Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, in southwestern South Dakota near Badlands National Park, is the first national historic site to commemorate the Cold War. The Cold War was a struggle for international power between Communist nations, led by the Soviet Union, and non-Communist nations, led by the United States. During this struggle, which lasted from the late 1940’s to the early 1990’s, the United States and the Soviet Union kept their armed forces in a state of military readiness and invested in a massive build-up of nuclear weapons.
The historic site is a former launch facility for Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM’s). ICBM’s were important strategic weapons during the Cold War that could deliver a nuclear warhead to a Soviet target in about 30 minutes. The United States planted ICBM’s in underground shafts called silos across the Midwest. Minuteman II missiles were stored ready to launch and kept on 24-hour alert.
The United States withdrew the missiles from alert after signing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1991. In accordance with the treaty, also known as Start I, the United States destroyed all but one of its missile silos during the 1990’s. The one remaining silo was kept for conversion into a public display.
The U.S. Air Force and the National Park Service began efforts to preserve the site in 1992. The site was officially transferred to the Park Service in 2002.
The site consists of a launch control center called Delta One and a missile silo called Delta Nine. Delta One is an underground room containing launch control consoles and communications equipment. Delta Nine is a missile silo 12 feet (3.66 meters) in diameter and 80 feet (24 meters) deep made of reinforced concrete and lined with steel. There, a display missile appears as it did on strategic nuclear alert.
The U.S. Air Force and the National Park Service began efforts to preserve the site in 1992. Congress passed legislation in 1999 that designated the area as a national historic site. The site was officially transferred to the Park Service in 2002. Tours of the historic site began in 2004 and are offered the year around—once daily during the fall, winter, and spring, and twice daily during the summer. Park Service officials recommend that visitors make advance reservations during the busy summer season.
See also Cold War ; Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) .
