FE Warren LF & LCF not decommissioned - 400th MS?

[13milerunner]

Today as I drove my kids N from Cheyenne headed towards the Blackhills for summer vacation, I noticed a LF just E of I-25 about 25 miles N of FEW. It was close close enough to I-25 to exit and go look at. I noticed it because of the IPDMSS (hope I'm close). I figured I was going to show my kids a well maintained, active LF, but my first clue that I was wrong was the commercial power was disconnected, and there were no signs about deadly force etc, and the anode system box was missing. I was puzzled because I thought all MM facilities were either destroyed after the SALT and START treaties or they were in use. But on the back way to Tarrington, we passed by 3 more LFs (one with S-7 sign) and one boarded up but not destroyed LCF (with a commercial tower and antennas).

Being a retired Army Corps of Engineer officer I was intrigued to see the facilities present but somewhat worse for the wear. Can anyone shed some light on these LCFs and LFs and why they weren't destroyed, but all have no power and the above ground anode system was removed/destroyed.

I'm headed to the NPS Minuteman Missile site near Wounded Knee to see the rest of the Ellsworth story.

Thanks,
Bob

[ICBMGuy]

Bob,

You were passing the "former" 400 MS which was home to the Peacekeeper missiles. That squadron was deactivated about 5 years ago. Destruction of the LFs and MAFs were not part of the deactivation.

ICBMGuy

[banjodog]

Are the sites still visited occasionally?

[banjodog]

I'm headed to the NPS Minuteman Missile site near Wounded Knee to see the rest of the Ellsworth story.

Thanks,
Bob

They don't let you downstairs at D-9. They do at D-1 but reservations are recommended and you're limited to 6 per group.

[13milerunner]

Thanks guys for the "rest of the story". By coincidence, the next day on our journey to the Black Hills, I met a retired missilier O-6 at a rest stop and he told me the former 400th sites were in a "pickled" status and that the relatively new tower and antenna were AF installed to facilitate communications.

BTW, I never did make it to the Minuteman D-9 and D-1 because of the darn small tours one in the am and only one in the pm and as you pointed out, just 6 people per tour. Jeez, what a cush job - take people on just one tour a day down to the LCC.

Here's something I sure didn't know until I visited the SD Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth. Their base tour includes going DOWN into the training silo on base.

When I get my pictures off the camera and onto my PC, I will show you what the LCF and LFs look like in their pickled state.

[Rico2000]

If by pickled status he meant locked and made sure they haven't burned down by a Civil Engineer employee once per month or so...it is a very low level of preservation.

[Sergeant]

I would not call them pickled. We took every conceivable part out of those sites. It would take major work (and money) to bring them on Alert.
Steve