[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 22804]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING FIFTY YEARS OF ICBMS

 Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I wish today as cochair of the 
Senate ICBM coalition along with my friend from Wyoming to recognize 
and pay tribute to 20th Air Force as the Air Force celebrates the 50th 
anniversary of the first nuclear-tipped ICBM on alert, and to honor the 
heritage and accomplishments of the ICBM mission and people--past and 
present--who acquire, develop, operate, maintain, and secure this 
combat capability for our Nation.
  In July 1954, the Air Force established the Western Development 
Division in response to the growing Soviet missile threat. It developed 
the first-generation ICBMs--the Titan that is housed in underground 
silos as well as the above-ground Atlas.
  In October 1959, the first alert of a nuclear warhead-equipped Atlas 
D occurred at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. Immediately thereafter, 
the Air Force started working on a solid-fueled, second-generation ICBM 
called the Minuteman. Ten Minuteman I ICBMs were already on alert at 
Malmstrom Air Force Base, MT, by the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 
1962. Just three years later, the first-generation ICBMs were replaced 
with the larger and more accurate Minuteman II.
  By January 1970, the Air Force had deployed the Minuteman III. 
Throughout the 1970s, in response to the Soviet Union's buildup of 
multiwarhead ICBMs, the Air Force started work on the Peacekeeper. In 
1987, 50 Peacekeepers were deployed in existing Minuteman III silos at 
F.E. Warren Air Force Base, WY. At the height of the Cold War, the Air 
Force maintained an ICBM fleet of more than 1,200 missiles on alert as 
a counterforce to the approximately 1,400 Soviet ICBMs poised against 
the United States.
  Currently, the Air Force maintains a fleet of 450 on-alert Minuteman 
III ICBMs, spanning the missile fields in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, 
North Dakota, and Wyoming. In August 2009, the Air Force activated a 
new major command--Air Force Global Strike Command--committed solely to 
the nuclear deterrence mission. This December, 20th Air Force and the 
ICBM mission will transfer from Air Force Space Command to Air Force 
Global Strike Command. The pride shared today in the heritage and rich 
history of the ICBM mission will always be a part of Air Force Space 
Command's contribution to our national security.
  Mr. President, the American people are fortunate to have the 
dedicated Airmen of 20th Air Force operate, maintain, and secure 
America's only land-based strategic deterrent 24 hours a day, 7 days a 
week, 365 days a year. I know my colleagues will join me in 
congratulating the Air Force on 50 years of the highest commitment in 
carrying out the ICBM mission.

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