Fellow Missileers

The calendar says that Spring will arrive later this month but from what I have seen of weather in the northern part of the United States, it usually means that flood control operations are in the final stages of preparation! A look at the calendar also reminds me that the Board needs to give final approval at our 8 March Board of Directors meeting for the 2026 National Meeting location.  Speaking of the Board, Tom Cullen has stepped down from his board duties to devote his full attention to some health issues.  Last month, the Board unanimously approve the nomination of Col (ret) Anita Feugate-Opperman to fill the remainder of Tom’s term (through May 2026). Anita recently retired from active-duty in Colorado Springs but is already taking on the world as a defense contractor.  We expect her to bring her typical level of energy to our Board.  Please join me in a big thanks to Tom for all he continues to do for our community and welcome Anita into her new position on the board.


For Retirees...Replace Your Old Blue ID Cards by 31 Dec 2025

The old blue ID cards will no longer be accepted after 31 Dec 2025. The new ones are white and will not have an embedded chip as previously reported. Even if your old blue card says Indefinite, retirees must replace them before 31 Dec 2025. Members can do it online, or in person on base. In person generally requires an appointment. Members need to do this early to avoid the rush 

Advocacy: Active-Duty Moves are Having BIG $20 Billion Problems:

The summer moves are quickly approaching and like other career fields we have active duty missileers moving families to their new assignment’s. At issue is the $20 billion Global Household Goods Contract (GHC), awarded to HomeSafe Alliance (HSA) in November 2021, which was supposed to fix long-standing issues associated with PCS moves. Instead, three years into the “phased in approach” of the 20 billion GHC contract, military families are still facing significant delays, divided accountability, higher out-of-pocket costs, and an inability to rely on the very system meant to support them. The link below highlights the serious issues with HSA.  After reading it, you may want to talk or write to your Congressional representatives. As MASH’s Colonel Potter would say, “This is a lot of Horsepucky”.

Want to know more? Summer Moves

Titan II reunion-381 SMW

A small cadre of former 381st missileers has started planning a possible 381 SMW reunion.  Our goal is to hold the reunion in 2026.  We envision a full weekend event with former 381SMW wing alumni.  John Gottlieb (Ops 1979-1986) is leading the effort.  Over time, we’d like to fill a small reunion committee, which could become a standing body for follow on events. If you are a former 381 SMW alumni – ops, maintainers, cops, wing staff and others that might be interested in attending, they are building a database of names and contact info to share information as planning evolves.  Please send your contact info to 381SMWReunion@gmail.com so they can share information as it is developed.

What’s Up with Sentinel?

The Air Force has paused work on launch facilities for the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program due to significant cost overruns and restructuring efforts, as of February 12, 2025. The program, intended to replace the aging Minuteman III missiles, is facing delays and increased costs, with the total projected cost now exceeding $140 billion.

The Air Force has suspended work on the design, testing, and construction of launch facilities. This decision follows a review process triggered by the program's cost overruns, which have increased the total cost by at least 37% over the initial estimate of $95.3 billion.

Want to know more? Sentinel Paused

MEANWHILE, China and Russia are rapidly expanding their advanced nuclear missile arsenals. For example, according to Newsweek Russia deployed autonomous launchers of the RS-24 Yars, ICBM that can be armed with multiple nuclear warheads, on combat patrol routes on February 19, 2025.   Mobile systems make up around 50% of its ICBM force and China continues to field its first mobile DF41 ICBM. China is also fielding and developing a range of new nuclear capabilities that include a large buildup of nuclear missile silos. Russia/China ICBM buildup

(L) RS-24 Deployment                            (R) Sarmat silo launch failure

Elite Force: Nuclear Operators Maintainers and Security Forces

The United States has only three remaining operational nuclear Minuteman Missile Wings. To keep the aging 450 MM missiles launch ready, the people supporting the force have had to become more adaptive and innovative. Jay Leno, a classic car collector said, "I like cars that are built ahead of their times, because they were built to a higher standard than the consumer needed”. Cars like his 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T and its Hemi power plant are similar to Minuteman III as it too was built to a higher standard. The plated wire memory, although not used now is a “higher standard” example.  
See: Plated Wire Memory

The first Minuteman III missile was placed in alert status on August 19, 1970, in the 741st Strategic Missile Squadron at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota with technology ahead of its time. In the 70’s the ICBM fleet had the support of some of the best engineers and technicians that originally designed and built MM III.

Now those people have “timed out” and our missileers have to be more adaptive and innovative to identify ways to fix problems. Remote Code Change called Olympic Step is just one example of missileer innovations. Our three ICBM wings in conjunction with the 309th Missile Maintenance Group at Hill and the 377th Air Base Wing at Kirtland completed the modification with the first remote code change in October last year.

Twentieth Air Force has saved approximately 70,000 man-hours over four months by eliminating the need for physical code changes at 450 LFs annually. This advancement has reduced open site time by 1,800 hours and cut down code transit times by 360 hours each year. Olympic Step is an excellent example of increased Air Force efficiency and "This achievement with Olympic Step reflects over two decades of dedicated efforts to modernize and enhance the security our ICBM force,” said Maj General Stacy Huser Twentieth Air Force commander. “As we look to the future, we remain steadfast in our mission to ensure the highest standards of reliability and safety for our strategic assets”.

The bottom line here is that today’s Missileers are more tech savvy when they come into the Air Force and are able to find innovative ways to solve problems. Our Missileers own smart phones and can communicate in ways that some of us old retired missileers can’t even imagine. Our Missileers are adaptable as our Ops, Cops and Maintenance proved during Covid. Missileers incorporated commercial platforms such as Zoom to work with other Missileers across the ICBM community to keep missiles on alert. Even though Missileers are a smaller force they have become a more elite, efficient, force over time taking care of a “classic” ICBM missile system.

One more thing!

Every time we publish our newsletter I always get a note from someone that typically says, “I love this edition of the newsletter but how come you never write about (insert topic here). The newsletter is a cooperative effort—which means many people contribute to its content and its success.  If you have a story to tell about any of our deployed nuclear missile systems, we would love include your submissions.  Any and all efforts are welcome at Director@AFMissileers.org. That doesn’t mean we will publish everything that is sent in but you won’t know until you try.

Before you go:

With the holiday season passed, the Minuteman art book sales have slowed considerably.  Please consider buying one for your local library or for ROTC grads, your old detachment.  If you buy a book to be donated, we can ship directly to them with a personal dedication and do our best to limit duplicate orders.  Remember, all proceeds go straight to our scholarship and museum funds. A link to the sale can be found on the front page of our website.

Sincerely,

Jim 

James F. Warner

Executive Director