Titan II Legacy - Part 1: Construction
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 พ.ย. 2018
- This is a short documentary covering the construction phase of the Titan II complexes built in the early 60's. The Titan II was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever had among the US nuclear arsenal. There will be three future short documentaries made which will cover: Phase 2 - Activation, Phase 3 - Deactivation and Phase 4 - Re-Purposing.
Many thanks to Chuck Penson and his vast knowledge of the Titan II program. I highly recommend his book, The Titan II Handbook.
titan2handbook.com/
The background music is by Alan Silvestri and is the Cast Away, Main theme.
Narrated by Lin Thompson
I was honored to play my part in the Titan II program, as a Propellant Transfer Specialist in the 308th Missile Inspection and Maintenance Squadron, Little Rock AFB, AR - 1967 - 1969.
Daniel McNally thank you for your service to our country as a missileer and doing what I could not do though I tried. I remember getting a career catalog from the Air Force recruiting station in Lincoln, Nebraska. The catalog had a picture of a Titan II missile in silo on the front cover.
Were there ever any missiles kept at the Blytheville Air Base? I live 30 miles NW of there.
Whos care
Polski partacz w jukej fuck off
Thank you for your service. I to am a VET, but I look back now, having seen the horrors of people blown to pieces, freinds and fellow sevicemen,, and I say,,, never again. I will not raise a hand against another human being. this is insanity, a weapon able to turn an entire city +++ into ashes,,,, is nothiing to glorify. May God forgive me and have mercy on us.
When the subject of the cold war would come up in class, my elementary school teachers would tell us about all the missile silos that circled our town, and said that between the silos, and the air force base, we were one of the 5 most important targets the USSR had, and there was no way anyone here was going to survive a nuclear war. Happy times.
I remember doing the "Duck & Cover" under the desk in the classroom & the halls of the Junior High school & High school too.... :D
Having lived my whole life in Colorado Springs, I've lived with the reality that this city is a perpetual nuclear magnet. With NORAD and other vital command centers, there is no question of being on the receiving end of a dozen or so nukes if nuclear war ever broke out.
I always felt it'd be better to go out quickly than to suffer through the aftermath.
@@chriscota5679 I'm with you on that one, Chris!
@phục êwê I don't think my teachers were jerks because they told us we would be killed if the U.S. and USSR went to war. It was true, and most kids don't know what it all means anyway. I think kids who's parents get divorced suffer from more stress than I did thinking about being nuked.
Good video. I was a Combat Crew Commander 1977-1981 stationed at Davis Monthan AFB, 390TH SMW, 571 SMS.
Thanks for your service! Did you ever pull alerts in 571-3?
@@ThompsonAtomicRanch That was my home site... Then ACP crew at 571-1.
Amazing projects, I’m glad those images were declassified.
What a cool thing to see.
Very nice video. I was on a launch crew towards the end of the program. Excellent construction photos. Well done.
Ok can’t wait. Very interesting! Great work! Great to see the construction! Thank you!
In the early 1990's I was gathering information for the design of buried pipe for draining waste chemicals. I soon realized that, while the research was done by geology and civil engineering departments of various universities around the country, most of it was funded by the US Air Force. That organization probably knew more about buried structures than any other organization or institution in the country, or probably the world. Not what you'd expect an air force to be expert in.
That's why Stargate Command is operated by the Airforce.
@Jake Meek btw I'm a former NASA astronaut and have been to the I.S.S myself and seen the earth through the cupola window...
@@maddog7795 Thank you for your dedication & hard work in NASA. I always wanted to become an astronaut, but vision & poror health, quickly killed that dream. But I was old enough to understand the last Gemini flights, and all the Apollo missions. I vividly remember Watching Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the moon. (Mom let me stay up late, she knew we would be experiencing history.)
Jake Meek my father in law sailed around the world dip shit!! You can too. The earth is not flat
@Jake Meek not gonna argue with ya bud theirs nothing I can do to convince you about the earth being flat.. I could send you videos of me in space but you would claim those are photoshopped by nasa. I'm sorry we have a diff of opinion and I wish you the best.
in 1967, I became an enlisted man in the Mini-man missile program of SAC (USAF). This was a real cold war situation here in America, right here in Missouri.
Thank you for the fantastic detail in this vid. Great upload.
Truly fascinating stuff. Thank you for posting!
Nicely done video. I was an RPIE Electrician in the 308th Titan II at LRAFB from 1980-1986. Just watched Command and Control again last night. Visiting the Titan II museum in AZ is on my bucket list.
The museum is an awesome place to visit! I'm sure it'll bring back many memories when you make it there. Thx for watching!
Such excellent work here.
Extremely informative.
Thank you so much.
They state the sites were operational by Christmas 1961, actually phase one was completed in 1961.
It wasn't until April 1963 before a missile was in the silo and SAC was informed it was ready for alert duty. Phase two was plumbing, heating, power production and wiring and controls. Phase three started in mid 1962 checking out the equipment and their controls, instillation of missiles. I got to Davis-Monthan on the 3 of Jan. 1963 I was an MFT "missile facilities Teck. Basic responsible for keeping every thing installed in phase two working properly." I was assigned to crew 43 and we were assigned site 570-7 and spent several months testing the equipment and observing missile insulation. 570-7 went on alert on May 24 1963.
I completed my 4 years in Apr 1966 having spent about 6000 hours under ground.
Bruce Bedford thanks Bruce, I did question the authors authenticity when he said this whole thing was finished in one year.
Thank you for your service to this nation. “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
Talk about your unsung hero’s. You people were the only thing keeping our country safe during the Cold War! And in the ground no less. I’m sure there was a novelty to it at first, but had to be miserable as time went on! I live 15 miles from a privately owned site. Hoping to check it out. I’ve recently become slightly obsessed with these, and this time in our country!
Thank you for your sacrifice and service!
@@Mauivegan67 1mm to 12mm is sheet metal workers. After 12 mm you are a plater yes your grandfather was a plater not a mere tin basher ,respect is due at plater level,as a dying art I posses the knowledge of working steel 200mm or greater . I'm sure your grandfather was a legend in my field so please hold in even higher esteem his achievements as it is truly top end that man can produce.
This is the video I was looking for there is no video on how these were built thankyou!!!
Simply amazing what could be accomplished in such a short period of time back then.
Excellent video! American ingenuity is amazing. Civil engineers will love this video.
I was on a Titan II launch crew at McConnell in the early/mid 70's. I feel lucky to have had the experience. Wouldn't trade it for anything.
Early 80s to the end.
I was on a Nike-Hercules launch crew about the same time,in Germany. That was Army,but we still had nukes...2 man rule and all that.Wouldn't trade it for anything either!
@@david9783 It was a lot of fun and I can't believe it happened well over 40 years ago. Seems like just yesterday.
I was with the 532nd for a while then I was transferred to Maintenance and I lived in the 2 dorms #321 and #320
I used to snoop through one of these in Moses Lake Wa. It was an awe inspring thing to see in person. Lots of kids had parties down there over the years but someone finally came along and sealed it shut.
Party pooper!
Not one of these. The Moses Lake sites were Titan I, the predecessor of this system, 3 silos per site and decommissioned in the mid 1960s. Major Mark Clark, former senior crew deputy at MAFB and LRAFB.
Very good explanation. Thank you!!!
Very informative. Thanks for posting.
Wow! Thank you for sharing.
My cousin lived near Oxford, Kansas and had one of these in his back yard, seriously. We'd ride his go-kart on the paved road (in the middle of nowhere!) right up to the entrance, imagining the air crew watching us, lol!
They prob got alerted by motion detection systems every time lol "was it commie spies?" "No it was the go kart again.."
phenomenal engineering, construction AND expense ... War (even when it's cold) is certainly good business in the US ....
reverse thrust
Dear minion factory worker and/or hole digger , is this discussion to difficult for you to follow ??
The inflation adjusted number in the video is *comically* wrong. 12.6 million in 1960 dollars is about 110 million today, not 1.8 billion.
frother Thanks mate - it did seem ridiculously high .... would still make for a very nice lotto win though ... especially after exchanging it to $AUD ... 👐 😃
I’ve been on the sites around Wichita, KS many times. From Sept. 1966 through Feb. 1969, I was assigned to the 381st Strategic Missile Wing at McConnell AFB maintaining communication equipment on the launch sites.
You and your comrades and Russian counterparts had the the ability to see to it, that MT generation would never see the light of day.
How I'm sure we give you reason to wish we never existed, however how can you look at us and at all the goid that is around us and know you'd were so close to being part of a system that would have annihilated it all in approximately 30 minutes?
Excellent documentary series! Thank you from a follower at Portugal.
Thanks! I'm glad you like it! I'll be making some more soon
Very nice views, thanks for sharing.
It was actually Martin Marietta. Titan II communications technician, Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona, June 1980 to June 1984.
very informative, thank you!!
Thanks. Enjoyed.
An amazing feat of engineering & design. Human ingenuity at it's best and most scary. Preparing for the end of the world.
remembering the civil defense drills and students getting under their desk
duck and cover!
Just pointing out that to get 2018 dollars (when this video was made) from 1960's dollars, you would multiply 12,600,000 by 7.4833 Which gives you a total facility cost of about $106,890,000. Not 1.8 billion
I thought that sounded a bit to much.
These numbers come from a book written by Chuck Penson, a Titan II history buff. Perhaps he got the numbers wrong?
@@ThompsonAtomicRanch Totally did. $1.8bn is for all 18 of them, as $12.6m is about $100m in today's money.
Amazing piece of world history.
Nice!
Great video! Proud son of my dad and grand dad that where both titan missile mechanics:)
Commentator was not correct in narration of what the purpose of these missiles were. They were not first strike weapons, so these missile complexes were not made for an “incoming retaliatory strike”. The Titan II was a retaliatory weapon.
Wow Weird seeing Tucson AZ back in the 60's!
I was stationed at McConnell from March 1971 to April 1974 and I did several different tasks to help keep the Missile launch ready.
Good report.
Impressive!
Very interesting, thnak you. What was the electric power source of such a base? A local fuel electrical generator?
Some of the best years of my life were in those complexes around Wichita, Kansas.
@Dirk Pitt Absolutely! From high school to the the Missile Wing, and later in the Bomber Wing and then to college and on to career, I have made many friends, but the only ones who regularly visit and keep in touch were those I made in the 381st SMW at McConnell.
The color pictures look like they were taken yesterday.
Color slide film is superb for archival use. There are Kodachrome images from 70+ years ago that still look new.
There wernt pixels back then. I got my granfathers projector going (for pictures) and film reel going (for movies) when I was drunk months ago. The picture was so clear it was like a time machine to moments from the 1940s.
Really amazing an fast they dont make them like they used to
That documentary was well done! A perfect blend of music and narration with the old photos! It's sad that we can't get along with we other and we fight over stupid shit!! Money, power, land! We could have been exploring other worlds by now if we weren't killing ea other off..
In all likelihood we probably would still be in the dark ages without our incessant desire for war, one of the main reasons we’re even able to leave the atmosphere is because of a desire to bomb London without losing valuable men, without war we would have nothing.
Thanks
Cyberdyne Systems sure took note!
I took the tour of the museum in Tucson Arizona. I push the 20-ton door with one finger and got it to move. I got to turn the key on a simulated missile launch.
Cool..I'd like to push that door-must have had some good bearings!
Castaway theme music. Nice.
Yeah all I could think of because of this music was WIILLLLSOOOONNNN
When in doubt, build it stout!
And they DID build it stout,didn't they?
I spent a lot of time on Level 6 working om the MSA......ELAB '79-'83'
May be considered a relic today it help keep the peace for over 50 years
They closed them now we are sitting ducks.
@@Crashed131963 Do you realize you can launch ICBM from a back of the truck now?
the Titan II ICBMs went operational in 1963 and the last was taken off alert in 1987. They had become obsolete because they were extremely dangerous to maintain. They were only supposed to be in service from five to seven years but because they formed a huge percentage of our nuclear capability, they kept extending the operational life. Eventually, common sense prevailed and the aging missiles were retired.
Eric malbos power came from commercial power companies. But there was an diesel-powered generator that supported the needs of the launch facility IF commercial power was lost.
It might be a hike to the nearest grocery store but I have always wanted a missile silo home. A little rancher living/kitchen above and a villa below.
They used local companies buy their welding materials keep hidden the ammount they used so it would not be suspicious where all this material was going
A company called Bush and Dunbar are still doing the painting and repairing of these missile silo's in America if you want a good paying no education needed job.
During 1966 I was in the Air Force stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB 390th SMS. While there I worked with a SGT Brewer as electricians. We were close friends and have lost contact, would like any information where he lives.
How much did it cost back then to build it then if it was built today
Very interesting. Hopefully other continents now capable of Nuclear strikes keep their cool.
My father work in these in Vandenburg in the late sixties.
OMG simply don’t know where to begin commenting!
G8 vid and understand how these installations were necessary during the Cold War (Thankfully never used)🌎
peace be amongst us globally🎴
Kiwion Safari yes! I agree!! EVRAZ group of Russia 🇷🇺 inside America USA 🇺🇸 2007
@@663rainmaker Sounds like a story here re "EVRAZ group of Russia 🇷🇺 inside America USA 🇺🇸 2007"?
No time to investigate further.. how about making a vid on this topic.
Thanks though & cheers Man!
Excellent video but where is phase 2? I don’t want to watch phase 3 yet.
Thank you! Haha, phase 2 is going to take more effort as I would like to get interviews of those that actually worked in the Titan II complexes. I'd like to get first hand accounts from the launch crews as well as those that maintained the missiles and other components. Should be within the next month or so. Coming soon! :)
The music through out this video is the same as the closing music in “Castaway.”
Thank i knew i knew but could not place it
Jack Smith I thought it was from Band of Brothers
Is in the video description,if anyone cares to read it,geniuses!
Are there equivalent newer ICBM bases today?
Maybe, but today's weapons are too precise. They are able to hit the missile silos directly. No bunker can withstand a direct hit of a nuclear weapon. Thus it makes no sense to build such bunker protected rocket silos anymore.
In the past the situation was different. At that time, the bomb could hit only in an undefined range of some miles. With enough luck it weren't a direct hit and the bunker could withstand the shock-wave coming from the distance.
Today it's much simpler and cheaper or better to put the rockets on a mobile truck or use submarines for that job.
Fixed missile bases still exist, however the modern armed services consider them more like the canary in the mine. The armed forces have always used our own potential as a judge of risk, and gps or laser targeting render any fixed bases simply targets.
Current ICBM bases: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.E._Warren_Air_Force_Base en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minot_Air_Force_Base en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmstrom_Air_Force_Base, but as you read the pages & en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-30_Minuteman#Minuteman-III_(LGM-30G) you will get an idea ofthe yealde of the warheads.
your inflation calculation is way off, $12,600,000 in the early 60s would be the equivalent of about $107 million in 2019, not $1.8 billion.
If your calculation is correct,that's a HUGE difference!
The amount of raw materials and effort... Just to backfill or destroy them in the future....
Only the silo was imploded. The control center is still servicable
Okay what happened to the Dozer that was scraping the whole that's down there at the bottom that they just cement over it that they like crane it out what seriously I need an answer it's been bugging me the entire rest of the video
I'm sure they lifted it out with the large crane thru had on site 😉
*tolfan*
I have been amazed myself at what can be done;
The dozer is not all that huge;
It gets lifted out with craning and rigging; You just get a big enough crane;
Wow some people have no common sense yea they just pour concrete over there expensive dozer........smdh
Well, as deep as it was, it's not beyond possibility that dozer drove out of the hole on its own tracks - they were and still are quite agile vehicles.
Are you still working on phase 2
Part two is on my other videos actually. Feel free to watch it 😁
Atomic Rancher, I think it would be cool if you added a Western or Psychobilly music intro and outro to your vids. IDK, I think it would just fit.
Unless you do a Nike Ajax/Hercules vid, then of course you'd need to play "Nike a go-go" by The Misfits.
Is that the "band of Brothers" soundtrack?
I'd love to own one
@@cbot375 I'd even settle for a bad one, I'm a welder millwright
With as many of these as we dug I wonder if they found anything like dinosaurs bones, historically significant archaeological finds and or just valuables like gold, diamond, minerals. I’m assuming because they were top-secret and nothing was more important than the security of our nation that things were found I’m not mentioned.
My grandpa and uncle Ollie worked on silos in Washington state.
Rodger B in Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 you don’t wanna know!
I’ve been to two of these sites last year; both are privately owned now but I snuck on site anyway
Which ones have you visited?
I don't know how 12 million turns into 2 billion?
In general, 1 dollar in 1960 is about 8.50 today.
Looks like it would be $100,920,000.
@@JamieVegas yeah, so all 18 silos come to 1.8 billion.
8:32 12.6 milion in 1960 would not be 1.8 billion today, not even close. A facility like this would cost hundreds of millions, but not billions.
Agreed! CPI is about 8.4x.
That being said, we know more about how to build survivable missile launch centers and other things, so we'd build it better now, and thus it would cost more.
(Except static targets on the ground are tactically bad, so we don't build them at all.)
What is reinforced rebar? 6:50
a typo.
That is how concrete is done; Reinforcing steel; It is 60,000 PSI Tensile ~concrete has no tensile so they work in opposition with one doing what the other cannot
@@ChiDraconis
Thanks.
I thoroughly understood that though. I was kind of attempting a joke. The way it is stated at the part I linked to makes it sound like you can have a "regular" rebar, but this installation used "reinforced" rebar. Couldn't they just have said 2" diameter rebar?
@@samdg1234 I dunno;
This is probably an Old Codger;
This is what I do so it looked real to me;
@@samdg1234
BTW this site is 89 miles from Hutch where I grew up
Your price per complex must be incorrect. I calculate that 1.8 billion is almost 143 times more than 12.6 million.
Actual inflation from 1960 to 2019 results in 12,000,000 becoming 104,000,000 (or about 768% percent.) Given the scope of this project, and that a single F35 costs over a billion dollars - I don't think our current government could build a single one of these complexes for less than a billion dollars (billion = 1000 million).
i agree with you, it is ridiculously wrong.
At the time, they told us each complex cost $143 million. Plus another $10 million for the bird.
i wish all of these complexes would have been kept up in usable condition
The great failure of modern economy is the unimaginable amount of upkeep. Just a regular house with power, water and general maintenance costs about 10% build cost per year, and with a far more complex system at a certain point it would cost less to abandon and build a new system than to maintain a 30 year old bunker, remember under ground holds moisture and concrete abrades as the rebar slowly rusts and cracks the concrete further. They were designed to withstand a sudden extreme attack not to survive for the ages that could be a modern concern Imagine if all the rebar were replaced with carbon fiber grid (a superior solution) but vastly more expensive closed cell spray foam as a moisture barrier inside and out after concrete pour would also add compression stability. You could build a structure that would last but even then you have equipment that needs maintenance like hvac electrical generator water and fuel tanks . That's the long of it, the short of it is I believe one is still maintained as a museum . I hope you found this response edifying, please don't respond with TLDR.
@@cuchulainodare3534 what the hells tldr?
@@stormchaser8472 Too Long Didn't Read, it was a subtle acknowledgment I'm long winded.
@@cuchulainodare3534 lol
@@stormchaser8472 glad I could bring a giggle. Have a happy New Year
While the complex is an absolute marvel of engineering, I can't help be feel ashamed of humanity for wasting so many resources to play games of war. Think about what could have been accomplished had that material and labor been used for peacetime projects. The cost of these standoffs between the wealthy leaders of nations is tragic.
I bet today we globally consume far more resources simulating war in video games as entertainment.
At least back when these structures were built they had the purpose of defending the ideals of those concerned with the spread of communist ideas and the tyrannical government systems that enforce what life for people will be almost like making people a farmed and caged resource to be used by those who manage to sit at the top of that power structure for however long they manage to keep it.
Okay but I will take this over Communist Legacy of the hearings;
@Joe Kinchicken Must you trolls insert your agenda into everything? This is not discussion current politics, it's about grand follies of the past. The current folly isn't even finished yet.
Why would it cost 100 times as much from 1960 to now (12 mil to 1.8 bil)? Inflation hasn't been more than 10 times since then.
It wouldn't, the video is horribly wrong in this regard. The inflation number of $1.8B USD for ONE site is just wrong, it would be more like $110M USD (based upon the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics for a 1960's $12.6M). The $1.8B number is more likely for ALL 18 sites.
Heyyyy I’ve been to this one in Tucson many times. I’ve wanted to buy it from them lol
I remember in the silo they have a bunch of mannequin workers set up. If you take the private tour they let you run a test launch sequence and open and close the access blast door. But they said the main missile cover hasn’t been powered since like 1990
So how was the bulldozer brought out of the hole after they got all the way to the bottom?
It's a surprize for those who will be stubborn enough to unmount the silo's floor. It's still there, carefully stored in concrete and rebar structure. If one will be lucky enough - there will be no operator nearby.
Damn.
The Titan I missile complex was even more impressive. It was a virtual city underground.
I wonder if modern "bunker busters" would take these out
You keep sating retaliatory strike when talking about the protection of the silo. I don't think they were worried about the protection of the empty silo from a retaliatory nuclear strike. What you should have said was that it was built to withstand a nuclear first strike.
Also the $12.6 million per complex in 1960s dollars converts to roughly $110 million, not $1.8 billion. I listened carefully and you said "per complex" with both the $12.6 million and the $1.8 billion. Do you mean for all 18 complexes together for $1.8 billion?
I been to the LCF in Arizona back in 1981 to fix metro cable above ground that was cut by a contractor. I was a A1C then. I was station at Norton AFB , Trained as a telephone cable splicer. We use to be sent TDY a lot to many of the Air Force bases in the southwest. This was the first and last time i was sent there. It was closed a few years later.
Who moved more concrete? Eisenhower's interstate system and missle bases or Hitler's Atlantic wall and other structures??? Who's the expert among us?
"Greetings Professor Falken. Would you like to play a game of chess?"
Correction, the Titan II missiles were not the most destructive weapons. They were only 9 Megatons. The Soviet missiles were much more powerful. The Titan II missiles were to be used in self defense only.
9MT estimated. Still classified.
Good stuff. Can do without the Adam West, though.
The only weapon you wanted the other side to know about. What do we have as a deterrent today?
The Minuteman III and Trident II missiles (the latter is submarine launched) make up much of the US's current nuclear deterrent.
I don't understand the inflation calculation here. From 1960 to 2018, inflation totaled about 8.5x cost increase. This would put the cost per complex at about $100 million in today's dollars, not the >1 billion figure you show.
Did they leave the dozers in the bottom of the silos and bury them in the concrete?
They likely lifted the dozers out using the same crane that is removing the dirt
Great video but bad choice of words on statement that sites were 8 miles apart to protect against retaliatory strikes. Titan was not designed as a first strike weapon system as seen in the very secure construction of the site. Titan was designed to avoid or survive a Soviet first strike and then retaliate. Peace is our Profession stuff.
I stated that very sentiment above. Why would you build a faraday cage around your control center if you missile was a first strike weapon? You would only build one if the system was designed to retaliate.
@@insideoutsideupsidedown2218 haha no wonder it was so hard to sneak in a working TV to watch sports. Took an unauthorized cable in the emergency air duct.
Where is phase 2?
I'm still working on it. I'm getting footage of people that actually worked in these facilities which takes time. Thx for watching!
@@ThompsonAtomicRanch Amazing, can wait :D !
this use to be my job in USAF. man it gives me chills to see this. wonder if this is why i am so damn crazy as most call me. hell my name is cray cray
Those constructions will last until the end of time.
Between 82 and 87 they were all destroyed and filled in with the exception of one in Arizona, which serves as a museum.
I'm not sure you said re-bar enough.
Playing the soundtrack out of the movie castaway.😂
WILLLLLLLSOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!
one of those complexes is equivalent in cost to 11.76 f-35s
Kelly the math in the video is ridiculously wrong. The cost is more around $120M in today’s dollars.