Minutemen

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Milicija osnovana prije početka američke revolucije u Massachusettsu i drugim kolonijama nazvana je Minutemen jer je bila spremna za hitne slučajeve "u minutu". Ova je organizacija osnovana kako bi zaobišla redovnu miliciju, od kojih su mnogi oficiri bili torijevci. Nakon što je organizacija spontano započela u dijelovima kolonije, kongres provincije Massachusetts naložio je drugim gradovima da učine isto. Organizacija nikada nije dovršena zbog ranog izbijanja neprijateljstava. Dostupan je samo fragmentaran popis s popisa Massachusettsa.

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Tijekom Hladnog rata, veliki arsenal nuklearnih projektila postavljen je na Veliku ravnicu. Skriveno na vidiku, trideset godina 1.000 projektila držalo se u stalnoj pripravnosti, stotine ih je ostalo i danas. Minuteman projektil ostaje ikonsko oružje u američkom nuklearnom arsenalu. On ima moć uništavanja civilizacije, ali zamišljen je kao nuklearno odvraćanje za održavanje mira i sprječavanje rata. Čitaj više

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Minutemen

Više nego bilo koji drugi hardcore bend, Minutemen je utjelovio slobodoumne nezavisne ideale koji su činili srž punk/alternativne glazbe. Divlje eklektičan i politički revolucionaran, Minutemen nikada nije ostao predugo na jednom mjestu, zasljepljujućom brzinom prešli su s punka na slobodni jazz na funk do folka. Putovali su i snimali zasljepljujućom brzinom ranih 80 -ih, stalno su bili na putu, ispuštajući ploče kad god su imali priliku. Kao i njihovi vršnjaci Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, R.E.M., Sonic Youth i Meat Puppets, i Minutemen su svojim nemilosrdnim turnejama izgradili veliki, posvećeni kult koji slijedi diljem Sjedinjenih Država. Kao i njihovi kolege američki indie bendovi, trio je bio spreman probiti se u svijet velikih etiketa 1986. godine, a to bi i učinili da nije bilo tragične smrti gitariste/vokaliste D. Boona u prosincu 1985. Iako je basist Mike Watt i bubnjar George Hurley nastavili su s FIREHOSE -om krajem 80 -ih, nasljeđe Minutemena zasjenilo je novi bend krajem 80 -ih i početkom 90 -ih, jer je trio San Pedro utjecao na nekoliko generacija glazbenika.

D. Boon i Mike Watt počeli su se baviti glazbom sredinom 70-ih kao tinejdžeri, pokrivajući standarde hard rocka 70-ih. Nakon što su 1976. završili srednju školu, čuli su svoje prve punk rock ploče koje su označile značajnu promjenu u njihovom glazbenom razvoju. Nakon što su Boon i Watt čuli punk, počeli su pisati vlastite pjesme i odlučili osnovati svoj prvi punopravni rock & roll bend. Godine 1980. par je okupio kvartet pod nazivom Reactionaries, u kojem su nastupili bubnjar Frank Tonche i drugi gitarist. U roku od nekoliko mjeseci otišao je njihov drugi gitarist, a bend je promijenio ime u Minutemen, budući da većina njihovih pjesama nije trajala mnogo duže od minute. Snimili su jedan singl s Toncheom prije nego ga je zamijenio George Hurley. Nakon što se Hurley pridružio bendu, Minutemen je snimio Paranoid Time, njihov prvi EP album je objavljen na SST Records 1981. Od samog početka bend je bio eklektičan i politički, ali nisu pronašli svoj glas do svoje prve cjelovečernje pjesme album, The Punch Line iz 1981. godine.

Nakon objavljivanja The Punch Linea, Minutemen je krenuo na kažnjiv raspored turneja, vozeći se po cijeloj Americi i svirajući u bilo kojem gradu gdje su mogli nastupiti. I oni su često snimali. Sve njihove glavne ploče pojavile su se na SST Recordsu, ali su izdale i odabrane pjesme i EP-e za druge nezavisne izdavačke kuće, počevši od EP-a Bean-Spill iz 1982. koji se pojavio na Thermidor Recordsu. Drugi dugometražni album benda, 1983. What Makes a Man Start Fires?, Zaslužio je znatna priznanja kritike u underground i alternativnom tisku. Kasnije 1983. izdali su svoj treći album, Buzz ili Howl Under the Influence of Heat.

Do kraja 1983., Minutemen je postao jedan od najpopularnijih bendova u američkom undergroundu, na statusu na kojem su izgradili tek tijekom 1984. Te godine su na Dime -u izbacili dvostruki album Double Nickels. Dužina albuma bila je odgovor na dvostruki album Hüsker Dü -a iz 1984. Zen Arcade, ali proširena duljina dala je grupi priliku da se istegne i pokaže svoju sve veću glazbenu dubinu i viziju. Double Nickels on the Dime bio je značajan underground hit, zaslužio je znatnu radijsku igru ​​na fakultetu i kritike koje su mnogi kritičari proglasili jednim od najboljih albuma godine. Također 1984. godine bend je izdao zbirku izdanja i neobjavljenog materijala pod nazivom The Politics of Time za New Alliance Records.

Tijekom 1985. godine Minutemen je izbacio snimke, počevši od EP-a Tour-Spiel na Reflex Recordsu. Uslijedila je retrospektiva My First Bells samo za kasete koja je objavljena na SST-u. Nakon My First Bells, grupa je izdala još jedan EP, Project Mersh, koji je sadržavao obrade "komercijalnih" arenskih rock bendova plus nekoliko dugih originalnih "spiela". Otprilike u isto vrijeme grupa je snimila EP Minuteflag, jednokratnu suradnju s Black Flag-om. Konačno, Minutemen je krajem godine objavio cjelovečernji nastavak izdanja Double Nickels na Dime, 3-Way Tie (For Last). Poput svog prethodnika, 3-Way Tie (For Last) dobio je ogromne pozitivne kritike, uključujući obavijesti u mainstream publikacijama.

U prosincu 1985. D. Boon i njegova djevojka vozili su se kući iz kuće jednog od njezinih rođaka kada su sudjelovali u fatalnoj automobilskoj nesreći. Za prvi dio 1986. Mike Watt i George Hurley pokušali su odlučiti hoće li se nastaviti baviti glazbom. Tijekom tog vremena sastavljen je i objavljen rezultat glasanja uživo. Nakon nekoliko mjeseci i Watt i Hurley odlučili su prestati s glazbom kad ih je strastveni obožavatelj i gitarist Minutemena Ed Crawford uvjerio u nastavak sviranja. Watt, Hurley i Crawford osnovali su FIREHOSE 1986. godine, a kasnije iste godine novi bend objavio je svoj debi album, Ragin ', Full-On. FIREHOSE su obilazili i snimali sljedećih sedam godina, potpisujući s glavnom izdavačkom kućom Columbia 1991. godine.

Razdoblje američkog revolucionarnog rata [uredi | uredi izvor]

Ova marka bila je jedna od tri izdane 1925. Pjesma na pločama je Ralpha Walda Emersona.

Godine 1774. general Thomas Gage, novi guverner Massachusettsa, pokušao je provesti Nepodnošljive akte koji su bili osmišljeni kako bi uklonili vlast iz gradova. Samuel Adams zalagao se za županijske konvencije radi jačanja revolucionarnog otpora. Gage je pokušao postaviti svoj vlastiti sud u Worcesteru, ali su mještani blokirali sjedenje suda. Dvije tisuće milicajaca marširalo je kako bi zastrašilo suce i natjeralo ih da odu. Ovo je bio prvi put da su ljudi koristili miliciju da spriječe kraljeve predstavnike da djeluju po kraljevskim naredbama i protiv uvriježenog mišljenja. Gage je odgovorio pripremajući se za marš za prikupljanje streljiva od provincijalaca. Na 50 milja oko Bostona milicioneri su marširali kao odgovor. Sljedećeg dana u podne, gotovo 4000 ljudi bilo je na zajedničkom mjestu u Cambridgeu. Provincijali su natjerali suce da daju ostavku i odu. Gage je odustao od pokušaja da sjedne na sud u Worcesteru.

Kolonijali u Worcesteru su se sastali i smislili novi plan mobilizacije milicije u svojoj županijskoj konvenciji. Konvencija je zahtijevala da svi policajci podnesu ostavke. Časnike su tada birale njihove pukovnije. Zauzvrat, časnici su tada imenovali 1/3 svoje pukovnije milicije za zapisničare. Ostale županije slijedile su Worcesterovo vodstvo, birajući nove časnike milicije i postavljajući zapisnike.

Gage je proveo nekoliko demonstracija moći "pokaži zastavu" u Massachusettsu koje su pokazale službenicima lokalne vlade da je shema mobilizacije "Minuteman" dobro funkcionirala. Što se tiče uvježbavanja formacija s oružjem, Britanci su uglavnom vježbali samo na postrojbama i maršu. Osim što nisu imali prostora za vježbu pucanja uživo jer su bili natrpani u Bostonu, Britanci su znali da je u ratu u 18. stoljeću kretanje tijela ljudi i njihovih formacija kako bi se povećala linija vatre bilo teže i stoga važnije dio vojne vježbe. Milicija je opsežno planirala s razrađenim planovima da alarmira i odgovori na kretanje kraljevih snaga iz Bostona. Učestalo prikupljanje minutih tvrtki također je izgradilo koheziju postrojbi i poznavanje pucanja uživo što je povećalo djelotvornost tvrtki. Kraljevske vlasti nenamjerno su odobrile nove planove mobilizacije Minutemana potvrđujući nekoliko demonstracija "pokaži zastavu" generala Gagea do 1774. godine.

Kraljevske vlasti u Bostonu vidjele su kako se pojavljuje sve veći broj milicija i mislile su da će, ako pošalju značajnu silu u Concord, zaplijeniti municiju i skladišta (što su smatrali kraljevim vlasništvom jer se plaćalo za obranu kolonija od američkih Indijanaca) prijetnja), milicija se ne bi miješala. Događaji od 19. travnja 1775. pokazali su se u krivu kada je mobilizacija izbacila veliki broj minumena kako bi se suočila s njima u Concordu, koji ih je, dolaskom sporije pokretne milicije, brzo nadmašio i natjerao pukovnika Smitha da ga vrati u Boston . Plan mobilizacije djelovao je toliko dobro da je samo pravovremeni dolazak kolone za pomoć pod lordom Percyjem u Lexington spriječio uništenje ili predaju izvornog stupa ceste.

Minutemen spomenik u Hollisu, New Hampshire

Povijest

Minute Men Staffing osnovao je Sam Lucarelli 1968. novcem koji je uštedio radeći kao distributer pića.

Umjesto ulaganja u predujam za kuću, Sam se usredotočio na drugu vrstu vizije - kako bi zadobio lojalnost klijenata redefiniranjem izraza "predanost uslugama" u tek nastaloj industriji privremene pomoći.

Samovi prijatelji i dalje prepričavaju kako je uravnotežio svoj posao vozača s punim radnim vremenom sa zahtjevima poduzetništva. Često bi usklađivao isporuke bezalkoholnih pića s promjenama u postrojenjima samo u slučaju da bi se nadzornik mogao uhvatiti u nedovoljnoj količini osoblja. Brzi poziv natrag u dispečersku salu i Minute Men je popunila radnu snagu za taj dan. Tih dana nije bilo ništa neobično vidjeti Sama kako vozi svoje radnike na web stranice klijenata u svom kombiju ili se saginje u toalet u restoranu brze hrane kako bi se presvukao u odijelo baš na vrijeme za poziv na prodaju.

Do ranih 1970 -ih, Minute Men Staffing stjecao je solidnu reputaciju ne samo zbog odziva prema klijentima, već i zbog poštenog odnosa prema svojim zaposlenicima. Mnogi su profesionalni sportaši iz Clevelanda u tom razdoblju povećali svoje prihode izvan sezone radeći za tvrtku. Rocky Colavito i Buddy Bell samo su par bivših igrača Cleveland Indijanaca koji su ponekad pratili Sama na prodajnim i servisnim pozivima.

Godine 1972. Minute Men odlučio je privremeno, a na kraju i trajno, odgovoriti na sve veću potražnju svojih kupaca za kvalificiranim vozačima kamiona. Transportation Unlimited, Inc. postao je prvi izdanak onoga što je danas poznato kao Sustav ljudskih resursa za muškarce. Transportation Unlimited i Minute Men stalno su rasli zajedno tijekom sljedeća dva desetljeća, slijedeći neke od svojih klijentskih tvrtki s nacionalnim operacijama iz Ohio & ndash otvorenih ureda na Floridi, New Orleansu i Pittsburghu.

Danas je Minute Men Staffing fokusiran na regiju Velikih jezera, podržavajući klijente iz podružnica u Chicagu, Detroitu, Clevelandu, Columbusu i Cincinnatiju.

Časopis Harvard University and Inc. priznao je The Minute Men Human Resource System kao jednu od 100 najboljih američkih tvrtki sa sjedištem u gradskom naselju. Lokalno, Minute Men je u više navrata imenovan na listu brzorastućih tvrtki Sveučilišta Case Western Reserve Universityhead 100, te je uvršten u Dvoranu slavnih obiteljskog poslovanja CWRU-a.

Saznajte više o minutnom zapošljavanju muškaraca

Neka vam Minute Men Staffing danas pruži brzu i besplatnu ponudu. Za početak kliknite donji gumb ili nazovite 1-877-873-8856.

Minutemen - Povijest

Raketa Delta Flight izvađena je iz silosa. ROBERT LYON

Povijest raketnih lokacija Minuteman

Raketni sustav ICBM Minuteman

4. listopada 1957. Sovjetski je savez uspješno lansirao u orbitu prvi umjetni satelit na svijetu, Sputnik. Radio operateri Ham na istoku Sjedinjenih Država okrenuli su svoje brojčanike na niže frekvencijske opsege i zabrinuto slušali kako Sputnik od 184 kilograma emitira mehanički "... bip ... bip ... bip ..." pri prolasku iznad glave. Ostali radijski operateri brzo su snimili emitiranje i u roku od nekoliko sati Amerikanci u svojim dnevnim sobama čuli su Sputnikov prijenos putem radijskih i televizijskih bljeskova. Čini se da je poruka potvrdila najveće američke strahove: Sovjeti su tehnološki nadmašili Sjedinjene Države i stekli nadmoć u svemiru. Sovjetska znanstvena zajednica gubila je malo vremena hvaleći se svojim očiglednim pobjedom. Odmah nakon lansiranja, jedan je moskovski znanstvenik komentirao: "Amerikanci dizajniraju bolje automobilske repne peraje, ali mi dizajniramo najbolje međukontinentalne balističke rakete i zemaljske satelite." U Sjedinjenim Državama jedan je naslov proglasio: "SAD moraju stići crvene ili mi smo Mrtav. "

Istina, značaj uspješnog lansiranja nije bio toliko Sputnjik, već ogromna sovjetska raketa koja je izbacila satelit u svemir. Sa Sputnikom, koji na ruskom znači "suputnik", Sovjeti su pokazali sposobnost svog lansera SS-6 da pokrene raketu prema cilju udaljenom tisuće milja. Četiri godine ranije Sovjeti su eksplodirali "Hbombom." Sada je zastrašujuća mogućnost da sovjetski projektil isporuči nuklearnu bombu američkom gradu u manje od sat vremena oživjela ono što su neki nazvali "atmosferom Pearl Harbor" u cijelim Sjedinjenim Državama. Na poticaj svojih vojnih savjetnika i pod ogromnim pritiskom javnosti, predsjednik Dwight D. Eisenhower nevoljko je ubrzao američki ICBM program.

Šok Sputnika naglo je preokrenuo ono što je ministar zračnih snaga Donald Quarles okarakterizirao kao američki "pristup siromaha" programu ICBM. U roku od šest mjeseci nakon Sputnika, proračun Nation -a za svemirska istraživanja i razvoj porastao je sa prosječnih pola milijarde dolara godišnje na više od 10,5 milijardi dolara. Veći dio novca otišao je na razvoj projektila Minuteman. Godine 1958. Kongres je povećao izdvajanje za Minuteman sa 50 USD na 140 milijuna USD. Sljedeće godine Kongres je dodao dvije milijarde dolara u proračun Minutemana, koji će se raspodijeliti na sljedećih pet godina.

Potpredsjednik Richard M. Nixon, predsjednik Dwight D. Eisenhower i državni tajnik John Foster Dulles (slijeva nadesno) u hotelu Brown Palace, Denver, Colorado, kolovoz 1952. ODJEL ZA ZAPADNU POVIJEST, JAVNA KNJIŽNICA DENVER.

Sputnik je potaknuo razvoj i postavljanje projektila Minuteman. No podrijetlo raketnog programa Minuteman duboko je ukorijenjeno u godinama neposredno nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata — kada su se dvije svjetske velesile počele uključivati ​​u spiralnu utrku u naoružanju Hladnog rata.

Dana 7. siječnja 1954. predsjednik Eisenhower je predao naciji svoje prvo obraćanje o stanju u Uniji. Nakon što je izjavio da je "američka sloboda ugrožena sve dok postoji komunistička zavjera u sadašnjem opsegu, moći i neprijateljstvu", predsjednik je iznio svoje planove za obranu nacije od te prijetnje. "Nećemo biti agresori", rekao je, "ali mi ... imamo i zadržat ćemo ogromnu sposobnost uzvraćanja udara." Eisenhowerovi komentari odražavali su doktrinarnu osnovu većeg dijela američkog strateškog planiranja u doba Hladnog rata.

Pogled predsjednika Eisenhowera na Sovjetski Savez bio je sličan onom koji je skoro osam godina ranije iznio George Kennan, diplomat u američkom veleposlanstvu u Moskvi. Gledajući kako se Sovjeti okružuju "tampon zonom" koja je uključivala veći dio istočne Europe nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata, Kennan je tvrdio da su ti potezi posljedica fanatičnog sovjetskog "ekspanzionizma" koji je u konačnici bio usmjeren na ometanje američkog društva, uništavajući američki način života i rušenje međunarodnog autoriteta Amerike. Kennan je sugerirao da je jedini način rješavanja ove prijetnje da Sjedinjene Države usvoje politiku "strpljivog, ali čvrstog i opreznog obuzdavanja ruskih ekspanzivnih tendencija".

Iako je teoretski dobar, zadržavanje se pokazalo gotovo nemogućim za provedbu. Kako bi uistinu obuzdao sveprisutnu sovjetsku prijetnju, primijetio je 1954. godine jedan visoki američki dužnosnik, nacija bi se morala pripremiti za borbu "na Arktiku i u tropima u Aziji, na bliskom istoku i u Europi morem, kopnom, i zračnim putem. "No, iako je Sovjetski Savez uložio ogromne napore za obnovu svoje vojske i obnovu konvencionalnog naoružanja nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata, Amerika se vrtoglavo demobilizirala. Iskorištavajući svoju poziciju jedinog posjednika atomske bombe, Sjedinjene Države su slijedile ono što su neki promatrači nazvali obrambenom politikom "jeftinog podruma", koristeći nuklearno oružje kao zamjenu za pješake.

Fiskalno konzervativan, predsjednik Eisenhower također je želio zadržati američki atomski arsenal na minimalnom iznosu potrebnom za odvraćanje Moskve. Predsjednik i njegov glavni ekonomski savjetnik, Arthur H. Burns, vjerovali su da savezna vlada mora smanjiti potrošnju, smanjiti poreze i uravnotežiti proračun kako bi postigla stabilan gospodarski rast. Unatoč prosvjedima Zajedničkog načelnika stožera, Eisenhower je neprestano tražio velika smanjenja vojne potrošnje, koja je potrošila gotovo 70 % državnog proračuna u vrijeme kada je preuzeo dužnost 1953. godine.

Američki ICBM program

Pomoćnik tajnika Zračnih snaga za istraživanje i razvoj Trevor Gardner (lijevo) i general bojnik Bernard A. Schriever (desno) bili su ključni igrači u razvoju interkontinentalnih balističkih projektila, uključujući i Minuteman. ZRAČNE SNAGE SAD -a, PODJELA POVIJESTI.

Američki vojni planeri počeli su razvijati balističke rakete odmah nakon Drugog svjetskog rata. No, krajem 1940 -ih, američki raketni program počeo je propadati, uglavnom zbog toga što se nuklearna superiornost Nacije činila sigurnom. 1949., kada je Sovjetski Savez razvio svoju atomsku bombu, Amerika je odgovorila još snažnijim oružjem - termonuklearnim uređajem koji je upotrijebio mali atomski okidač za pokretanje fuzijske reakcije u izotopovima vodika. Uspješno testirana 1952., činilo se da H-bomba jamči američku nuklearnu superiornost. No, u kolovozu 1953. Sovjeti su eksplodirali vlastitom H-bombom, a mnogi američki vojni stručnjaci također su vjerovali da bi Sovjeti mogli isporučiti svoje novo oružje putem ICBM-a. Po prvi put činilo se da su Sovjeti spremni preuzeti vodstvo u utrci naoružanja.

Nakon uspješnog sovjetskog testiranja H-bombe, dvije neovisne američke organizacije ponovno su procijenile stratešku važnost ICBM-a za nacionalnu sigurnost. Kao što je primijetio dr. Bruno Augenstein iz korporacije RAND, "Ako bi Sovjetski Savez pobijedio Sjedinjene Države u utrci za ICBM, posljedice bi bile katastrofalne." Odbor zračnih snaga na čelu s dr. Johnom von Neumannom, profesorom matematike sa Sveučilišta Princeton, također je ocijenio utrku u naoružanju. Kodnog naziva "Odbor za čajnike", von Neumannova je grupa istraživala "utjecaj termonuklearne [bombe] na razvoj strateških projektila i mogućnost da bi Sovjetski Savez mogao biti nešto ispred Sjedinjenih Država." U veljači 1954., RAND i Odbor za čajnike objavili su svoja izvješća, oba su došla do istog zaključka: nedavni napredak termonuklearne tehnologije učinio je ICBM praktičnom. Nadalje, ICBM bi se "mogla razviti i upotrijebiti dovoljno rano da se suprotstavi preostaloj sovjetskoj prijetnji ako se odobre iznimni talenti, odgovarajuća sredstva i nove tehnike upravljanja koje odgovaraju hitnosti situacije".

Do svibnja 1954. Zračne snage su izradile plan razvoja novog oružja. U lipnju je zamjenik načelnika stožera general Thomas D. White naredio Zapovjedništvu zračnog istraživanja i razvoja "da nastavi s razvojem ICBM -a najvećom mogućom brzinom, ograničenom samo napretkom tehnologije u različitim područjima." U srpnju , zračne snage osnovale su poseban projektni ured za upravljanje programom. Na temelju Zapadne obale, nova je agencija stoga nazvana Zapadni razvojni odjel. Bernard A. Schriever, 43-godišnji brigadni general, bio je na čelu Zapadnog razvojnog odjela. Zračne snage su očekivale da će novopromaknuti mladi general u roku od šest godina predati potpuno operativan sustav naoružanja ICBM u ruke Strateškog zrakoplovnog zapovjedništva. Zračne snage smatrale su misiju Zapadnog razvojnog odjela toliko važnom za nacionalnu sigurnost da su čak i njezini inicijali, WDD, bili povjerljivi.

5. kolovoza 1954. general Schriever i mala skupina vojnih časnika okupili su se u napuštenoj župnoj školi u predgrađu Los Angelesa Inglewood kako bi započeli svoj rad. Kako bi izbjegli znatiželju obližnjih stanovnika, policajci su nosili civilnu odjeću. Novinar Roy Neal, koji je zabilježio razvoj raketnog sustava Minuteman, opisao je ono što su otkrili:

Nijedan znak nije identificirao bijelu školsku zgradu kao Zapadni odjel za razvoj.

. . . Prozori su bili zaleđeni i bili su jako začepljeni rešetkama. Sva vanjska vrata, osim jednog, bila su zaključana. Jedini ulaz bio je preko ogradenog parkirališta ograđenog lancem. Na vratima je bio čuvar. Prisjećaju se neki starinci. . . komentar školskog dječaka koji je obilazio školsku zgradu.

Gledajući matirano staklo i prozore sa čeličnim rešetkama, rekao je jednom prijatelju: "Drago mi je što ovdje ne idem u školu."

U ovom neupadljivom, ali pažljivo osiguranom okruženju, odabrano osoblje Zapadne razvojne divizije započelo je napore za izgradnju interkontinentalne balističke rakete.

1945
Bombardiranje Hirošime i Nagasakija

1946
Churchillov govor o željeznoj zavjesi

1948
Počinje komunistički udar u Čehoslovačkoj/Berlinska blokada

1949
Uspostavljen NATO/SSSR eksplodirao atomsku bombu/komunističko preuzimanje Kine

1950
Počinje kinesko-sovjetski pakt/korejski rat

1954
Komunistička partija u SAD -u zabranjena

1955
Varšavski pakt/Prva američka vježba civilne obrane

1956
Mađarski ustanak/Kruščev govori SAD -u: Sahranit ćemo vas

1958
Eisenhower odobrava program projektila Minuteman

1960
Špijunski avion U-2 oborio SSSR

1961
Zaljev svinja/izgrađen Berlinski zid/Eisenhower upozorava na vojno-industrijski kompleks/Prvi uspješan testni let Minuteman

1962
Kubanska raketna kriza/ Minuteman I ide u stanje pripravnosti

1963
Vruća linija povezuje SAD i SSSR/Ugovor o ograničenoj zabrani testiranja

1964
Kina je aktivirala atomsku bombu

1966
Minuteman II je u pripravnosti

1968
Sovjetska invazija na Čehoslovačku

1970
Minuteman III je u pripravnosti

1973
Rat Yom Kippur: SAD su u svjetskoj uzbuni

1983
Reagan predlaže Star Wars Stratešku obrambenu inicijativu (SDI)

1989
Istočnoeuropski narodi raskinuli s Moskvom/Berlinski zid pada

1991
Bush i Gorbačov potpisuju sporazum START/ sustav Minuteman II počinje se deaktivirati

1993
66. raketna eskadrila, uključujući let Delta, deaktivirana

ICBM prve generacije: Atlas i Titan

Njemačke rakete V-2, koje je Adolph Hitler pozdravio kao Vergeltungswaffe (oružje za osvetu), korištene su protiv saveznika tijekom posljednjih godina Drugog svjetskog rata. DEUTSCHE MUZEJ, MINHEN, NJEMAČKA.

Osoblje Zapadnog razvojnog odjela započelo je svoj rad oživljavanjem raketnog projekta koji je nastao nedugo nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata. Zračne snage su 1946. godine sklopile ugovor s korporacijom Convair o projektiranju balističke rakete dugog dometa pod nazivom MX-774. Poput mnogih poslijeratnih projektila, MX-774 je izgubio većinu državnih sredstava nakon samo godinu dana. No, umjesto da odustane od projekta, Convair Corporation nastavila je raditi na vlastitoj tehnologiji, neprestano napredujući u stanju raketne tehnologije. Zračne snage 1951. godine priznale su te napore angažirajući tvrtku za izradu planova za naprednije projektile, nazvane Atlas.

Atlas je u biti bio visoko razvijena verzija njemačke rakete V-2, koju je Njemačka koristila protiv saveznika tijekom opadajućih godina Drugoga svjetskog rata. Poput V-2, Atlas su pokretali raketni motori koji su sagorijevali mješavinu tekućeg goriva i oksidanta. No, dok je V-2 imao učinkovit domet od samo nekoliko stotina milja, Atlas je morao isporučiti svoj teret do cilja udaljenog više od 5000 milja. Convair Corporation mogla je ispuniti ovaj zahtjev dizajnirajući Atlas kao ogromnu verziju V-2. Umjesto toga, Convairovi inženjeri tražili su sofisticiranije rješenje. Shvativši da bi se domet projektila mogao povećati smanjenjem njegove težine, Convair je opremio Atlas inovativnim, ultra lakim okvirom. Convair je raketu sastavio od prstenova od nehrđajućeg čelika tankog papira, složenih zajedno poput cijevi za zavarivanje i zavarenih po šavovima u obliku cilindara. Cilindri su zatim napuhani plinom dušika kako bi projektil dobio strukturni integritet.

Do 1954. godine Atlas je bio najnaprednija balistička raketa nacije. Bez obzira na to, projektil je bio godinama udaljen od proizvodnje. Nijedan prototip nije testiran letenjem, a neki su se skeptici bojali da će se, kad su prvi put upalili moćni Atlasovi motori, tankoputi okvir rakete zakopčati u sebe, ostavljajući nade Amerike u ICBM na lansirnoj rampi poput goleme lopte limene folije.

General Schriever i njegovo osoblje bili su svjesni ove zabrinutosti. Stoga su, dok su nastavili s programom Atlas, tražili i sigurnosnu kopiju. U listopadu 1955. Zračne snage ugovorile su s tvrtkom Glenn L. Martin proizvodnju nove ICBM pod nazivom Titan. Kao i Atlas, Titan je koristio tekuća goriva, ali njegov napredni dvostupanjski dizajn omogućio je konvencionalni i pouzdaniji zrakoplov.

Raketa Atlas čeka probno lansiranje s rta Canaveral na Badnjak, 1958. Uložak: Probno lansiranje rakete Atlas D. Razvoj rakete Minuteman na kruto gorivo ubrzao je rano umirovljenje prve generacije ICBM-a na tekuće gorivo, poput Atlasa D i Atlasa E, koje su zračne snage deaktivirale do 1965. US AIR FORCE, umetnuta fotografija CONVAIR (ASTRONAUTICS DIVISION ), OPĆA DINAMIČKA KORPORACIJA.

Ipak, američki raketni program otežavali su problemi s financiranjem. Godine 1956. tajnik zračnih snaga Donald Quarles odbacio je operativni proračun za program ICBM -a i predložio eliminaciju Atlasa ili Titana, koje je smatrao suvišnima. Iste godine zračne snage izgubile su svog najučinkovitijeg zagovornika projektila kada je pomoćnik tajnika Trevor Gardner, "projektil car", najavio odlazak u mirovinu, navodeći kao razlog kontinuirano smanjenje proračuna za istraživanje i razvoj raketa. Gardnerova mirovina nije ga omela, Quarlesova kampanja štednje nastavila se 1957. godine kada je program balističkih projektila smanjen za 200 milijuna dolara. U srpnju je Eisenhowerova administracija pokrenula još mjere za uštedu troškova, uključujući smanjenje isporuka projektila, smanjenje stopa prekovremenog rada i odgađanje plaćanja izvođačima.

Snaga u brojevima: projektilni jaz

Ispitno lansiranje Titan I, Vandenberg Air Force Base, 4. svibnja 1962. Raketa Titan imala je veći domet i veću nosivost od Atlasa. Ipak, Titan je jednako kratko trajao. Sve rakete Titan deaktivirane su do lipnja 1965. US AIR FORCE

Ova štedljiva gospodarska klima dramatično se promijenila nakon Sputnika. U listopadu 1957., kada je Sovjetski Savez objavio da je koristio ICBM na tekuće gorivo za lansiranje Sputnika u orbitu, američki znanstvenici i političari bojali su se značajnog "raketnog jaza". U roku od nekoliko mjeseci, novinari i obavještajni analitičari počeli su tvrditi da bi sovjetske raketne snage do 1960. mogle nadmašiti američki arsenal čak 16 prema jedan. Rastući osjećaj nesigurnosti Amerike nije izgubljen na sovjetskim dužnosnicima, koji su radosno najavili da će njihove tvornice nestati projektili "poput kobasica". Suočena s oštrim kritikama zbog dopuštanja Sjedinjenim Državama da zaostanu u utrci u naoružanju, Eisenhowerova administracija uložila je više novca u svoje raketne programe & povećavši godišnji proračun Nation-a za više od dvadeset puta u roku od šest mjeseci nakon Sputnika. Uprava je također istaknula razvoj projektila Atlas i Titan. Jedan je vladin glasnogovornik primijetio da se američki raketni program pažljivo osmišljavao, prvo kako bi se "postiglo savršenstvo", a zatim i "razvilo sposobnost proizvodnje u količini kad se to savršenstvo postigne".

No američke ICBM prve generacije nisu bile savršene niti su se mogle masovno proizvoditi. Nekoliko tjedana nakon Sputnika, Wall Street Journal primijetio je da su slabosti američkih ICBM-a "toliko duboke da su ... generali sigurni da će [projektili] biti potpuno odbačeni nakon prvih pola tuceta". Atlas i Titan bili su izuzetno složeni, ručno izrađeni strojevi, koji su sadržavali čak 300 000 dijelova, od kojih je svaki morao biti održavan u savršenom radnom stanju. Tekuća goriva koja su pokretala motore projektila bila su hlapljiva i nagrizajuća te su se mogla staviti u spremnike za gorivo neposredno prije lansiranja. Osim toga, posadama projektila bilo je potrebno čak dva sata za punjenje projektila. Slijedom toga, umjesto da budu "stabilno oružje u stanju stalne pripravnosti", ove ICBM -e zahtijevale su "očajničku i stalnu pažnju koju je pružao čovjek koji prima umjetno disanje". The missiles were not a "push button affair but will require a highly-trained crew . . . several times as large as the largest bombing crew. " Many of these problems could be solved, the Wall Street Journal suggested, by developing a simplified "second generation" of missiles powered by solid-fuel rocket engines.

"A lot of work had been done on solids prior to the initiation of the ICBM program in 1954," recalled General Schriever in a 1973 interview, "but there were a number of things that ruled against using solids at that time." Solid propellants in the mid-1950s could not provide enough power to hurl a thermonuclear warhead across an ocean. Also, solids were difficult to manufacture. They were hard to ignite, and there was no way to control their combustion or direct their thrust after ignition. Given these constraints, the Air Force believed that liquid-fueled missiles were "the only immediate way to go ahead. " But the Air Force did not entirely abandon the concept of a solid-fuel missile. In 1956, Schriever reluctantly approved a low-level research program "aimed toward the evolution of a high-thrust . . . solid-fuel rocket." Schriever selected Colonel Edward Hall, Chief of Propulsion Development for the Western Development Division, to head the program. According to historian Robert Perry, Hall was a "near-fanatic" about the potential of solid-fuel missiles.

Colonel Edward Hall spearheaded the US Air Force effort to develop a solid fueled ICBM. COURTESY EDWARD HALL.

Colonel Edward Hall and his staff of engineers diligently researched their solid-fuel missile program. Within two years, Hall's group had solved most of the problems associated with solid-fuel rocket engines. In August 1957, the Air Force asked Hall to develop a medium-range, solid-fuel missile to be the land-based counterpart to the Navy's submarine-launched, solid-fuel Polaris. Within two weeks, Hall drew up specifications for a remarkable new missile whose range could be varied by simply assembling its three interchangeable propulsion stages in different combinations.

The new missile, dubbed "Weapon System Q," was "the first strategic weapon capable of true mass production," wrote Duke University historian George Reed. "To Hall, the new missile was the perfect weapon for a defense policy characterized by minimum expenditure and massive retaliation and he urged that this be its chief selling point." Sputnik made it easy for Colonel Hall to make the sale. A few days after the Sputnik launch, Hall went to the Pentagon with General Schriever to build support for the new missile. As they ascended the ranks of the military hierarchy, Hall refined his plans. By the end of 1957, he determined that "the ICBM version of Weapon System Q would be a three-stage, solid-fuel missile approximately 65 feet long, weighing approximately 65,000 pounds, and developing approximately 100,000-120,000 pounds of thrust at launch. " The missile would be stored vertically in underground silos and "would accelerate so quickly that it could fly through its exhaust flames and not be significantly damaged."

In February 1958, Hall and Schriever presented Weapon System Q to the Secretaries of the Air Force and Defense. "We got approval . . within 48 hours," Schriever recalled. The officers immediately renamed the project. On February 28, 1958, the New York Times reported that the Air Force had been authorized "to produce an advanced type of ballistic missile . . . called Minute Man."

By the end of March 1958, at least seven of the Nation's foremost aircraft manufacturers, including the Boeing Airplane Company, were competing to build the new missile. Although Seattle-based Boeing had built many of the Nation's largest strategic bombers, the company had virtually no experience with missiles. Still, Boeing mounted an all-out effort to win the Minuteman contract, assigning more than 100 employees to work on the project. When the Air Force selection board met to examine the proposals, one top official recalled that "there was no question . . . that Boeing was the right company for the job." In October 1958, the US government contracted with Boeing to assemble and test the new missile.

During the next few months, the rest of the Minuteman missile team came into place. The Thiokol Chemical Company of Brigham City, Utah, the Aerojet General Corporation of Sacramento, California, and the Hercules Powder Company of Magna, Utah, all won contracts to work on the missile's propulsion stages. Minuteman's guidance and control systems went to the Autonetics Division of North American Aviation in Downey, California. The AVCO Corporation of Boston contracted to build the missile's thermonuclear warhead.

Much of the development work for Minuteman took place in northern Utah. Thiokol and Hercules already operated plants in the area and, within a few months, Boeing moved into a new assembly plant that occupied 790 acres at Hill Air Force Base near Ogden. By the beginning of 1960, Boeing's Minuteman work force had grown to nearly 12,000, as the company started to assemble the missiles. Time magazine reported that the desert north of Salt Lake was "boiling" with activity:

Strange lights glare in the night, making the mountains shine, and a grumbling roar rolls across the desert. By day enormous clouds of steam-white smoke billow up . . . and drift over hills and valleys. Monstrous vehicles with curious burdens lumber along the roads.

All these strange goings-on mark the development of the Minuteman, the solid fuel missile that its proponents confidently expect will ultimately replace the liquid fuel Atlas as the US. 's standard ICBM.

Minuteman I test launch. Inset: A Minuteman ICBM, ready for testing at the Air Force Missile Test Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. US AIR FORCE.

According to journalist Roy Neal, the ICBM program created a new national industry: "Tens of thousands of industrial and Air Force managers, engineers, and workers [had] to be trained. New machine tools and test facilities [had to] come into being. . . . " These efforts changed "the face of America, the make-up of the Armed Forces and the industries that support them. "

At the end of 1960, the Air Force took the first Minuteman missile to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for flight testing. The compact new missile was only six feet in diameter and 53 feet high — about half the size of a Titan. Minuteman's three cylindrical, steel-cased propulsion stages were stacked one atop the other, with each stage slightly smaller in diameter than the one beneath it. Each stage was filled with a rubbery mixture of fuel and oxidizer, molded around a hollow, star-shaped core. The Minuteman's guidance system occupied a small compartment above the third stage. The "reentry vehicle" at the tip was identical to the nose-cone that would eventually contain a thermonuclear warhead.

Following two aborted launch attempts, the Air Force successfully fired the first Minuteman missile at 11:00 a. m. on February 1, 1961. Even the most experienced missile watchers found it to be "a dazzling spectacle." When the missile's first-stage engine ignited, there was a loud bang. Then the missile began to rise on a column of flame and smoke. Unlike the Atlas or Titan missile, which one observer said left the ground "like a fat man getting out of an easy chair," the Minuteman missile "shot up like a skyrocket." The missile performed flawlessly. The three propulsion stages completed their burns on schedule, then detached themselves and plummeted back to earth, while the unarmed warhead hurled on toward its assigned destination. Twenty-five minutes after lift-off, the reentry vehicle splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean squarely on target — 4,600 miles away.

From his office in Washington D. C. , Air Force Chief of Staff General Thomas D. White described the launch as "one of the most significant steps this Nation has ever taken toward gaining intercontinental missile supremacy." An engineer who witnessed the event put it another way: "Brother," he said, "there goes the missile gap."

The "Underground" Air Force

By the time the flight test took place, the Air Force was already planning for Minuteman missile deployment. According to historian Jacob Neufeld, the Air Force conceptually developed its "ideal" ICBM base in 1955, during the early days of the Atlas program:

The missile would be sited inside fixed, underground facilities it was to have a quick launch reaction it was to be stored in a launching position the launch site would require minimal support and the launch units were to be self-supporting for two weeks.

Turning these ideas into reality, however, proved difficult. During the height of the "missile gap" hysteria, the Air Force hastily activated the Nation's first Atlas missiles at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Here, the Air Force stored the missiles horizontally in "coffins" — concrete-walled, above-ground enclosures. Before the missiles could be fired, servicemen had to raise each missile vertically on a launch pad and add fuel. The later Titan and Atlas F series missiles were stored upright in underground silos capped with massive "clamshell" doors. But Air Force engineers were worried that vibrations from the rocket engines might shake the missiles apart before launch. As a result, the Air Force equipped each silo with an elevator that raised the missile to the surface for firing. Although the missiles were stored with their tanks full of fuel, workers still needed to add volatile liquid oxygen right before launch.

The Air Force took a major step toward achieving its ideal basing system in 1960 with the development of Titan II, which used storable liquid propellants. The Air Force could store Titan II missiles with fully-loaded propellant tanks, and fire them directly from underground silos. Nonetheless, Titan II missiles still needed constant attention from an on-site crew.

When Minuteman was added to the Nation's arsenal, America acquired its first truly pushbutton — literally turn-key — missile system. Historian Ernest Schwiebert noted:

With the successful utilization of solid propellants, the Minuteman could hide in its lethal lair like a shotgun shell, ready for instant firing. The operational launcher could be unmanned, underground, and hardened to withstand the surface burst of a nuclear weapon. Each launcher housed a single weapon and the equipment necessary to support and fire it, and required only periodic maintenance. The missiles could be fired . at a moment's notice.

Just as ICBMs evolved, so did their launch facilities. The first Atlas missiles were stored upright on launch pads, where they were vulnerable to attack. Later, the missiles were kept in horizontal, concrete "coffins" and raised vertically before launch. Eventually, the Air Force moved ICBMs to underground silos elevators lifted them to the surface for launch. Titan II and Minuteman were the first ICBMs launched directly from underground silos.

Minuteman Deployment and Site Selection

President John F. Kennedy (center), accompanied by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (far left), SAC Commander General Thomas S. Power (right), and Lt. General Howell M. Estes, Jr. (right background) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, March 1962. US AIR FORCE, HISTORY DIVISION.

The Air Force wanted to deploy Minuteman as a single, immense, "missile farm," equipped with as many as 1,500 missiles. However, the Air Force soon determined that "for reasons of economy 150 launchers should be concentrated in a single area, whenever possible, and that no area should contain fewer than 50 missiles." Consequently, the Air Force organized the Minuteman force into a series of administrative units called "wings," each comprised of three or four 50-missile squadrons. Each squadron was further subdivided into five smaller units, called "flights." A flight consisted of a single, manned, launch control facility, linked to ten, unmanned, underground, missile silos. The silos were separated from the launch control facility and from each other by a distance of several miles.

The Air Force initially considered putting Minuteman missiles as far south as Georgia, Texas, and Oklahoma. But when early models of Minuteman missiles fell short of their intended 5,500-mile range, the Air Force selected sites in the northern part of the United States, which was closer to the Soviet Union. In 1960, the Air Force decided to locate the first Minuteman installation on the high plains around Great Falls, Montana, at Malmstrom AFB. In the event of a nuclear accident or attack, the low population density near Malmstrom AFB would minimize civilian casualties. In addition, the region offered an established network of roads and, like much of the West, a large amount of easy-to-acquire public land.

The Air Force began constructing the Nation's first Minuteman missile field on March 16, 1961. In the spring of 1962, the Associated Press reported that the Montana silos were being "rushed to completion," and that the first missiles, each loaded with "one megaton of death and destruction," would be ready by late summer. Air Force crews began lowering the weapons into the silos at the end of July, and Malmstrom AFB's first ten-missile flight was hurriedly activated on October 27, 1962, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Minuteman Comes to Ellsworth Air Force Base

Military strategists began planning for a second Minuteman installation shortly after work got underway at Malmstrom AFB. In June 1960, the Air Force was authorized to add another 150 missiles to the Minuteman force. By early October, military strategists had narrowed their search for a new site to three locations in North and South Dakota. On January 5, 1961, US Senator Francis Case of South Dakota announced that Ellsworth AFB would be the headquarters for the Nation's second Minuteman deployment. Located about 12 miles east of Rapid City, Ellsworth AFB was founded in 1941 as the Rapid City Army Air Base. The Air Corps used the airfield to train B-17 bomber crews, and Ellsworth eventually served as home base for many of America's largest strategic bombers. The base was also headquarters for a Titan I missile squadron.

US ICBM Size Comparisons Atlas, Titan I, Titan II, Minuteman

Typical of all Minuteman installations, I the forces at Ellsworth AFB were organized into a missile wing. The 44th Strategic Missile Wing at Ellsworth AFB was activated in 1963, and was comprised of three 50-missile squadrons: the 66th, 67th, and 68th Strategic Missile Squadrons.

Each squadron was further subdivided into five smaller units, called flights. A flight consisted of a single, manned, underground launch control center (LCC), which was linked through a system of underground cables to ten, unmanned, launch facilities (LF). Each LF held one Minuteman missile stored in an underground silo. The silos were separated from the LCC and each other by a distance of several miles.

Although the Defense Department had not yet officially authorized the South Dakota Minuteman installation, Senator Case wanted the land acquired immediately so there would be "no loss of valuable time" once the project was approved. Local ranchers did not share Case's sense of urgency. Fearing that the government might offer below-market prices for their land, the ranchers established the Missile Area Landowners' Association to negotiate fair prices. The association assured fellow citizens that its actions would "not necessarily slow the national defense effort."

While real estate negotiations were underway, the South Dakota State Highway Department spent $650,000 from the Federal Bureau of Public Roads to improve 327 miles of roads leading to the proposed missile sites. By June 1961, Boeing was busy improving the infrastructure. Anticipating that the project would bring in more than 3,000 workers, the company raced to build mobile home camps and cafeterias near Wall, Sturgis, Belle Fourche, and Union Center, as well as in Rapid City.

By early summer, more than three-quarters of the local landowners agreed to give the government access to their land. Once the sites were finalized, the Ralph M. Parsons Company, an architectural and engineering firm from Los Angeles, prepared plans for the Minuteman installation. The Air Force assigned responsibility for construction to the US Army Corps of Engineers Ballistic Missile Construction Office. In July 1961, four of the nation's largest construction firms submitted bids for the project. The low bid came from Peter Kiewit Sons Company of Omaha, whose estimate of $56,220,274 was nearly $10 million below government projections.

On September 10, 1961, the groundbreaking ceremony for Ellsworth AFB's Minuteman installations took place at Site L-6 near Bear Butte. The festivities started with a bang. While the Sturgis High School band played, representatives from Boeing, Kiewit, the Corps of Engineers, and Ellsworth AFB set off an explosive charge to begin the excavation.

Despite extreme cold, high winds, and heavy snowfall, construction proceeded at a furious pace through the winter of 1961-62. In mid-December, the Corps of Engineers told reporters that "men are working seven days a week, three shifts a day on Minuteman construction. " A Corps spokesman said that crews were "able to dig five silo emplacements simultaneously. Each takes from four to ten days . . . " The first squadron, near Wall, was well underway, said the Corps, and work on the second squadron, near Union Center, had already started. In February 1962, General Delmar Wilson told the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce that despite an ongoing labor dispute between Peter Kiewit Sons and the Ironworkers Union, South Dakota's ICBM deployment suffered fewer work stoppages than any missile program in the Nation. "We're all out . . . to assure that our way of life is maintained," stated Wilson. "This missile project . is the number one project in the country today. If this guy in Russia wants to start a show, we'll be there to put a hole in him to the best of our ability."

By early summer of 1963, the steel fabrication was finished at all 165 South Dakota sites, and crews were completing the silos at the rate of one per day. On the last day of June, the first 20 silos were turned over to the Strategic Air Command. On October 23, the Nation's second wing of Minuteman ICBMs was fully operational. The work was completed nearly three weeks ahead of schedule.

The 44th Strategic Missile Wing

Construction of a Minuteman LF

Peter Kiewit Sons of Omaha, Nebraska, received $56 million from the US Air Force to construct the 150 missile silos and 15 control centers in South Dakota. The Rapid City Journal described how a Minuteman silo was built: "Conventional earthmoving equipment scoops an open cut 12 feet deep. A backhoe perclies on the edge of a large hole in this cut and digs a hole 20 feet deeper. The remaining 52 feet of depth is `mined' by a clamshell . When each hole is at the full depth of 84 feet, a steel `can' 12 feet in diameter is carefully positioned in it. Reinforced concrete is poured between the can and earth. " Work began on South Dakota's first Minuteman silo on September 10, 1961. By 1963, all 150 launchers were declared fully operational. The Air Force excavated lengthy trenches several miles long to install the underground cables that connected the underground launch control centers with the distant missile silos. OMAHA WORLD-HERALD US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS Delta One's underground launch control center (LCC) was constructed as two separate structural elements. The outside protective shell is 29 feet in diameter and 54 feet in length, and is made of reinforced concrete with four-foot-thick walls. The shell's interior is lined with 1/4-inch-thick steel plate. Suspended inside the shell is the second element: a box-like acoustical enclosure that contains the launch control consoles, communications and monitoring equipment, and crew accommodations. Delta One's "topside" structures include sleeping and eating facilities. US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS Backbone of the US Nuclear Arsenal While the Ellsworth AFB sites were under construction, the Air Force was building several other Minuteman installations. By the end of 1967, the Nation had 1,000 Minuteman missiles on alert in six separate deployment areas located throughout the north-central United States. In addition to the original installations at Malmstrom AFB and Ellsworth AFB, Minuteman complexes were deployed at Minot AFB and Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota, Whiteman AFB in Missouri, and F .E. Warren AFB in Wyoming. In addition, another squadron was established at Malmstrom AFB. At each installation the Air Force continued to improve and refine the Minuteman operational system. Newly-elected President John F. Kennedy instigated one of the first significant improvements to the Minuteman weapon system. Soon after taking office in 1961, Kennedy learned that even if he ordered a massive nuclear retaliation to a Soviet attack, a portion of the Soviet's long-range nuclear force would survive to strike again. As a consequence, the Kennedy administration quickly abandoned the strategic policy of releasing America's entire nuclear arsenal in "one horrific spasm." Instead of massive retaliation, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara recommended a "flexible response." Should deterrence fail, McNamara proposed that America's nuclear weapons be deployed selectively. The first ICBMs would target enemy bombers and missile sites. The remaining ICBMs would be held in reserve, for potential use against Soviet cities. McNamara hoped that the threat to the civilian population would persuade the Soviet Union to end the conflict. McNamara began retooling America's nuclear forces, including Minuteman, to reflect the new military strategy. However, Colonel Edward Hall and his engineers designed Minuteman to be a fastreacting, mass-attack weapon. Upon receiving the launch command, the officers at each Minuteman facility had to fire all ten missiles under their control. A selective launch of fewer than ten missiles was impossible. In order to conform with the new defense strategy, Air Force engineers had to redesign Minuteman's launch control complex. Historian Clyde Littlefield described the changes: In order to conform to the new concept, engineering changes had to be made to allow a combat crew in a control center to switch targets and to fire one or more missiles selectively, conserving the remainder for later use. Greater flexibility in targeting and firing required a significant extension to the limited survival time [of each operational site]. The [original] Minuteman facility design did not provide for the protection of the power supply. At a control center, power generators were above the ground. When and if these generators stopped functioning, the operational potential of the system would be reduced to only six hours. Revised strategic concepts required that the weapon survive at least nine weeks after an initial enemy attack. To meet this requirement, the Air Force put the generators in underground capsules next to each launch control center. Although the Air Force considered incorporating these generators into the Minuteman facilities at Ellsworth AFB, construction was already underway there, making the changes impractical. Consequently, the generator capsules began with the third Minuteman deployment area at Minot AFB in North Dakota. The Next Generations: Minuteman II and III By the time planning began for the final Minuteman deployment area, the Air Force had developed a vastly improved version of the missile. Called Minuteman II, the new missile offered improved range, greater payload, more flexible targeting, and greater accuracy, leading one Air Force spokesperson to estimate that its "kill capacity" was eight times that of Minuteman I. Minuteman II was deployed first at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota. In September 1965, South Dakota Congressman E.Y. Berry announced that the Ellsworth AFB facilities would also receive the new missile system. According to Berry, Minuteman II would help Ellsworth AFB remain "one of the nation's most important military installations." In October 1971, Boeing began refitting the Ellsworth silos to accommodate Minuteman II, and completed the project in March 1973. Ellsworth Air Force Base: Delta Flight, Minuteman II ICBM. HISTORIC ENGINEERING RECORD, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (click on image for an enlargement in a new window) In May 1964, the Soviet Union displayed a battery of anti-ballistic missiles in Moscow's Red Square, prompting concern about the vulnerability of Minuteman I and II missiles. The following year, the Air Force began to develop an even more advanced version of the missile. By late summer of 1968, Minuteman III was ready for testing. Longer and more powerful than its predecessors, Minuteman III offered an improved guidance system that could be retargeted in minutes. But, according to the New York Times, the missile's "most telling advantage" lay in its "revolutionary new warhead: the MIRV, or multiple independently targeted reentry vehicle." The MIRV could deliver three hydrogen bombs to widely scattered targets, a capability that would "render current and contemplated antimissile defense systems largely inadequate," and "thrust the world into a new era of weapons for mass destruction." The Air Force deployed Minuteman III at Warren, Minot, Grand Forks, and Malmstrom Air Force Bases, and extensively modified the Minuteman launchers at these locations to accommodate the new missiles. Each launch tube was equipped with a new suspension system that could hold the missile absolutely motionless during the aftershocks of a nuclear attack. The Air Force also installed a system of seals, filters, and surge arrestors designed to prevent electronic equipment from being damaged by the powerful electromagnetic waves generated during nuclear explosions. In July 1975, when the last of the Nation's 550 Minuteman III missiles was lowered into its silo at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, only 450 Minutemen II remained in the American arsenal — at Malmstrom, Ellsworth, and Whiteman Air Force Bases. This force structure remained intact for nearly two more decades. The first Minuteman LCCs, such as Delta One, were dependent on life-support equipment in the above-ground LCF support building. In later versions, the Air Force buried the life-support equipment underground to help it better withstand a nuclear attack. The Air Force also redesigned the launch facilities to improve survivability. The power supply unit (shown to the right of each silo) was buried deeper underground, and encapsulated in hardened concrete. The Delta Nine site represents the earliest configuration. Deactivation of the Minuteman II Weapon System The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. On July 31, 1991, President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which placed a limit on the worldwide number of ICBMs and prescribed a process for their destruction. The treaty coincided with the end of the Cold War, and the Air Force's growing disenchantment with the escalating costs of repairing and maintaining the Minuteman II system. On September 27, 1991, President Bush announced on national television his "plan for peace." As part of the plan, Bush called for "the withdrawal from alert, within 72 hours," of all 450 Minuteman II missiles, including those at Ellsworth AFB. On December 3, 1991, an Air Force crew arrived to remove the first of Ellsworth AFB's 150 Minuteman II missiles: Golf Two (G-2), a launch facility near Red Owl, about 60 miles northeast of Rapid City. The Rapid City Daily Journal reported on the crew's progress. Disarmament began with snow shovels at dawn . as Airman 1st Class James Comfert and his colleagues cleared the launch-door rail. Six hours later, a Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile was stored safely in its transporter/erector truck. G-2 was just a high-tech hole in the ground. According to the Rapid City Daily Journal, the Minuteman deactivation process at Ellsworth AFB would continue for at least three more years: First, warheads and guidance systems [will be] removed. Then the missiles will be pulled. . . . The headframes of the missile silos will be destroyed and the tubes will be filled with rubble. The launch control capsules will be buried under rubble and a thick concrete cap. The land and above-ground buildings at launch control centers will be sold. Although all of the Minuteman II facilities at Ellsworth AFB were slated for demolition, the Air Force, in conjunction with the National Park Service, selected two representative sites — Launch Control Facility Delta One and Launch Facility Delta Nine — for possible preservation as nationally significant icons of the Cold War. When the Minuteman II deactivation is completed in the mid-1990s, these two Ellsworth AFB sites will be the only remaining intact examples of the original Minuteman configuration. Evolution of Minuteman Facilities On September 27, 1991, President George Bush announced his "plan for peace," which included the "withdrawal from alert, within 72 hours, of all 450 Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missiles." The actual physical removal of the missiles began in December 1991, when Air Force crews began pulling the unarmed Minutemen from their silos. Cables were lowered from a transporter/erector truck and attached to the missile by a crew inside the silo. The missile was then slowly raised into the truck and secured for transport. Minutemen - History Delta Nine Missile Pull, 1993 The Acton Minutemen were a group of men, mostly farmers, from the town of Acton, in the colony of Massachusetts, who formed a company for the purpose of defending the town and the colony against attack. They were trained and drilled in the use of their weapons, namely the musket and bayonet. They were able to muster (or gather) in just a few minutes' time after the signal was given throughout the town. Their ability to ready themselves so quickly gave rise to the term "Minutemen". All of the surrounding towns to Acton also had militia or Minute companies, and each was ready to defend their own town or join together to defend the greater colony. Acton's Minute company, under the leadership of Captain Isaac Davis, mustered at Davis's house, (which still stands at 39 Hayward Rd. today) and departed from there with their fifer, young Luther Blanchard, playing "The White Cockade" , to march the seven miles to the fields overlooking the North Bridge in Concord. At the town line crossing into Concord, Isaac Davis stopped and gave any man who did not wish to proceed, the chance to turn around and return to his home - no one did. At the Barrett farm in Concord, which lay directly in the path that Acton was marching on, an advance scouting party of British soldiers were searching for stored weapons and munitions - the reason for the entire British advance from Boston. Alerted by perhaps Colonel Barrett himself, who had ridden back to his farm from the North Bridge, Acton's Minutemen skirted around them by going off the road, once again playing "The White Cockade" , through a section of woods and fields, and rejoining the road again about a half-mile ahead at the Widow Brown's tavern, thus avoiding an early confrontation. The Minutemen continued the rest of the march to the bridge. (Today's Acton Minutemen still march the same 7-mile route to the Old North Bridge on Patriot's Day, commemorating the courageous acts of those original Acton patriots. And the public is always encouraged to join us - a great family activity!) In Lexington, the main column of British forces met their first resistance a small group of armed men. To this day, no one is sure who fired first, but in the ensuing brief but deadly battle, 8 townspeople were killed on Lexington green. The British reformed and marched on. By the time the redcoats got to Concord, however, the Minute companies from many of the surrounding communities had begun to arrive and were waiting for them in numbers. The point of confrontation was at the North Bridge, and when the order was given for the colonists to attack, The Acton Minutemen, led by Captain Isaac Davis, were first in line to advance. History tells us that Acton's company was the only one present that was entirely outfitted with bayonets, perhaps because Isaac Davis himself was a blacksmith and a gunsmith. When asked if he was afraid to advance, Davis replied, "I am not, and I haven't a man who is"! They advanced on the British, engaging them at the bridge itself. In the ensuing 3 minute battle, Davis was shot in the heart and died instantly. Thus Isaac Davis became the first commissioned officer to die in the Revolutionary War, and thus was the first to die for this country. By his side, young Abner Hosmer was also mortally wounded. Later in the day, James Hayward would also fall dead in a sudden duel with a Regular, whereby each one shot and killed the other. Although technically not a member of Davis's Minute Company, Hayward will forever be remembered as a courageous son of Acton. The British were turned back at the bridge, in large part due to Acton's stand. As the British forces retreated back into Concord Center, and then all the way back into Charlestown and Boston, they were pursued by colonial forces and armed civilians. The Redcoats took heavy losses, and eventually had to hole up within the confines of Boston, around which the colonial forces set up a siege line, setting the stage for a protracted war. April 19th, 1775 was the day it truly all began, and the turning point at the old North Bridge was the first time the British had been forced to retreat in the field in the face of Colonial opposition. Acton had other companies of militia, commanded by other officers, but only the company under Isaac Davis was referred to as a "Minute Company." Many descendants of these men still live in Acton and the surrounding area, and the names of these brave souls live on in the names of streets and neighborhoods in Acton and surrounding towns. As you drive around the area, look to see if any of the road signs display the name of one of these great men, and ask yourself, "What brave act would allow my name to be remembered for hundreds of years?" These men knew the danger of making that fateful march, and they did it anyway. Here are their names: And for a vivid and detailed account of the background of the Minute man concept, and the battle of April 19th, 1775, read "The Minutemen" by General John R. Galvin, US Army Minutemen - History Payroll Services And More . Since 1968 Featured Service An alternative workers' compensation rating program for qualified Ohio employers Free Quote Call us at (216) 452-0100 or fill out our Quote Form . About Minute Men HR As part of one of the largest independently-owned employee management service providers in the United States, Minute Men HR Management Services has experience in the administration of personnel since 1968. Minute Men HR has the resources and flexibility to provide your company with the products and services needed to cost-effectively manage your workforce. With Minute Men HR your company can choose from a menu of services, which includes: Our staff of Human Resources professionals is dedicated to providing our clients with unmatched customer service at a competitive price. With Minute Men HR, your company will receive a single-source service program that is structured to your exact needs and specifications. (216) 452-0100 3740 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115 © 2021 Minute Men HR Management Services A member of the Minute Men Human Resource System American Revolution begins at Battle of Lexington At about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town’s common green. British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, a shot was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead or dying and 10 others were wounded. Only one British soldier was injured, but the American Revolution had begun. By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from England to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against the Patriot arsenal at Concord and capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a military action by the British for some time, and upon learning of the British plan, Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes were ordered to set out to rouse the militiamen and warn Adams and Hancock. When the British troops arrived at Lexington, a group of militiamen were waiting. The Patriots were routed within minutes, but warfare had begun, leading to calls to arms across the Massachusetts countryside. When the British troops reached Concord at about 7 a.m., they found themselves encircled by hundreds of armed Patriots. They managed to destroy the military supplies the Americans had collected but were soon advanced against by a gang of minutemen, who inflicted numerous casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, the overall commander of the British force, ordered his men to return to Boston without directly engaging the Americans. As the British retraced their 16-mile journey, their lines were constantly beset by Patriot marksmen firing at them from behind trees, rocks, and stone walls. At Lexington, Captain Parker’s militia had its revenge, killing several British soldiers as the Red Coats hastily marched through his town. By the time the British finally reached the safety of Boston, nearly 300 British soldiers had been killed, wounded, or were missing in action. The Patriots suffered fewer than 100 casualties. The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the American Revolution, a conflict that would escalate from a colonial uprising into a world war that, seven years later, would give birth to the independent United States of America. Words nearby Minutemen She founded Minutemen American Defense several years ago, supposedly to keep America safe from “illegals.” Other rumors swirling around the Phoenix area pin the killing on Minutemen or narcotraficantes. Hearing shots in that direction, the British hurried back, to find their men falling rapidly beneath the fire of the minutemen . No one saw the minutemen march and countermarch, and no one could hear their feet in the soft grass. Soon after dawn of April 19 the British troops approached Lexington where they found sixty or seventy minutemen under arms. Although he acted with the greatest secrecy, he was unable to keep his plans from the watchful minutemen . About two hundred of them stood guard at the North Bridge, while a body of minutemen gathered on a hill on the opposite side. Minutemen - History History Lesson, Pt. 2 Songfacts®: Minutemen formed part of the influential California Punk movement that emerged in the late 1970s. This song is about that scene and the different subcultures within it, including the Hardcore scene, which compromised of bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Suicidal Tendencies. Mike Watt of Minutemen told us that he wanted to pay tribute to the multifaceted Punk movement: "You've got to understand, Punk in the US in those days was this tiny scene. But we were so involved in it, it seemed important. So this was a history lesson. The meaning is like, I'm going to tell the story of this band and show you guys that we're not elitist over you, but I never really heard the meaning of the song described to me like I wrote it. It means something different to other people." Watt told us that he was specifically addressing the younger punks in this song: "Nowadays, when people talk about the old days, I don't say scene. I say movement. Because I really believed it was. I don't believe the Minutemen would have even existed without that movement. So, in 'History Lesson Pt. II' I was commenting on this thing where even though Minutemen was kind of from a different world from these young hardcore people, we weren't old men yet. So I was trying to say, the way I looked at the aesthetics of this punk scene, there's not a lot of difference between us, except some stylistic things, which is natural, because we've all got different kinds of expression. I was actually talking to those younger guys, the younger punk guys in a way, saying we don't look down on you." Double Nickels on the Dime is a double album, spanning 45 songs, which blend a myriad of genres and tackle a variety of themes, including the Vientam War and racism. Watt told us that Hüsker Dü's double album, Zen Arcade, inspired Minutemen to write a similarly long LP: "We had an album done and ready to go. They didn't have a title for it yet, but the Hüskers came to town and recorded Zen Arcade. And we go, 'Wow, they made a double album, we should do that, too.'" Watt said that he considers Double Nickels on the Dime to be "the best album" that he has ever played on. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at #411 on their "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. The album title was a response to the Sammy Hagar song, "I Can't Drive 55," which protested against the federally imposed speed limit of 55 miles per hour on all US highways. Watt said Minutemen thought Hagar's complaints were absurd: "We couldn't really have a concept as much, except this idea that Sammy Hagar couldn't drive 55 miles an hour. You know, that stupid thing. 'We'll drive the speed limit and we'll try to play crazy music.'" "Double nickels" means 55 miles per hour in trucker lingo, while "the Dime" refers to Interstate 10 - the highway on which Boon later died. Gledaj video: Viet Nam (Veljača 2023). Zanimljivi Članci Zabrana tjelesnog kažnjavanja u školama February 6,2023 Proračun apsolutne i relativne pogreške February 6,2023 Biografija Olympe de Gouges, Francuske aktivistkinje za ženska prava February 6,2023 Video, Sitemap-Video, Sitemap-Videos