[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 23517]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ICBM FORCE

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I rise to recognize the 20th Air Force as 
the U.S. Air Force celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first 
nuclear-tipped inter-continental ballistic missile on alert. I join my 
colleague Senator Kent Conrad from North Dakota as cochair of the 
Senate ICBM Coalition to pay special tribute to a force that succeeds 
daily in its mission of providing safety and security for our great 
Nation.
  My first contact with F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming as an 
ICMB base was when I was in Boy Scouts. Our rocket troop visited an 
Atlas missile site near Cheyenne and we learned about the deterrent 
effect of this high technology. Even then, we knew this force was 
magnificent.
  From the first ICBM placed on alert in 1959 at Vandenberg Air Force 
Base in California, our Nation's force has grown and adapted the 
delivery systems leading to today's force with three Missile Wings. 
Today's ICBM force has missile fields in Wyoming, North Dakota, 
Montana, Colorado, and Nebraska. The force partners with Hill Air Force 
Base in Utah and its command structure will soon transfer to Air Force 
Global Strike Command in Louisiana. We have a force whose direct 
domestic impact spans across seven States.
  America's dispersed and alert Minuteman III ICBM force is a critical 
element of the nuclear triad and represents our country's most 
responsive, stabilizing, and cost-effective strategic force. The 
strategic nuclear forces that deterred Soviet aggression and kept the 
limited conflicts of the Cold War era from escalating continue to play 
a critical role in deterring aggression and dissuading new near-peer 
competitors.
  The element that has unchanged in the last 50 years is the dedication 
of the men and women of the Air Force to safeguard and carry out this 
mission. This force of weapons and personnel has been deployed every 
hour of every day for the last 50 years. The hours on alert, being on 
patrol and maintaining and upgrading the missile systems are abundant.
  The 20th Air Force is home to the most powerful force in our entire 
military. The mission of safeguarding the Nation's ICBM force has been 
entrusted to the best military in existence. The mission has been 
successful and will continue to be.
  I know all Members of the Senate will join me in thanking the current 
and former members of the Air Force who have served in the missile 
fields over the last 50 years. I also thank my colleague, Senator 
Conrad, for his work on behalf of on the coalition and recognizing this 
historic anniversary.

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