page_title: Mole hole
section_title: Locations
hierarchical_section_title: Mole hole / Locations
caption_attribution_description: English: 150-man molehole at Whiteman Air Force Base
context_page_description: A mole hole, officially designated the Readiness Crew Building, is a type of structure built by the United States Air Force at former Strategic Air Command bases around the country during the 1950s and 1960s. RCBs were located adjacent to an Alert Ramp, also called a "Christmas Tree", where Ready Alert aircraft were parked. These aircraft were initially Boeing B-47 Stratojet aircraft armed with nuclear weapons, augmented by Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter aerial refueling aircraft. As SAC introduced newer bomber and aerial tanker aircraft into its inventory, the B-47 and KC-97 were later superseded by Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Convair B-58 Hustler, General Dynamics FB-111 or Rockwell B-1 Lancer bombers, augmented by Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker or McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender aerial refueling aircraft.
context_section_description: Readiness Crew Buildings designed to accommodate 150 Airmen were located at the following Air Force Bases:
  Bunker Hill AFB (Indiana)
  Forbes AFB (Kansas)
  Hunter AFB (Georgia)
  Lincoln AFB (Nebraska)
  Lockbourne AFB (Ohio)
  Malmstrom AFB (Montana)
  Mountain Home AFB (Idaho)
  Pease AFB (New Hampshire)
  Plattsburgh AFB (New York)
  R.I. Bong AFB (Wisconsin)
  Whiteman AFB (Missouri)
  
  Readiness Crew Buildings designed to accommodate 100 Airmen were located at the following Air Force Bases:
  Chennault AFB (Louisiana)
  Clinton County AFB (Ohio)
  Davis-Monthan AFB (Arizona)
  Dyess AFB (Texas)
  Homestead AFB (Florida)
  Little Rock AFB (Arkansas)
  MacDill AFB (Florida)
  March AFB (California)
  McCoy AFB (Florida)
  Selfridge AFB (Michigan)
  
  Readiness Crew Buildings designed to accommodate 70 Airmen were located at the following Air Force Bases:
  Altus AFB (Oklahoma)
  Amarillo AFB (Texas)
  Barksdale AFB (Louisiana)
  Beale AFB (California)
  Bergstrom AFB (Texas)
  Biggs AFB (Texas)
  Blytheville AFB (Arkansas)
  Carswell AFB (Texas)
  Castle AFB (California)
  Clinton-Sherman AFB (Oklahoma)
  Columbus AFB (Mississippi)
  Dow AFB (Maine)
  Dover AFB (Delaware)
  Eglin AFB (Florida)
  Ellsworth AFB (South Dakota)
  Fairchild AFB (Washington)
  Glasgow AFB (Montana)
  Grand Forks AFB (North Dakota)
  Griffiss AFB (New York)
  Kinross AFB (Michigan)
  K.I. Sawyer AFB (Michigan)
  Larson AFB (Washington)
  Loring AFB (Maine)
  Mather AFB (California)
  McChord AFB (Washington)
  McGuire AFB (New Jersey)
  Minot AFB (North Dakota)
  Otis AFB (Massachusetts)
  Ramey AFB (Puerto Rico)
  Robins AFB (Georgia)
  Schilling AFB (Kansas)
  Seymour-Johnson AFB (South Carolina)
  Sheppard AFB (Texas)
  Travis AFB (California)
  Turner AFB (Georgia)
  Walker AFB (New Mexico)
  Westover AFB (Massachusetts)
  Wright-Patterson AFB (Ohio)
  Wurtsmith AFB (Michigan)
  
  In addition to the United States Air Force bases listed above, Readiness Crew Buildings designed to accommodate 70 Airmen were also operated at the following Royal Canadian Air Force bases:
  Goose Bay (RCAF, Labrador, Canada)
  Ernest Harmon (RCAF, Newfoundland, Canada)
  Cold Lake  (RCAF, Alberta, Canada)
  Churchill (RCAF, Manitoba, Canada)
  Namao (RCAF, Alberta, Canada)
  Frobisher Bay (RCAF, Nunavut, Canada)
caption: This photograph is an example of a 150 man molehole located at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Notice the corrugated steel tunnels that appear on the front and the side of the building, allowing for rapid egress in the event of an alert.
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