Overview: Students will view a ranger guided program
from one of the most secure sites during the Cold War,
underground Launch Control Center Delta-01. Delta-01 - 20 miles
east of Wall - was where two missileers worked around the clock
on 24 hour shifts for three decades (1963 -1993). They awaited a
war order that would command them to launch Minuteman nuclear
missiles at targets half a world away in the Soviet Union. This
order would only have come if the Soviets had initiated a
nuclear first strike on the United States. If a launch had
occurred, it would probably have meant the destruction of
civilization as we know it.
There were 150 Minuteman missiles in South Dakota during the
Cold War with 15 Launch Control Center’s to command them. Today
there are still 500 Minuteman’s operational and on alert in
surrounding states.
A. Theme: Launch Control Center Delta-01 is “a home
away from home.”
It met the definition of home in two senses:
a) a shelter used as a place of residence (by two
missileers on 24 hour alert duty shifts)
b) as a main base for activities and operations (of 10
Minuteman nuclear missiles)
B. Content: Students will learn how the missileers who
commanded and controlled Minuteman Missiles made their work
quarters into a home. This home included many of the comforts
all of us are used to having in our own homes.
But students will also learn about the extremely serious
business of working as a missileer. This will include how
commanding nuclear weapons from this “home base” helped keep the
peace during the Cold War. Students will discover how the
American defense policy of “mutually assured destruction” and
deterrence, kept the peace during that troubled era. They will
also learn how the Minuteman’s role was a peacekeeper through
this policy of deterrence.
Standards: This program is appropriate for any social
studies and history students from the 5th through 12th grades.
This program meets all state history standards that deal with
20th century post World War II history, modern American History
and the study of the Cold War
