FC Posted May 6, 2023 Report Share Posted May 6, 2023 https://youtu.be/2KrBezIT0d8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Hess Posted May 6, 2023 Report Share Posted May 6, 2023 Yeah, and besides not making any new ones, none of the old ones have been tested in decades either. There's a question on whether or not they will go off at all. I went down inside a Minuteman II Launch Control Facility at Vandenberg when I was a kid in the CAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted May 7, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 I didn’t know they allowed that. Would have been fascinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Hess Posted May 7, 2023 Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 Yes, it was very cool. I remember these giant shock absorbers sort of in the corners of the facility, and we saw the control panel with the 2 key switches. I was 16YO and at an "encampment," which was a nice way of saying CAP Boot Camp, as that's what it was. Lots of marching, cleaning, getting yelled at, etc. I wore out the heel on my combat boot. They also pulled out some of the original USAF purchased AR15's, the very first ones, as near as I can figure, and took us to the shooting range while telling us that this was not really part of CAP but we were just gonna do it. I still hit the bolt release of an AR they way they taught us then, 45+ years ago. And we marched down into the blast diverter area of a space shuttle launch pad. That was before the shuttle ever flew, and as far as I know, that facility was never used. However, one never knows what they shoot up at night. We were going to go in the silo, but the night before, they had a launch scheduled and it hung up or something, so we didn't get to do that. I recall seeing the missile with plastic explosive all along the whole length of it so they could blow it if they launched it and something went wrong. They showed us a movie of a simulated direct nuclear hit on a LCF with test dummies down below, and they said the men would have survived and have been able to launch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inthe10ring Posted May 7, 2023 Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 I still wonder why they use civilian companies to transport them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted May 7, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 I’ve wondered how they ship explosives, and whether there’s an armed escort? I would assume so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Hess Posted May 8, 2023 Report Share Posted May 8, 2023 "The word on the street" is that there is a ghost fleet, operated by the big firms, like JB Hunt. The company knows they are out there and nothing else, at all. They send checks to the drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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