If the president of the United States were to have pushed the button
during the Cold War
, this is the room where his decision would be carried out. From this control center, two men would be capable of launching the Titan II
intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM
). It would deliver it's 9 megaton B53 thermonuclear weapon
up to 6,300 miles away. When the order came, operators could launch the missile in 58 seconds. In 30 minutes the target would be completely destroyed. The operators would have no idea where the target was, and to this day the targets are still classified.
Strange to think about what could have taken place in this room. By many accounts, turning the keys in this room could have led to a nuclear holocaust
destroying life as we know it and perhaps all of human kind. Some argue that Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD
) deterred the use of nuclear weapons, and this brought about the end of the Cold War. Others credit Non-proliferation
efforts. Whatever the case standing in this room brings home the reality of what we were prepared to do. Standing here I felt closer to the end of the world than any proficiency or prediction.