![]() The operation of the Minuteman depended on a second strike capability. Minuteman facilities were designed to withstand the nuclear environments produced by a near miss from an attacking warhead detonation. Minuteman II had a maximum range of over 6,000 miles, putting almost all Soviet targets within reach. A missile launched from Delta-09 could soar straight over the North Pole and strike targets deep within central Russia. Missiles were also based here due to the relatively close proximity of northern-tier states to the Soviet Union. Planners thought that this low population would limit casualties in the event of a nuclear war, as the presence of missiles made this area a primary target. There are no large cities in this part of the country. Remoteness was key to the United States Air Force basing the Minuteman here and in five other missile fields. As far as the eye can see, there are grasslands stretching toward a vast horizon. Most of western South Dakota is sparsely-inhabited ranch country. Take a moment to look around you and absorb the seemingly endless expanse of prairie. Let's walk to the center of the fenced area. Step inside Delta-09 and learn how one of the most powerful weapons in history stood in silent vigil just beneath this lonesome stretch of prairie. Where you are now standing was ground-zero for World War Ill. Was it a water well or perhaps a local power substation? One could assume so at a glance, but in reality, this site had a more ominous role. Imagine you were one of those travelers and had glanced at the fence and the strange structures inside it. With the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, the front lines of the Cold War were everywhere, not just behind the 'Iron Curtain'. For nearly 30 years, South Dakotans and other visitors just like yourselves traveled 1-90, never realizing they were crossing a war zone. Before you enter the gate, pause and look back at Interstate 90. I'll be your guide as we explore Delta-09. I guarded this site (among 149 others), serving in the 45th Missile Security Squadron from 1982-1985. But with Donald Trump bringing the United States ever closer to the “fire and fury” of nuclear war, Reynolds’s images also serve as a cautionary tale-a reminder of the last time world leaders pushed us to the brink of total annihilation.We begin outside the gate at Delta-09. “These are shrines to an Armageddon that didn’t happen,” Reynolds says. Decommissioned in 1991, it is now a national park. Photographer Adam Reynolds traveled to the facility in January. Thousands of Air Force personnel cycled through the facility over the 28 years it was operational, and its security detail played board games in the rec room while they waited for signs that intruders-from Russian spies to the more frequent culprits, jackrabbits-had breached the perimeter. Known as Delta, the launch center in South Dakota controlled ten Minutemen, the most common missile in America’s nuclear arsenal. A sparsely populated region far from major American cities, the Plains also provided the shortest route to Moscow: some 5,000 miles over the North Pole. The first missile silos were i nstalled across the Great Plains in 1959. The rec room at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in South Dakota. ![]()
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