The Cold War has long-since passed, but many of the weapons and infrastructure that defined the near-50 year bi-polar conflict still remain. In North Dakota, ageing Minuteman 3 missiles, 60-foot relics of a the US-Soviet standoff, scar the landscape, emblems of a conflict fought by proxy that never flourishing to the level of all-out war.
Although the weapons have been updated, and remain ready to deliver a nuclear blast anywhere around the globe within minutes, the silos in which they sit have grown old, antiquated and into a state of disrepair, which has led, according to an AP report, to a drop in moral among members of the missile corps in whose care these angels of death reside.
"One of the reasons for the low morale is that the nuclear forces feel unimportant, and they are often treated as such, very openly," Michelle Spencer, a defense consultant in Alabama, told AP, adding that Missileers have become “disillusioned by an obvious but unacknowledged lack of interest in nuclear priorities among the most senior Air Force leaders”.
The Pentagon has promised addition fund to upgrade the facilities, while Air Force chiefs have promised to make sure investment in the missile silos matches the rhetoric that America’s nuclear deterrent is the service’s “Mission Number 1”. However, with conflicts now fought on a regional rather than a global level, it is likely that the men and women charged with protecting this ultimate symbol of hard power will remain the shadows, an outpost of the 20th century, locked in a war no longer being fought.
Minot Air Force Base
(01 of11)
Open Image ModalCapt. Robby Modad closing the gate at an ICBM launch control facility in the countryside outside Minot, N.D., on the Minot Air Force Base. Launch control officers working from a secure capsule far underground the complex control 10 Minuteman 3 missiles carrying nuclear warheads spread out in the fields around the facility. The nuclear missiles hidden in plain view across the prairies of northwest North Dakota reveal one reason why trouble keeps finding the nuclear Air Force. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(02 of11)
Open Image ModalICBM launch control facility stands at the end of a weathered driveway in the countryside outside Minot, N.D. Launch control officers working from a secure capsule far underground the complex control 10 Minuteman 3 missiles carrying nuclear warheads spread out in the fields around the facility. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(03 of11)
Open Image ModalA patch on the commander's chair in the underground control room where a pair of missile launch officers man a 24-hour shift at an ICBM launch control facility near Minot, N.D., on the Minot Air Force Base. The nuclear missiles hidden in plain view across the prairies of northwest North Dakota reveal one reason why trouble keeps finding the nuclear Air Force. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(04 of11)
Open Image Modal1st Lt. Phil Parentrau opening the blast door leading to the underground control room at an ICBM launch control facility near Minot, N.D., on the Minot Air Force Base. The nuclear missiles hidden in plain view across the prairies of northwest North Dakota reveal one reason why trouble keeps finding the nuclear Air Force. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(05 of11)
Open Image ModalA Vietnam-era Huey helicopter taking off at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. A fleet of seven of the aging helicopters are used to support the 150 Minuteman missiles carrying nuclear warheads which are deployed in the countryside surrounding Minot Air Force Base. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(06 of11)
Open Image ModalAn ICBM launch site located among fields in the countryside outside Minot, N.D. on the Minot Air Force Base. The nuclear missiles hidden in plain view across the prairies of northwest North Dakota reveal one reason why trouble keeps finding the nuclear Air Force. The Big Stick, as some call the 60-foot-tall Minuteman 3 missile, is just plain old. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(07 of11)
Open Image ModalMaster Sgt. Tad Wagner looking over an inert Minuteman 3 missile in a training launch tube at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. The nuclear missiles hidden in plain view across the prairies of northwest North Dakota reveal one reason why trouble keeps finding the nuclear Air Force. The âBig Stick,â as some call the 60-foot-tall Minuteman 3 missile, is just plain old. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(08 of11)
Open Image ModalAn ICBM launch site located among fields and farms in the countryside outside Minot, N.D., on the Minot Air Force Base. The nuclear missiles hidden in plain view across the prairies of northwest North Dakota reveal one reason why trouble keeps finding the nuclear Air Force. The âBig Stick,â as some call the 60-foot-tall Minuteman 3 missile, is just plain old. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(09 of11)
Open Image ModalAn inert Minuteman 3 missile in a training launch tube at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. The nuclear missiles hidden in plain view across the prairies of northwest North Dakota reveal one reason why trouble keeps finding the nuclear Air Force. The âBig Stick,â as some call the 60-foot-tall Minuteman 3 missile, is just plain old. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(10 of11)
Open Image ModalAn inert Minuteman 3 missile is seen in a training launch tube at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. The base is tasked with maintaining 150 of the nuclear-tipped missiles spread out across the North Dakota countryside and keeping them ready to launch at a moment's notice as part of the US's nuclear defense strategy. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(11 of11)
Open Image ModalMaj. Gen. Jack Weinstein speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at Minot Air Force Base Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Minot, N.D. Weinstein, as commander of 20th Air Force, is in charge of the nation's 450 Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles said he is pushing to empower those who maintain, operate and secure the missiles. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)