{"id":6262,"date":"2020-10-27T20:28:48","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T00:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6262"},"modified":"2020-10-27T20:40:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T00:40:25","slug":"fwd-episode-152-icbm-missile-bases-in-north-dakota-hidden-in-plain-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6262","title":{"rendered":"Fwd: EPISODE 152 ICBM MISSILE BASES IN NORTH DAKOTA…HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Begin forwarded message:<\/div>\n


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From: <\/b><\/span>ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
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Subject: <\/b><\/span>EPISODE 152 ICBM MISSILE BASES IN NORTH DAKOTA…HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT<\/b>
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Date: <\/b><\/span>October 26, 2020 at 6:23:35 PM EDT
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To: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
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EPISODE 153   ICBM MISSILE SILOS\u2026DO THEY LIMIT THE CHANCE OF NUCLEAR WAR?<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
oct. 2020<\/div>\n

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Minuteman ICBM site\u2026.Hidden from view\u2026almost  hidden on two acre lots across the American midwest .<\/div>\n


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 I did not want to look like the yahoo B52 pilot in the Movie Dr. Strangelove but<\/div>\n
this picture taken on our trip to North Dakota certainly gives that impression.<\/div>\n

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\"Two<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Making child\u2019s play out of a potential horrific disaster.  Tours  of the missile silos could be arranged. In this case<\/div>\n
two children are planed in the launch seats.  What could be more chilling?<\/div>\n

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THE NORTH DAKOTA MINUTEMAN SILOS<\/div>\n


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Summer around  1980:  We  headed west  In search of<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

the missile  silos in North Dakota.  Frightening.  Marjorie and  I<\/p><\/div>\n

were just ordinary citizens\u2026not political party members or members of peace groups;<\/div>\n
Just Concerned citizens.  
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We drove from Toronto to North Dakota back  around 1980 just to get a sidelong look<\/div>\n
at this American silos housing the Minueman Inter continental ballistic missiles\u2026ICBM\u2019S.<\/div>\n
WHY?  First, I found it hard to believe that such  missile  sites really existed.  They did exists\u2026<\/div>\n
and many still exist today, Oct. 27, 2020.   Second, Our boys were now teen-agers and we thought they should<\/div>\n
be aware  of the insanity of Nuclear conflict.<\/div>\n

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\u201cBoys, look over there.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThat field.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNothing there, dad\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThat is  where you  are wrong.  See  the little  bump?  What you are looking at is the hiding place<\/div>\n
of a 1.2 megaton nuclear armed  ICBM.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cICBM?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cINTER CONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE\u2026A nuclear weapon capable of wiping out a city.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

From launch  to impact in 30 minutes.”
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\u201cOh, Alan,  don\u2019t say that.  You  will scare the boys\u2026and me!\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cScares me as well, Marjorie.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTell us more, dad.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThese Minuteman  missiles buried  in silos 8o feet deep\u2026.many around us  here<\/div>\n
in North Dakota\u2026spread  out in a circle around the city of Minot which has a big SAC base with those <\/div>\n
big B 52 nuclear bombers.   Some  of those planes are in the air at all times in case of nuclear war<\/div>\n
they are ready to strike.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan that\u2019s enough\u2026no more.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cJust one last comment, Marjorie, before we strike north to Manitoba and then to Wick\u2019s place on Lake  of the Woods.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo more.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t I just tell the boys to watch the movie titled Dr. Strangelove?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo!  Now stop.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat movie dad?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDr. Strangelove is supposed to be a funny movie with Peter Sellars\u2026really a dark comedy.  Seems  funny until<\/div>\n
the very end when the crazy pilot of a B 52 rides a nuclear bomb heading for a Russian city.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRiding\u2026what do you mean  by riding, dad?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLike riding a horse only it\u2019s a bomb.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan,  if you don\u2019t stop, I am  taking the boys for s walk.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMy lips ae sealed\u2026for a while\u201d<\/div>\n

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COMMENT<\/div>\n

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How  long does  the President of the United States have to make his decision to launch the missiles?  About six minutes.<\/div>\n
Has a mistaken alert led to a near catastrophe?   Yes.<\/div>\n

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  From 1961 to 1967 the United States was building silos encased in rebar and concrete. That\u2019s most of my teaching  career.  Why?   To house
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 1,000 Minuteman missiles \u2026  underground  silos, 80 feet deep,  all across the American midwest.  Why underground?  It was expected  most<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

of the Minutemen missiles would withstand a surprise nuclear war and be ready to fire back at an enemy.  That was the essence of the Cold War. <\/p><\/div>\n

Two enemy states capable of destroying each other and thereby creating a stalemate\u2026a tenuous  Peace due to the chance of mutual self destruction.<\/div>\n

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Who had\u2026whups! I used  the past tense\u2026the verb \u2018had’  should be the verb \u2018has\u2019. Who has the power to push the launch button? The President <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

of the United States.   Did you ever notice the military man with the briefcase that follows the President.  That brief case contains the codes that<\/p><\/div>\n

can trigger a missile launch.   Two men are in each command room near the missile silos.  Replaced by others in each 8 hour shift<\/div>\n
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These men are deemed psychologically stable before getting placed.   Great Care is taken.  <\/div>\n
The missiles could only be launched when both men receive the \u201cGo\u201d command from the President and agree to push the  launch <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

button simultaneously.
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Some of the silos  have been rendered inoperable but around 400 or more are still ready in  spite of the fact that the Cold War is<\/div>\n
over.   Most of the operable silos are located on farm land distant from any human beings.<\/div>\n

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Is  the system foolproof?  Could one man  go mad  and just launch a  Minuteman  for the hell of it?   What if one man refused?  <\/div>\n
What was the other man supposed to do?  What if the President of the United States went mad?    Is there some kind of check<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

  on madness?
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alan skeoch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Oct. 2020
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