Deep Underground: Uncovering the Unsung Heroes of Nuclear Deterrence (Military Tales Episode 30)

Episode 30 of “Military Tales” takes us far from the cockpit and deep underground to explore a vital, often unseen, aspect of national defense: the world of the missileers. This episode features Major General Robert Parker, a two-star general, former head of the 20th Air Force, and an expert on the Soviet military. His career as a missileer offers a unique perspective on the Cold War and the strategic power wielded from unlikely places like North Dakota, a state once humorously believed by a young Parker and his friends to potentially be the third most powerful country on earth if it seceded.

Growing up during the Cold War meant living with the omnipresent thought of nuclear conflict. It was a time of air raid drills, practicing “getting under your desk for fallouts,” and neighbors building backyard shelters. This fear was palpable, especially less than 20 years after the end of World War II, when the conflict with the Russians was very much on people’s minds. In that era, the potential for nuclear war wasn’t thought of as a limited exchange, but possibly an “all out war”. The relative simplicity of the Cold War, if such a thing exists, was having “only one enemy” – primarily Russia (the USSR), although China later became a nuclear power.

Major General Parker agrees that the Cold War, in a way, served as a “stabilizing factor” for perhaps 25 years due to the concept of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) – where neither side would risk initiating an attack knowing it would lead to their own destruction. Parker’s post-missileer career involved running the U.S. On-Site Inspection Agency, responsible for implementing various international treaties, including those covering conventional forces, nuclear ICBMs, INF missiles, chemical weapons, and Open Skies. His group verified compliance with these treaties, reporting any violations to the political side. Fortunately, they never had to formally declare a treaty violation during his time.

Much of the strategic deterrence relied on systems like the Minuteman missile. Parker explains that original treaties often limited the “delivery vehicles” (the missile itself) but not the re-entry systems or re-entry vehicles (RVs). The Minuteman system, which hasn’t fundamentally changed much in structure, consists of three solid-state fueled stages. Solid fuel was a “breakthrough” because it’s “storable,” allowing a missile to be kept ready in a silo, unlike earlier liquid-fueled rockets that required fueling before launch. This means a Minuteman can launch in about 30 seconds, compared to minutes for liquid-fueled systems.

Launching these powerful weapons requires extensive safeguards. The Launch Control Centers are located deep underground, 40 to 90 feet below the surface. Critically, launching missiles requires multiple individuals and multiple locations to agree. There are five Launch Control Centers in a complex, each staffed by two officers. A launch requires a minimum of two Launch Control Centers to simultaneously “key turn”. This system ensures that “a minimum of four people who have to agree to start nuclear war”.

This raises a profound question: how do you ensure these individuals, the ones with the “key” and who are “the tip of the spear,” will actually perform the “unthinkable” act of launching? From day one of training at Vandenberg Air Force Base, missileers understand their required duty. While psychological exams and evaluations are part of the process, Major General Parker notes that until a real-world situation happens, you can never truly know if they will “key turn”. However, the training instills the understanding that the only situation requiring this action is an attack on the country, making retaliation a clear requirement and duty.

The story of the missileer is, perhaps ironically, largely unknown compared to the more glamorous world of fighter and bomber pilots. Missileers operate underground, don’t participate in parades or flyovers, and ideally, their weapons are never used. Major General Parker calls them “unsung heroes”. The ICBM system is, in his view, the “greatest weapon ever used”. This isn’t because it has been fired in anger, but because it has served as a constant deterrent to aggression since 1962. As the joke goes, if the Russians considered an aggressive act, they’d remember the Minuteman was on alert and say, “Not today, Comrade“.

A young missileer shares the humbling experience of being a 22-year-old responsible for controlling up to 50 nuclear-capable missiles, noting that “no other job in the world” places such responsibility on someone so young. This trust reflects the Air Force’s confidence in them. The commitment is ingrained: if they see the message, they will “act and do [their] job… to turn keys if the president says so”.

The episode concludes by referencing President Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy philosophy, contrasting the verbose idea of “intelligent forethought and decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis” with the more impactful “Walk softly but carry a big stick”. This latter phrase perfectly encapsulates the quiet, ever-present, and powerful deterrence provided by the missileers and the systems they operate, ensuring peace by being constantly ready for war.