On a warm Indian summer day last October, the space wing commander was thinking about the first snow. We need to shovel off the launch facilities, get the tractor trailers in, do our mission. He commands three squadrons of 50 intercontinental ballistic missiles scattered across 8,500 square miles in a half-moon shape around Minot. In a blizzard, the same trip might take six hours. Last year the base resorted to using a tracked personnel carrier borrowed from the National Guard.
Spring brings flooding and muddy roads.
We don't want them to get wet. Security forces who protect the missile sites and capsule, sleep in a launch facility manned by a manager and cook. Gary W. Loper, a facility manager and NCO in charge of launch facilities for an entire squadron, said living improvements have made the launch facilities more homey. A weight room has been added, and there's a paperback book library. In addition, there's a kitchen for preparing food.