded to the Lima 2 silo was my father. He had been previously servicing communications and radar equipment but had requested a transfer to Ellsworth because he was born and raised in the Black Hills and wanted to be closer to his family. After Lima 2 he transferred out of the Missile Wing and was stationed at Yokota AFB where he was decorated for his work in keeping radar systems operational when typhoon Ida hit in 1966. He was medically discharged as a Staff Sargent in the late 60s after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, he and my mother settled in the nearby town of Sturgis to raise our family. He passed away in 2003, just shy of his 65th birthday. In the 90s a young reporter, who would later go on to be the Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today, came to interview him about the incident. The article was published without much attention and the incident continued to go largely unacknowledged until the Rapid City Journal picked up the story again.
Thank you for making sure this part of history is being remembered.
MS is tough, sorry
You must be super proud…🙏 to your Dad..👍🌹
Your father was a quiet hero. Appreciation for his service.
The real ones are generally very quiet.
Your dad was a good man. May he rest in peace with our eternal gratitude.
I was a Minuteman 2 facility maintenance tech back in the early 90s (in Montana), and they were always getting on us about using the right tool for the job. So much so that if we used a screwdriver as a prybar or the wrong type of wrench to remove a bolt, we got a qualification failure from our QC inspectors (when they were on site with us). It always seemed a little uptight that they made such a big deal out of it, but I'm guessing this might be the reason why.
Additionally, the Titan Missile explosion in Damascus, AR, was caused by improper tool use. An incorrect wrench was used, the socket came off, feel down the side of the missile and punched a hole in the oxidizer tank. The resultant explosion killed at least one, injured others, and totally ruined the silo. Not to mention scaring everybody within earshot to death.
I was a missile maintainer from '08 to '13. Every bolt I dropped had to be retrieved immediately via the cageman. I was a boardman. 2M052 (missile and space systems journeyman).
That's cool. I live in Helena, not far from where you probably worked. A lot of people in Montana are big on the history of the state, and all it's little details going back to the early settlement days and even further with the natives. Montana is still a really small place and always has been, so most of the major history is known, but it's interesting that there's this kind of parallel history that the air force and all it's contractors have that no one really knows, and probably will never know outside of that small community. Really interesting!
@@pfadivaAnd perhaps one reason For using uncorrect wrench was tiredness. Saw a documentary. They Said, the Team was in His 12th working hour! This should be avoided!
In 1975 I was in TTB and was directly involved with training the first FMT for the 341st MMS. I guess FMT's existed into the early 90's! Thanks for sharing your experience! I hope working conditions were improved by the time you were on the job out of MAFB. Being on our feet for many hours, driving 3 hours just to get to an LF, poor nutrition, changing shifts constantly, no toilets on site and on and on led to constant fatigue. Previous to TTB I was in EMT and I went thru evals by the 3901st mentioned in the video.
In the mid-1970s, I worked at an Amoco in Presho SD along Interstate 90 pumping gas. Tourists would see these cement pads inside a chain link fence along the side of the interstate and ask me what they were. I will never forget the look on their faces when I told them they were thermonuclear missile silos.
The best One of the best museums for rockets about the Cold war and the missiles is in Hutchinson Kansas at the space museum it goes into the whole story on how things started and I think anyone who goes to visit that would greatly enjoy it.
I did missile systems maintenance for Titan IIs in Southern Arizona. We'd be driving to one site near an RV park and the old folks would wave at us -- and we'd say "If they only knew what is less than a mile away..."
I remember seeing a few missile sites in Missouri.
I was a Minuteman I missile maintenance officer (targeting team chief and later field supervisor) at Malmstrom AFB, from November 1965 - January 1969. As part of our Missile Safety class, we were told of this incident, and warned about using unauthorized tools/procedures while working in missile Launch Facilities.
I also was a CTT Team Chief at Ellsworth, but knew nothing of it. However, this incident was included in the the Maintenance Officer Courses we taught at Chanute AFB.
@@billm.2373 Did you know Bob Jamison? He was at Chanute shortly after the incidents at Malmstrom.
I had three nuclear weapon assignments in my Air Force career, including 3 years in Minuteman in the mid-80s. We were held to incredibly high standards of safety, performance and reliability. Everyone I served with were professionals who just wanted to do a good job in a tough environment and get home to their families. Yes mishaps are not good but they are extremely rare, and the lessons learned inform system design, training and operations. The weapons have always been designed to fail to their safest possible condition in the event of an accident. They have always worked exactly as designed. It’s easy to think of the entire enterprise as the movie Dr Strangelove, but it’s not like that. Maybe to understand that environment you have to actually work in it for a while…it’s that different from anything else I have ever done.
"Maybe to understand that environment you have to actually work in it for a while…it’s that different from anything else I have ever done." Very well stated. I agree...I worked USAF aircraft weapon systems for most of my career and I know exactly what you mean. A salute to my AF colleagues in the missile fields!
Cf Eric Schlosser, Command and Control (2013).
In other words, that’s some mighty fine anecdotal evidence you’ve got there.
Major TJ King Kong comes to mind.
Rare events given enough time are inevitable. Therefore, nuclear weapons need to be abolished.
This sort of thing better not become 'forgotten history'. My dad had relatives in North Dakota. On a road trip to North Dakota in 1965 we visited a family farm of one of our relatives near Grand Forks. On his property was an under construction missile silo. Dad's cousin took us to the site. There was nobody there at the time (after hours? a weekend?) I remember that Dad's cousin would not let us approach the silo until he took a look at it. It was, after all, an 80 foot deep hole in the ground. He was checking to be sure that a wooden 'safety deck' was in place. It was, about 5 feet below grade ( that it why it could not be seen as we approached). As we peered down we saw a circular concrete silo in the ground, with a wooden deck about 5-8 feet down. There were a few planks missing in one corner of the deck. I could see the reflection of water that had accumulated in the bottom of the silo. It was a long way down! What a 'cold war memory' I got on that vacation! The Grand Forks missile field has been decommissioned. There are maps showing where the silos were. I wonder which one I saw in 1965.
I had 38 years with the Minutemen: 24 years active duty, 14 years civil service. Thanks for this historical look back. Much was learned from this incident that still affects how maintenance is conducted today.
I'm a proud member of the 44 SMW (90-92) and worked on that site several times. We were told the story during TTB training.
Thank you for including this video in your series.
My days on the 44SMW sites were some of my best memories.
I was part of the 44th SMW from 83-89. I moved to The Forks.
I worked FMT/PMT/ TTB.
I was a 9 yo boy in Rapid City on that day and remember visiting Ellsworth AFB several times in my childhood, unaware of the destructive capabilities residing in our neighboring communities. Thanks for your research and stories.
As retired electric trolley tech. It’s common sense not to use any conductive tool to remove anything that has electric power. It’s first step in the any repair manual. - Turn off the power. Test to see there’s no residual power. Use correct steps and tools to repair. Rather then poking screwdriver into the fuse box.
I served in the 321st Missile Wing (Minuteman III) at Grand Forks AFB, ND during my stint in SAC. Some of the nicest people I’ve met in my career lived in Grand Forks.
I was a toddler living in Rapid City, South Dakota when this mishap occurred. Little did I know at the time that my young life was in peril. Kudos to our local newspaper The Rapid City Journal for their investigative reporting. I moved back to Rapid City (in preparation for retirement) a couple years ago. Even now, I can’t help but think that nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base is a prime target for the current generation of ballistic missiles in the hands our enemies. I encourage tourists to the beautiful Black Hills to visit our two museums dedicated to the Minuteman missile… one near The Badlands National Park and the other one at Ellsworth Air Force Base. History that deserves to be remembered.
Never knew about the missile museums in the Badlands and I been there twice! Glad you said something.
very true on that ive been to the museum at the infermation and to the delta 9 missle silo have yet to see the delta 1 launch contol facility ( reservation needed ) whitch i think is wrong for it but it is what it is. i want to thank my father for being in the missle comand his job was important also.
Yikes that Cold War programming is showing 😂 “prime target” talk 😂
Sandia likes to say, "The Air Force tried to go it alone!" and if they were there on site, they would have done the exact same thing and hauled it up with a cargo net. As I understand the warhead, they don't just go off without a lot of sequencing and consent that happens first. The Air Force would have kept that quiet because the public simply doesn't want to know how incompetent humans can be with nukes. The one in AR that blew the missle up in the silo and tossed the warhead out some distance away was caused by dropping a wrench that penetrated the liquid fuel sidewall of the launch stage. That would have been a doozy too but it still wouldn't set the warhead off.
ruclips.net/video/jDcog2ZP684/видео.html.
I was stationed at McConnell, another Titan base, a couple years after an oxidizer leak (also caused by not following maintenance protocols) killed an airman and destroyed the silo (corrosion). The very notion that we kept fully-LIQUID-fueled launch vehicles (also used to launch the Gemini capsules), underground in a severe freeze-thaw climate, for months on end, still boggles my mind. Amazing we only lost 2 out of 54 in 30+ years on alert.
The big warheads were dangerous to enemies, but safe on the ground (withstood accidents). The Titan rockets were dangerous to us!
SAC regulations made for a stifling place to work, but necessary for nuclear safety. Noooo individual experimentation allowed!
*20+ years not 30, still a very long time
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I KNEW it was you that told me that story. I was in the Air Force for 23 years and never heard it!
@@jimdake6632 Hydrazine leaks right?
"[Two people] ruined their underwear because that ain't supposed to happen"
These people are so relateable.
The Titan II ICBM was liquid fueled but its fuels were hypergolic and storable in the missile itself at room temperature, so the rocket did *not* have to go through the fueling procedure prior to launch. This saved time and allowed the missile to be launched quickly. The Titan II first flew in March of 1962, and was first deployed in 1963.
And would bwooop!
My dad was a Titan II site commander at Davis-Monthan back in 1965. He actually took me into the site. I got to stand on the W-duct right underneath the fully armed and fueled missile. Looking up the silo I could see the liquid nitrogen venting. Waaay cool--all the more so because I was a Chem E. student at UNH and knew ...just enough....to ask decent questions. One of the great experiences of my young life.
Indeed. Some Titan II missiles were never once de/refueled during their entire service period which, in some cases, reached 24 years. Once the missiles were equipped with the improved inertial guidance system, liftoff would occur a mere 58 seconds from turn of keys and the 9+ megaton W53 warhead was on its way to its predesignated target. If all went as planned, the Titan II could deliver its warhead to a target over 5000 miles away with a circular error probable (CEP) of less than 1/2 mile, delivering a devastating air or ground burst obliterating the target. Each launch control system was preloaded with data for three separate targets. The launch order would specify which target would be attacked and the appropriate setting would be made by the launch crew. The Missileers never knew what the targets were and they remain highly classified to this day.
LOX can't be stored at room temperature. The liquid nitrogen I saw venting from the missile's side was used to keep the LOX very cold. The nitrogen had to be periodically replenished.
@@jelink22 Well, we aren't talking about the Atlas missile, which is probably the one you are referring to. The Titan II (*not* the Titan I) used dinitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer and a mixture of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) as the fuel. These are liquids at room temperature, so the Titan II was almost always fully fueled and ready to go with the fuel stored inside the missile over long periods of time. The Atlas and Titan I's used LOX for the oxidizer and RP-1 as the fuel, but they were phased out as the Titan II became operational. Eventually, the solid-fueled Minuteman missiles replaced all of the liquid-fueled ICBMs in the US arsenal, although the Titan II and Atlas both became repurposed as launch vehicles for orbital satellites and spacecraft.
Wile-E-Coyote, Super Genius immediately came to mind.
I’m glad Airman Hicks was at the right place at the right time!
My mother was a civil service employee at Myrtle Beach AFB hospital in South Carolina. The Air Force was heavily involved in community activities and USAF officers often visited our school, always with ultra cool stuff in hand. One day in June 1969 a Minuteman arrived in Myrtle Beach to "show the colors" in our annual Sun Fun parade. I was the alpha science geek in my sixth grade class, so my mother asked the Base Commander if I could visit the Minuteman in the hangar where they were storing it and he agreed. Boy howdy did he agree! The next day I was instructed to wait in my Scout uniform on the front steps of the base hospital for further instructions. At the appointed time, two APs pulled up in a VIP vehicle, got out, saluted tiny little me and said, "Sir, we have orders to escort you to the Minuteman missile." They loaded me in the car, drove me to the hangar and let me play on the Minuteman for fifteen minutes. It was beyond awesome! In hindsight, I'm sure the missile was completely inert and almost certainly a public relations parade item, but on that June day in 1969 I felt like I was king of the planet... and the United States Air Force nade a friend for life.
I was a Titan II missile launch officer from 1977-1982. Your comment about the launch response time, at least regarding the Titan II, was totally wrong. The Titan II would be fueled underground and the propellants only needed to be serviced every 7 years. It could be launched at any time in less than 60 seconds. The Titan II was an amazing piece of engineering.
Titan I was shown launching during that comment. Titan I was not a quick launch. Titan II was indeed a minute to launch due to storable hypergolic fuel and oxidizer. It was a truly awesome weapon.
I used to see stupid mistakes all the time when I was in the Navy. I remember a friend who had been an electronic tech on USS Nimitz telling me a scary story about working in the reactor control room and every alarm in the room going off at once. Turned out to be a faulty circuit breaker or some such thing. The alarm panel was defective, not the reactor. We build these extremely complex death machines, put 20-somethings in charge of them, and sometimes they break. It is a miracle we have not accidentally detonated one or more of these nukes.
I was a Minuteman technician in the USAF stationed at Ellsworth a few years after this event. Your description of missile procedures is nearly perfect except for two minor and inconsequential details likely the result of the necessity of brevity as opposed to an actual factual error.
Unfortunately I cannot elaborate as I am bound by law and ethics not to discuss secret or top secret issues regarding anything as pertains to the Minuteman program. In any event, good job as always.
I'm impressed at the research needed to compile the information to present this. Thank you.
Lol some routine research on Google?
Good Wednesday morning from Ft Worth TX to everyone watching...
Howdy from Parker County!
@@cowgirljane3316 My father lived in Parker County; Weatherford at Horseshoe Bend...
Hello from a Fort Worth native.
Massachusetts, 4now
Hi Bill from Fort Worth and fellow long time student!
Always enjoy your videos and thank you for telling our story. Missileers seem to always be eclipsed by the cocky 'fly-boys' but we stood our vigil and did our job just the same and you have made sure that "we few" are not forgotten.
Spoke to an officer on that Air Force team. He spoke of test after test after test to keep the whole system operating w/ no flaws. Don’t think I could have survived in the pressure cooker like that.
Maintenance shortcuts can usually be attributed to “gethomeitis” and result in damaged/destroyed material and/or lives and careers.
My grandfather and father's construction company helped build a large number of those silos. Years later, these systems are all gone, but the new GBSD is under development. The museum at Ellsworth AFB is fascinating.
Check your privilege born of Nuclear Weaponry 😂
I don't know why, but this was one of your most fascinating videos for me.
The digging was obviously deep. You discovered the almost trivial and hilariously understated fact that Hicks was named Maintenance Man of the Month!
At any rate, although I was fascinated by these missiles, I never knew they used solid fuel.
Cool, never heard of this before. I have driven past the Vale highway more times then I can recall, my wife and I even drove over to Vale one day just to have a look around. I can remember all the silo's along the highways of South Dakota from when I was a young man, now many of the square chain link fences are filled with bales of hay, once in awhile there are sheep in them eating the grass.
I also grew up in South Dakota, and recall how many silos dotted the landscape. The owner has kept and maintained the fence at Lima-2.
I used to hunt western SD in the 70s and we'd see a few silos. After Reagan started putting the squeeze on the USSR, new ICBM silos for the PeaceKeeper (MX) started popped up faster than prairie dog holes.
Great history documentary, Lance. Thank you for your research, production, and presentation. Your hard
work shows in the Splendid videos you present. Love, from Louisiana.
I just visited the Minuteman Missile NHS yesterday and this video shows up in my feed.
That accident revealed a system weakness and was, fortunately, a minor incident.
Although nearly impossible to get an accidental nuclear explosion, more likely is a discharge of one or more of the initiating explosives, ejecting the core.
I remember taking the Amtrak Empire Builder train from Chicago to Glacier NP (Montana). While listening to the docent on the train, in the middle of a field, we noticed a chain link fence around a large cement pad and a small shed, with a small gravel driveway leading from the road. He said that it was a cold war missile silo. It looked very similar to the one at 10:00 in your video. As a kid that grew up during the cold war, I always thought they would look much "cooler" than that!
Nope, the whole point was to make them as unassuming as possible... 😉
I had 3 of those within 10 miles of the house I grew up in in Central Montana. They are quite unassuming.... until you ride your bikes out to one and play in the driveway... You get a helicopter flying over your head REALLY quickly. ;-)
@@playgroundchooser yeah, they definitely don't mess around!
When I was a kid, in the '80s, there was some anti-nuclear group that made a big hullaballoo going around to map out all the "secret" ICBM missile sites. It seemed incredibly stupid since 1) all you had to do was drive down the road to see them and 2) anyone with a satellite or access to an airplane could just take a photo from overhead and see them all.
@@playgroundchooser ironic youtube comment due to your name choice.
The name Minuteman is a throwback to the revolutionary war. I spent a few years on the propellant replacement program.
in 1978-9 i drove a school bus out that way, east of bell foolish town. kids on ranches around sites. i think near one when easter blisard blew bus roll over. step dad was supply srgt. at base about that time.
After this incident, it would have made sense to require a three-member team to verify that every maintenance person has the right tools prior to going in to the silo. The same error caused the 1980 accident in Arkansas.
None of them had full sets of tools, even the vital suits for handling refueling operations on the Titan II were often unserviceable. Maintenance was given a low priority unfortunately.
I was in Minuteman tech school in 69 and this incident was common knowledge. The description was of a Missile Maintenance Team (MMT) safing the missile and recovering the RV. Minuteman 2 and 3 did not have sneak circuits like this. EMT Force Mod and Command Data Buffer. Lot of good and fairly accurate facts in the video.
Sneak paths to squibs are not preferable, not where someone can get to them while a missile is connected and circuits are live, especially.
I live in this area and saw the SDPBS story about the silo. Blew my mind, lol. We've always joked that we're either in the safest area to live or the first to go. As far as keeping it from the public, that was easy to do, considering how few people lived here and how much open country there is between Vale and Ellsworth.
AND you all were "scanned" by the Chinese balloon as it drifted over your missile fields?
@@danielbeck9191 I would have waved, if I'd known! 🤷♀️🤷♀️😏😏🤣🤣
Eric Schlosser has documented the US Air Force's attitude towards nuclear weapons in his book: Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety. This fits right in. F safety, we gotta have the weapons available at all times.
This was 60 years ago…and yes, they do need to be available at all times. That’s precisely their purpose.
Very good book
@@33moneyball60 years ago doesn't excuse horrible safety though.
@@jamesking1971 Definitely
It did tell me who was General Travis and why the US Air Force base is named after him
@@33moneyball Not at this time and not until there was enough to have spares to allow for safe handling. This incident, the Damascus Incident, Palomares, etc. show that safety could have been increased to allow for not losing a device to the Soviet Union, Palomares, nor nuking our own country, with the other two and yet more incidents involving nuclear devices on US soil.
I worked security at 45 missle sqdn. I worked most of the missle wings in my 4 years there at Ellsworth. All kinds of things small and large happen in the missle field.
I was there 78-80. 44 SPS/ 44 MSS
Well THG, I was a Missile Communications Technician for a few years of my USAF career and I suppose now I know what all that special training was all about. Thanks for telling me a "war story" that in my time in missiles from 1975-1980 I'd never heard about. Probably because at that time an incident like that would have been classified above Top Secret.
AS a Missile Com Tech, I would think you would be high on the security "need to know" Just because you went to a service academy, they often cannot teach people to think, not to malign those organizations, I have notice in the past few years that it is a rare instructor who can really teach people how to think.
If it ain't politically correct it just ain't so.
There's no classification above top secret. Just more tightly restricted information compartments.
@@TheDesertRat31the ufo file
It would be worth another episode to explore the USAF's accidental dropping of an atomic bomb near Goldsboro, NC. This was when Seymour Johnson AFB has B-52s, and the only thing that prevented a detonation was aid to have been a single safety fuse. Local rumor has it the bomb landed in an area swamp, and at the height it was dropped from, the bomb buried itself at such a depth it was never recovered.
Just looked this up. The crashed plane had two nukes on board. One was ejected as the plane disintegrated in the air and was recovered intact, the other was partially buried and was never fully recovered - but they did recover the nuclear core. One of the bombs came dangerously close to detonating; all but one of its arming switches had activated.
The History Guy devoted only about a minute of his "Operation Chrome Dome and Palomares Incident" video (ruclips.net/video/yIrSBmG46n8/видео.html) to that.
My recollection of that nuclear bomb was that 4 levels of safety switches failed or didn’t activate but the last one (#5) prevented an actual detonation. Just my unconfirmed memory.
@@Sashazur That's called "One Point Detonation Safe". Unless all switches activated simultaneously, you might get scattering of nuclear material, but NOT a full-yield nuke explosion.
Dear History Guy: I love the way you lay out the landscape, the features and then the um ... occurrence. Your matter of fact point of view is so refreshing. Thank You
As a Rapid City native I really enjoy your South Dakota sourced stories. Thanks for the history!
Thank you for the lesson.
I live in South Dakota and never knew of this
Just one minor correction to your narrative, the 44th Missile Wing was not "deactivated" but was, rather, inactivated, leaving the unit designation available to the Air Force for future reassignment. In case you're wondering, I'm a historian for the Air Force, and the basis for my statement is derived from the Air Force's 84 series of Air Force Instructions. Great content and a very timely narrative, with the future replacement of the Minute Man III coming soon.
Thank you for the correction.
Technically you are correct but as an ICBM missile wing it was deactivated.
I was part of the 321 MW deactivation. The 321st could, at some point, stand up again as an aircraft wing.
There was an incident where a liquid fuel Nuke exploded in the silo sending the warhead about a mile away . Several people in the military died during the incident .
It’s briefly mentioned in the video.
It was covered in another video
@@JoshuaTootell I think that was in Missouri----at Whiteman?
@@danielbeck9191 Damascus, Arkansas. Titan II I believe.
Read the book : COMMAND AND CONTROL, The Damascus Accident
Two thumbs up Lance and THG team. You did an excellent job!
It’s on my bucket list to stop at the Minuteman Missile Historic site someday.
I was 11 and in sioux Falls in 64. 8 years later i was in college in rapid city. Driving on I90, a couple of times i drove beside missles being transport ed. Quite unsettling. Good video History Guy. Thanks
I'm surprised they even acknowledged the mishap in 1981: last thing you want is for your adversary to know your systems aren't foolproof. It was also unsurprising that the maintenance guy who used a screwdriver to pop the fuse because he didn't have the prescribed tool was later criticized for not using the "available" correct tool.
I'm not surprised it took the USAF 57 years to disclose its "little goof;" after all, all of the facts regarding the assassination of JFK have yet to be disclosed. It will be a century before Pfizer's/Moderna's documents regarding their concoction come to full light (if ever).
Who knows with the military, they might deem that as the tool existed somewhere in the world, that it was "available", even if the technician didn't have it. I would also not be surprised if the right tool was really complicated and slow to use compared to a screwdriver... hence the use of a screwdriver!
@@cerealport2726 Could be that the Right Tool really *was* a screwdriver but they needed someone to carry the can...
The History Guy. "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it". I believe this quote from my childhood is why I'm such a WW2 student as an adult. 🤘
Same, started with a time life book about ww2 submarines in the 7th grade. To hear people call other Americans "fascists"or "knot z" (can't say the word on touyube without the comment being deleted, so much for history) shows astonishing ignorance about what those words mean
You must’ve been pissed during the Covid papers please era then
The Minuteman missile was not so-named because it could be launched in about a minute, per se. Rather, the missile was named after the Revolutionary War "minutemen" militia members. They, of course, were so named because they could be ready at a minute's notice, so the missile is only indirectly named after its time-to-ready.
That is in keeping with the names of other missiles used by US Army and USAF. Atlas and Titan come from classical Greek mythology.
Yes ! Thanks.
As I recall from school, The Minute Men from The Revolutionary War were no doubt quick to respond, but somewhere I got the impression that the term “Minute Man” referred to the reloading of the muzzle loaded weapons, which took about a minute.
Of coarse, I could have missed class that day.
@@LGR605 The vandals at Wikipedia would have us believe "Some towns in Massachusetts had a long history of designating a portion of their militia as minutemen, with 'minute companies' constituting special units within the militia system whose members underwent additional training and held themselves ready to respond at a minute's notice to emergencies, which gave rise to their name as Minutemen."
Which is not to say that they weren't able to reload in a minute, but that appears to have had less to do with their nickname.
I was taught about this in my USAF Nuclear Weapons Tech School (463X0) in the early 1970s. I worked on the Minuteman III system until 1976.
Another GREAT Episode Sir. Just when you thought THG had covered all the "Broken Arrows" that there were. He gives us another one. 🏆👍
How is this classed as a broken arrow??
Well if you don't trust me to be making a accurate comment Sir. Go Google it for yourself.
Once upon a time a wise old man told me "Far better to thought to be ignorant, than open your mouth. Eliminating ALL doubt" J/S
This story brings back some memories. I was part of the 44th SMW at Ellsworth from 63-65.
Book : COMMAND AND CONTRL, the Damascus Accident !
In case anyone was wondering, the reason why liquid-fuelled missiles couldn't be fuelled up indefinitely is because one component of the fuel is highly corrosive.
My uncle served in the army during the cold war. He was stationed in what was West Germany at the time. He told me a store one day about one of the nukes they had on base. They started to move it with a crane. It slipped of and slammed into the ground. He said he never heard silence like he did for that moment after the nuke stopped rolling around.
With theTHG around, there is no such thing as "forgotten history". I'm waiting for him to come up with an incident so forgotten that even the participants don't remember it.
I was a spark chaser (31630G2) Missile Systems Analyst in Cheyenne Wy. Thanks for detailing this!
good stuff, thanks.. I love history..
MMII/CDB ICBM Combat Crew Commander. I survived 4 years of missile combat crew duty. Line crews pulled 8 alerts per month and if a crew got lucky they might get 7 and a backup some times. An inner zone alarm was a Sit 6. An outer zone was a Sit 7. If you got a sit 7 followed by a sit 6 you then had a sit 4 which started getting serious. And God help you if you missed a SC 281, 283, 285 and your missiles went OS 328 because God may forgive you but SAC would not. Yep, I still remember this stuff. Four years of missile crew duty. Left with 5 HQs.
As always, well presented.
I spent 7 1/2 years at Ellsworth AFB at 44th Missile Wing and 4 years at FE Warren in the Missile ELAB
Spent a couple years working Lima Area back in the early 90's with the 812th/44th Missile Wing. If you sneezed while driving through Vale, you'd miss it. Good Times.
My dad was in Missile Maintenance, and he spent his entire career working on the Minuteman 2. The Air Force let him take early retirement when they were decommissioned because it would cost less than retraining him to work on one of the newer missiles. I actually got to go to the silo once when I was a kid. I can't remember all that much about it, but it was cool to see where he worked.
You're the only man in a bowtie that I can take seriously, nicely done
With so many accidents, crashes and... "misunderstandings" since 1945, without exaggeration, we are lucky to be alive. ⚛
The same could be said of other countries with ICBM’s
Read the book : COMMAND AND CONTROL, the Damascus Accident !
There are some things the general public just does not need to be aware of to prevent hysteria and panic. If the public knew of every mistake, fatality, near miss of the military over the years, fear and panic of the great "what if" many of the advancements and technology we have today would not have been allowed to proceed with development. The creation and management of any weapons great or small comes at a cost of human lives to a degree. This should not be seen as unique because it is not. Everything in the modern world food, medicine, infrastructure, agriculture, even our clothing in some way has taken a human toll in it's development. The reason secrets exist is because we know some people are simply not capable of dealing with "knowing". Great video!
It was amazing footage of actual procedures by actual military personnel that was shown in the movie The Day After and First Strike although they were uncredited.
Riveting as per usual.
Thanks once again.
Always a pleasure.🤓👍🏻
The Titan missiles had storable fuel - but it was corrosive and very toxic.
Several serious accidents occurred and the USAF decommissioned the system.
I was stationed at Vandenberg AFB Calif in 1965/66/67. I was an Aerial Combat Documentary Photographer and part of what was called LDCT (Launch Disaster Control Team)...we had to photograph every launch on Vandenberg and take 3 individual pictures of every part of any Missile that Blew Up over land when there was a Launch Accident ! Needless to say that I have taken Thousands of pictures of Missile parts strewn all over Vandenberg !
The scariest job they ever sent me to do was after there was a Failed Launch on a MinuteMan 1 Missile they put me in a Basket hooked up to a crane and lowered me into the Silo to take pictures of a failed Locking System/Latch that was suspected of causing a previous Launch Explosion !
*Staring Up at the exhaust Nozzles in the Launch Silo of a Missile that had such a bad reputation for accidents was Unsettling to say the least !*
I have watched (in person) lots of MinuteMan Missiles Blow up in the Silos, Do Loop de Loops as they clear the Silo....even watched one Lay Down Horizontal as it cleared the Silo and Blow up a Launch Facility nearby... One Blew up in the Silo and Blew the Cement Doors on the Silo a Mile away in the sand dunes of Vandenberg before I got there !
Got to fly B-52s and KC-135 Refuelers 1967/68 over No. and South Vietnam out of
U-tapao RTAFB in Thailand.... *BEST JOB IN THE USAF !*
Better check your story. The missile explosion that blew the launch door off was a Titan II. The only way you would be looking up at stage i Minuteman nozzles would be if the missile was intact, not blown up. At worst that would have been a hang-fire.
I did Minuteman maintenance and launch facility preparation at Vandenberg in the 394th. Entering the launch tube in a crane suspended work basket was a routine post launch operation done by Pad Refurb. It was not unusual it was routine .
There were launch failures of Minuteman but that is why they tested them at Vandenberg. The Minuteman had the best safety and reliability reputation of all the missiles being launched from Vandenberg until the MX came along. I have no idea where your comment about" a bad safety reputation" comes from.
@@paaat001
OK... That is the only one that I presumed was an older Minuteman silo door as I saw one of those doors still in a sand dune while flying in a Huey doing other Launch Facility Construction progress over Vandenberg.!
I didn't mean that the MinuteMan missile that I was in the Silo with had already blown up... a previous Minuteman missile had blown up and the authorities suspected it was caused by a faulty "Release latch" and that was the object that I was required to photograph.
@@paaat001
I personally have watched Dozens of Minuteman missiles Blow up during 1965/66/67 !
I enjoy the replica security sign the park service sells at the guest store in SD at the Minuteman site, now hanging in my garage:
“WARNING: Restricted Area
It is unlawful to enter this area without permission of the Installation Commander”…
“Use of deadly force authorized.”
In September 2022, during a cross country car trip, I visited the National Park Service historic site. It was a very hot day, temps pushing 100 F but it was nice and cool inside the visitor's center and a good break point in my journey. The NPS site is not far from the eastern entry gate to Badlands National Park and just off the interstate. It was interesting to learn about the history of these missile site including this and other mishaps from their operation. Some of the bunker buildings use to store explosives and missile parts near some missile sties became popular with 'preppers' and others during the Pandemic with some converting them into 'end of the world' shelters loaded with supplies.
always wonderful History........thank you.....Paul in Florida
My two hunting buddies and I were sitting around a campfire when they realized they were at the same USAF bases when missile incidents occurred. Although they knew each other for a couple of years they never spoke of it before. In the following years, stories from the silos had us laughing so hard we probably chased all the deer away. Like the young airman in this story, one of my companions was hustled out of a DC restaurant, placed in the back seat of a fighter jet and was subjected to a quick flight to a silo on the other side of the country....he ended with "that is why I was in AA". But the most hilarious stories were about the ghosts that everyone knew was there, but was never to speak about it. Quickest way to lose your top secret clearance. When you saw a Senior Master Sargent pumping gas at the motor pool...he spoke about the ghosts. One of my guys built the silos and the other maintained it and they pointed fingers at each other for the cause of the "mishaps". Ignorance is bliss....there were many mishaps.
I’m curious about the “ghosts” you’re talking about. Care to explain?
@@anderstrygg3188 The people that fell into the concrete or just deadly accidents on the job. Their souls were not at peace so they roamed the silos. The work did not stop...they retrieved the body if possible....if not...oh well, they were on a schedule. I was not there, these are from the people that was there and what they saw and heard.
The Minuteman is a pretty cool family of missiles, but my favorite has always been the Titans--they carried Gemini capsules into space AND were our main missile defense for a time.
The Titan II had highly explosive liquid fuel. The Air Force kept 54 on alert due to the 10MT warhead to show the Russians we meant business because the far highly more accurate Minuteman III had MIRV warheads of 200KT. The liquid fuel was not only highly explosive, it was corrosive and required specific maintenance that resulted in multiple accidents. The AF decommissioned them in due time. A 10MT warhead accident would make Chernobyl look like a firecracker explosion.
I was a security policeman working missiles at Whiteman AFB In Missouri. Three days on with a fourth day as travel time. I loved it.
My father in law was stationed at Ellsworth as a minute man missle technician in the mid 60’s . He never mentioned this incident !
Pop was an aeronautical engineer for Boeings. Then the Minutman program. We were in SD in 65.
In a remarkable coincidence, the base mess hall served fission chips for lunch...
Hi THG,
I love your Work, always very thorough.
As an Amateur Rocket Historian I need to point out a Point of Clarification:
The Titan I ICBM used RP1 + LOx (Kerosene + Liquid Oxygen) as Propellants, and therefore not “Storable”.
The Titan I’s Successor, the Titan II, used storable (albeit nasty) Hypergolic (self igniting) Fuel: Nitrogen Tetroxide + Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine (UDMH).
Apologies for the Pedantry.
Dave in Philly
So....the front fell off?
Here is another history that deserves to be remembered: Edward Hall who led the Minuteman system and advanced US ICBM weapons against the USSR had a younger brother, Theodore Hall a phycisist that worked in the Manhatan project and was a spy for NKVD and provided nuclear secrets to the Soviets! The whole story of the US ICBM history is amazingly described in Neil Sheehan's "A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon". It's a must-read story that includes all the who-is-who of US military, scientific and military elite of the US in the 40's, 50's and 60's.
Book to read : COMMAND AND CONTROL, the DAMASCUS ACCIDENT !
Military commander are primarily concerned that blame for something like this be placed OUTSIDE their command and that information regarding the incident be buried as deeply and quickly as possible. The higher the rank the more CYA is used to obscure and obfuscate any such incident.
"... but it is history, that deserves to be remembered"
Why didn't you end it like that after the last sentence? It would have been so perfect lol.
Stationed at Vandenberg AFB, Ca. Assigned to 394th. SMS Refurbishment Section. Launching practically one a week. We had duty to refurb launch tube, make it ready for the next test launch down pacific test range. The famous statue and pictures of one Colonial Minuteman standing ready with his rifle to be called to fight British at a moments notice. Part of missiles history that should not be forgotten.
Yep. After 1992, SAC became less important and actually dissolved as a distinct branch of the Air Force. Obama approved a 10 year program that will cost about $ trillion to modernize (actually replace) our strategic nuclear forces. Everything of our nuclear forces is old and the Russians have began introducing new systems, and China have been building their forces, and they have been paying Americans such as Trump, Mannafort, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and others as agents on their behalf.
There's a lot of "forgotten history" in the military. Incidents, accidents, and just plain incompetence or stupidity that gets buried (or the people transferred). A friend (since passed away) was assigned to the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line in Alaska back in the early 60's. They had this SSgt show up one day at their remote Radar Site. It seemed weird as most assignments to the DEW line have certain protocols and set of procedures to minimize crew disruptions and prevent suicides (isolation at those places is hard on people). This guy showed with their weekly supply truck and handed his orders to his boss (a 1st Lieutenant). The LT didn't say much and welcomed him to the DEW line. He stayed with them as an extra maintenance body (he seemed to know electronics, but didn't have any specific career specialty, which is strange as we're all about our career fields in the Air Force.) and he left in the same way on a supply truck six months later. They normally rotated shifts on the site and changed crews every few weeks. This SSgt didn't leave the site until the six months was up. About 15 years later during his final assignment to a SAC base as the Senior NCO in the Avionic Maintenance Squadron (AMS), he meets the Senior Ops Officer for the Wing and almost had a coronary. The Colonel was the SSgt from his radar site in Alaska. He didn't say anything to him, and the Colonel didn't say anything, though he recognized my friend immediately. He ran into him during Wing Staff meetings, maintenance issues on the flightline, and around the base until my friend retired a couple of years later. He never learned the real story, but he and I think someone (the Colonel) was getting punished as a junior officer (he would have been a Lieutenant or Captain at the time) for something stupid he did (we don't what happened to get him sent to the DEW Line, did he get caught with some other officer's wife or did he crash an airplane???). He was probably given the option to get kicked out of the Air Force, get RIF'd (reduction in rank (usually a reduction to an enlisted rank for an officer to stay in the service to get their 20 years, or take punishment (temporarily assigned as a SSgt) at a Radar site in Alaska and come back as an Officer. Whatever the reason, he said it was a strange experience to see your old maintenance duty dog as the Wing Operations Officer. PS. According to the Colonel's official career description he had never been enlisted, but it does mention a classified assignment around the same time as my friend worked with him at the Radar site in Alaska. Also, he had a degree in Electrical Engineering (which explains his knowledge of electronics). As far we could tell he wasn't some kind of secret squirrel evaluating Radar sites. He was only assigned to that one site and didn't go anywhere for six months until he left. That sounded like punishment to us.
Those who install and maintain our nukes are largly untold heros. Working with this type ordinance is more than dangerous and those who endeavor to help defend our nation from our enemies are without a doubt the most patriotic among us.
That was news to me, thanks very much for this informative history.
I.m actually impressed by the design and the staibility of a solid fule rocket. I had heard that they were "stable", but....a rocket firing inside a fueled rocket and the "only" thing that happened was the top fell off? Very impressive that the whole thing didn't go up.
I remember reading that it's actually pretty "difficult" to get the solid fuel burning exactly because they don't want just any old fire to blow one up.
@@playgroundchooser I know, I just really didn't know how "really difficult" it was until this. "Burn a rocket with a rocket" is sort of the definition of "difficult to ignite".
@@paramounttechnicalconsulti5219 haha, now that you mention it, a rocket's exhaust that has cooled too much to light another rocket is pretty freekin sweet! And makes me wonder even more what it takes to get the original one going 😲
Read the Book : COMMAND AND CONTROL, the Damascus Accident !
Aussie accent: "I don't want you to think these missiles are unsafe because the front fell off..."
I would like to suggest specialized T-shirts for most popular episodes. Or nice dress/ golf shirts with THG logo on them. Good stuff! Keep up the great work!
try doing all of it today and it would take 50 years and countless incidents and failures.
In the early 1980s, I lived on a farm in Sumner County, KS. There was a Minuteman silo visible from our kitchen window. I always figured that if we got into a war with the Soviets, I was gone before any Red missile could reach us.
My Dad worked on the Minuteman III with SAMSO at Norton AFB in the late 1960s.
That bowtie is too serious to not be taken seriously. Love it. ^_^
Three of those Minuteman III missiles were less than 10 miles as the crow flies from the house I grew up in. There may have been a forth as well, but we never really though much about them. It's only now that I'm older I realize how crazy that was.
I watch a lot of content. Nobody, and I mean nobody, produces quality content equal to this channel. So fun!
I worked for 2 years at Lima flight area, 1983-84 as a security alarm response team leader and flight security controller. Spent many hours at Lima 2, and was totally unaware of this accident.
Another awesome episode. Thrilling!