Arizona trip ( i.e. Classic missiles )

From: Russ Blakeman <rhblake_at_bigfoot.com>
Date: Fri Apr 13 14:10:43 2001

I totally forgot about Whiteman AFB in Knob Noster, which shows that I've
been out too long (since 95) since I was involved with some of the B2 setup
that went on there while I was stationed in Wichita. They were able to leave
the sites untouched back then as long as the inspection teams did a full
walk through to see that the booster/payload had been removed and that
certain assets/equipment had been removed or made inoperable. I found that
they did what you mention here both at Whiteman and some other touchy sites
with either fill, concrete or other non-exposive means for environmental
reasons. In some areas the original owner that the land reverts back to has
the option of demanding that the site be completely destroyed or sealed to
prevent any possibility of future liability from trespassers reopening the
site.

I know just before the big Y2K scare there were a lot of whacko groups
desparate to locate and purchase old underground complexes for when the "end
of the world" came. Some of them were able to acquire old underground
munitions storage buildings and even some old alert buildings that are
hardened against attack but the nuclear assets were all off limits for
purchase as far as I heard.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org
> [mailto:owner-classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of McFadden, Mike
> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2001 12:03 PM
> To: 'classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org'
> Subject: Re: Arizona trip ( i.e. Classic missiles )
>
>
> Classic Missiles
> My sister lives just down the road from several decommissioned Minuteman
> Silos, they are all over the middle of Missouri. Most are unmanned. The
> control center was at Knob Noster, Missouri, right down the road from
> Whiteman AFB the home of the B-2's. I've seen a few scared cows
> when a B-2
> comes by on a low level run. They were going to blow up the
> Minuteman Silos
> but the neighbors complained about damage to the local water table because
> of waste oil, fluid leakage, lubricants and hydraulic fluid. They
> eventually demolished them and filled the holes with gravel. I think they
> wanted to make sure that the Russians didn't think we were going
> to secretly
> reactivate them. You could tell where they were by the little
> windsocks for
> the helicopter, the electric transformer on a pole and the fenced square
> with a gravel road leading to them. I've heard rumors that a few
> cattle had
> close encounters with the MP's when they walked through/over the fences
> looking for green grass.
>
> Mike
> mmcfadden_at_cmh.edu
>
Received on Fri Apr 13 2001 - 14:10:43 BST