Cheyenne Mountain Complex

For the mountain itself, see Cheyenne Mountain.
Cheyenne Mountain Complex

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs, Colorado, El Paso County, Colorado

38°44′32.91″N 104°50′54.40″W / 38.7424750°N 104.8484444°WCoordinates: 38°44′32.91″N 104°50′54.40″W / 38.7424750°N 104.8484444°W
Site history
Built May 18, 1961–February 8, 1966
In use
  • Cheyenne Mountain Complex[1]:14
  • NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex (January 20, 1965)[1]:14

The Cheyenne Mountain Complex is a military installation and nuclear bunker located in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station,[lower-alpha 1] which hosts the activities of several tenant units. Also located in Colorado Springs is the Peterson Air Force Base, where the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) headquarters are located.[5]

Overview

The bunker's Command Center was upgraded 2003–4 for $13 million.

The center for the United States Space Command and NORAD monitored the air space of Canada and the United states through a world-wide system for missiles, space systems, and foreign aircraft through its early-warning system.[6]

The military complex has included many units of NORAD, U.S. Space Command, Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM), Air Force Systems Command, Air Weather Service, and Federal Emergency Management (FEMA). The complex's communication center is also used by the nearby U.S. Civil Defense Warning Center.[6] The station is open 24 hours a day.[7]

Everything that orbits the earth, including deep-space debris, is monitored by the country's Space Command Surveillance Center using Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) technology.[8] Information gathered from around the world is processed by computers and displayed on maps of North America and the world. It monitors launched missiles, satellite orbital paths, and aircraft flight paths through its early-warning system. National and military leaders are notified of missile attacks, whether incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles or short-range tactical missiles, into North American air space or in conflict areas, like the countries involved in or impacted by the Gulf War.[6] Defense Support Programs (DSP) early warning and satellite systems at NORAD and Space Command are operated via communication links from Peterson Air Force Base. The DSP satellites use infrared sensors to detect heat emitted from missiles and booster plumes, now fine-tuned to gather information about short-range missiles. Information is then fed to world-wide operations centers and agencies.[9]

Facilities

Main chambers

Diagram of tunnels to buildings within the mountain:
  • Access Tunnel (right) with North and South openings at the mountain's east slope,
  • side tunnels[10] to the main chambers and the support area,[11]
  • a support area including reservoirs (blue), and
    •
  • main chambers (gray grid) for the centers (dark green buildings are 3 story)[10] with 3 tunnels 45 feet (15 m) wide, 60.5 feet (20 m) high, and 588 feet (180 m) long intersected by 4 cross tunnels 32 feet (10 m) wide, 56 feet (17 m) high and 335 feet (100 m) long.[11]

The complex was built under 2,000 feet (610 m) of granite on five acres.[12] Fifteen three-story buildings are protected from movement by an earthquake or explosion by a system of giant springs that the buildings sit on and flexible pipe connectors to limit the operational effect of movement.[13] A total of more than 1,000 springs are designed to prevent any of the 15 buildings from shifting more than one inch.[13] The complex is the only high altitude Department of Defense facility certified to be able to sustain an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).[13] There is a large quantity of cots for most of the personnel and suites for "top brass" within the nuclear bunker. Amenities include a medical facility, store, cafeteria,[13] and fitness centers inside and outside the mountain.[7]

Blast doors

The 25-ton North blast door is the main entrance to another blast door (background) beyond which the side tunnel branches into access tunnels to the main chambers.

The bunker is built to deflect a 30 megaton nuclear explosion within 2 kilometres (1.2 mi).[14] Within a mountain tunnel are sets of 25-ton blast doors and another for the civil engineering department. The doors were built so that they can always be opened if needed. Should a nuclear blast hit the building, they are designed to withstand a blast wave. There is a network of blast valves with unique filters to capture air-borne chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear contaminants.[13]

Outdoor

The exterior North Portal protects the eastward tunnel opening. The south opening has a concrete abutment.[15]

Structures outside of the military complex include the parking lots and roads, a heliport,[16][lower-alpha 2] and the fire station.[17][lower-alpha 3] Outdoor recreational facilities include Mountain Man Park, picnic areas, a racquetball facility, softball field, sand volleyball court, basketball court, a putting green, and horseshoe area.[7] A military gate limits NORAD Road usage from the State Highway 115 interchange.

Support area

It has its own power plant, heating and cooling system, and water supply[12] and it is the job of the 721st Mission Support Group to ensure that there is a 99.999% degree of reliability of its electricity, water, air conditioning, power, and other support systems.[13] The threats, in descending order of likelihood that the complex may face are: "medical emergencies, natural disasters, civil disorder, a conventional attack, an electromagnetic pulse attack, a cyber or information attack, chemical or biological or radiological attack, an improvised nuclear attack, a limited nuclear attack, or a general nuclear attack." The least likely events are the most hazardous.[13]

There is more water produced by mountain springs than the base needs, and a 1.5 million gallon reservoir ensures that even in event of fire, there is enough water to meet the facility's needs. A reservoir of 4.5 million gallons of water is used as a heat sink.[13] There is a "massive" reservoir for diesel fuel and a "huge" battery bank with redundant power generators.[13]

History

Construction and systems installation

The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was established and activated at the Ent Air Force Base on September 12, 1957. This command is a bi-national organization, of Canadian and United States Air Defense Command units, in accordance with NORAD Agreements first made on May 12, 1958. [18]:5,16 In the late 1950s, a plan was developed to construct a command and control center in a hardened facility as a Cold War defensive strategy against long-range Soviet bombers,[5] ballistic missiles, and a nuclear attack.[19][lower-alpha 4]

The mountain was excavated under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of the NORAD Combat Operations Center[5] at Cheyenne Mountain beginning on May 18, 1961,[18]:18 by Utah Construction & Mining Company.[21]

The Space Defense Center and the Combat Operations Center achieved Full Operational Capability on February 6, 1967. The total cost was $142.4 million.[18]:20[22] Its systems included a command and control system developed by Burroughs Corporation. The electronics and communications system centralized and automated the instantaneous (one-millionth of a second) evaluation of aerospace surveillance data.[23] The Space Defense Center moved from Ent AFB to the complex in 1965.[18]:20 The NORAD Combat Operations Center over was fully operational April 20, 1966[1]:15 and The Space Defense Command's 1st Aerospace Control Squadron moved to Cheyenne Mountain that month.[24] The following systems or commands became operational between May and October, 1966: The NORAD Attack Warning System,[18]:20 Combat Operations Command,[1]:19 and Delta I computer system, which involved recording and monitoring every detected space system.[1]:19 By January 4, 1967, the National Civil Defense Warning Center was in the bunker.[11]

Operations and improvements

Air Defense Command satellite systems

System Development Corporation was contracted to update Air Defense Command satellite information processing systems for $15,850,542 on January 19, 1973.[1][25] The improvements were primarily to the Space Computational Center's displays and application software, which was updated to provide real-time positioning of orbiting space systems for the NORAD Combat Operation Center. The first phase, which established a system integrator and modernized the communications to a major data processing system, was completed in October 1972.[25]

Ballistic Missile Defense Center

The Ballistic Missile Defense Center (BMDC) BW 1.2 release was installed in February 1974. The BMDC was located with the Combat Operations Center in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, under the command of CONAD. The Safeguard command and control system was operated by the commander to communicate warnings, observation data, and attack assessment to the Combat Operations Center and to release nuclear weapons.[26]

Combat Operations Center

By 1978, there were five operating centers and a command post in the NORAD Combat Operations Center. Space objects were catalogued and tracked by the Space Computational Center. Analysis of intelligence data was performed by the Intelligence Center. Data was consolidated and displayed in the Command Post by the System Center. Local and global weather patterns were monitored by the Weather Support Unit. Lastly, the NORAD Commander's wartime staff was part of the Battle Staff Support Center.[27]:5

Space Defense Operations Center

The Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC) was established on October 1, 1979. It consolidated United States Air Force satellite survivability, space surveillance, and US ASAT operations into one wartime space activities hub at the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex.[28] Space surveillance and missile warning functions were performed by the Core Processing Segment (CPS) using Worldwide Military Command and Control System's Honeywell H6080 computers at the SPADOC Computational Center (SCC) and NORAD Computer System (NCS). A third computer was operational backup for SCC or NCS. The H6080 was found by 1981 to be unable to meet the requirements for timely computations.[29]:54 SPADATS was deactivated about 1980, although some of its logic continued on in Space Defense Center|Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC) systems.[30]

Cheyenne Mountain Complex Improvements Program (427M)

NORAD had a series of warning and assessment systems that were not fully automated in the Cheyenne Mountain complex into the 1970s. In 1979, the Cheyenne Mountain Complex Improvements Program 427M system became fully operational.[31][1]:27,93 It was a consolidated Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade program for command center, space, ballistic missile, and space functions developed using new software technology and for computers with large processing capacity.[31][27]:39 There were three major segments of the 427M system: the Communication System Segment (CSS), NORAD Computer System (NCS), and Space Computational Center (SCC).[32]:Chapter 1:2 The 425L Command and Control System, Display Information Processor, Command Center Processing System, and other hardware were replaced by the NORAD Computer System (NCS). The new system was designed to centralize several databases, improve on-line display capabilities, and consolidate mission warning information processing and transmission. It was intended to have greater reliability and quicker early warning capability.[27]:9 The Command Center Processing System's original UNIVAC 1106, re-purposed for Mission Essential Back-up Capability (MEBU),[27]:9 was upgraded to the more robust UNIVAC 1100/42.[29]:55 The 427M system, intended to modernize systems and improve performance, was initially "wholly ineffective" and resulted in several failures of the Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) system.[33]

In 1979 and 1980, there were a few instances when false missile warnings were generated by the Cheyenne Mountain complex systems. For instance, a computer chip "went haywire" and issued false missile warnings. This created concern that a nuclear war could be started accidentally, based upon incorrect data. But human intervention analyzed the data and found that it was erroneous. In addition, the systems were updated to identify false alarms. Gen. James V. Hartinger of the Air Force stated that "his primary responsibility is to provide Washington with what he calls 'timely, unambiguous, reliable warning' that a raid on North America has begun." He explained that there are about 6,700 messages generated on average each hour in 1979 and 1980 and all had been processed without error.[34] An off-site testing facility was established in Colorado Springs by NORAD in late 1979 or early 1980 so that system changes could be tested off-line before they were moved into production. Following another failure in 1980, a bad computer chip was updated as well as staff and commander processes for responding to warnings.[35]

The Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade (CMU) of November 1988 that consolidated five improvement programs was not installed because it was not compatible with other systems at Cheyenne Mountain and it did not meet the defined specifications according to deficiencies identified during testing.[36]:15 CCPDS Replacement (CCPDS-R), CSS Replacement (CSS-R), Granite Sentry upgrade, SCIS, & SPADOC 4.[37] SPADOC 4 was for upgrading the SCC with primary & backup 3090-200J mainframes),[37] and SPADOC 4 block A achieved IOC in April 1989.[38] The CSS-R "first element" achieved IOC on April 12, 1991;[39] and the 427M system was replaced c. 1992.[40] The CSSR, SCIS, Granite Sentry, CCPDS-R, and their interfaces were tested in 1997 (Granite Sentry NUDET data processing was "not adequate").[31]

Joint Surveillance System

The Joint Surveillance System (JSS), developed under an agreement with the Canadian government, became fully operational in seven Region Operations Control Centers (ROCCs) on December 23, 1983.[1]:49,57 The Joint Surveillance System was implemented to replace Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE).[41]

Survivable Communications Integration System

In 1986, Congress approved development of the Survivable Communications Integration System (SCIS) to communicate missile warning messages over simultaneously over many forms of media, but it was subject to delays and cost overruns. By 1992, the project was project to be delayed to 1995 and cost projected to increase from $142 million to $234 million.[42]:2,9–10

Other systems

By 1992, the U.S. Space Command Space Surveillance Center (SSC) was the "data analysis and tracking center" for Baker-Nunn camera images[43] and Cheyenne Mountain was connected to the GWEN[42]:16 communication site toward Pueblo, Colorado. By 1995 the AN/FPS-129 HAVE STARE (Globus II) radar had been upgraded to "relay data to Cheyenne Mountain",[44]:b and by October 1995 the 1st Command and Control Squadron (1CACS) in the bunker was providing Space collision avoidance data to the "Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center's space control center".[45] In June 1993, the "Cheyenne Mountain Complex Operations Center" included the "USSPACE and NORAD Command Center", "NORAD Air Defense Operations Center (ADOC)", "NORAD/USSPACECOM Combined Intelligence Watch Center (CIWC)", "USSPACECOM Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC)", "USSPACECOM Space Surveillance Center (SSC)", "AFSPACECOM Weather Operations Center", and "AFSPACECOM Systems Center".[46] By July 1994, an initiative had begun to "collocate the USSPACECOM and NORAD command centers",[47] and in February 1995, the "missile warning center at Cheyenne Mountain Air Station [was] undergoing a $450 million upgrade program as part of Cheyenne Mountain's $1.7 billion renovation package".[48]

The Combatant Commander’s Integrated Command and Control System (CCIC2S) program began in 2000 with a Lockheed Martin[49] contract "to upgrade all of the mission systems within Cheyenne Mountain, which included the space surveillance systems" for delivery in 2006.[37]:11 The portion of CCIC2S modernizing "attack warning systems within Cheyenne Mountain [was to] cost more than $700 million from fiscal years 2000 to 2006",[50] and the delayed CCIC2S upgrades for space surveillance were superseded by systems for the Joint Space Operations Center's Space C2 program and Integrated Space Situational Awareness program.[37]:11 By 2003, consoles for the Ground-Based Mid-Course Defense (GMD) had been contracted for Cheyenne Mountain,[51] and the planned 18 month Cheyenne Mountain Realignment to move Command Center operations to Peterson AFB[52] was complete by May 13, 2008.[53] On August 3, 2011, a ribbon cutting was held for the January 2010-June 30, 2011, Missile Warning Center renovation funded by USSTRATCOM.[54] Over the years, the installation came to house elements of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Air Force Space Command and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM). Under what became known as the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (CMOC), several centers supported the NORAD missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control and provided warning of ballistic missile or air attacks against North America.[5]

Peterson and Vandenberg Air Force Bases

On July 28, 2006, the Cheyenne Mountain Directorate[lower-alpha 5] was re-designated as the Cheyenne Mountain Division, with the mission to assist in establishing an integrated NORAD and USNORTHCOM Command Center within the headquarters building at Peterson Air Force Base.[5] The Unified Space Vault and the Space Control Center were moved from Cheyenne Mountain to the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base about October 2007.[56]:8

In 2006, NORAD relocated to a basement[57] in the Peterson No. 2 building at the nearby Peterson AFB. Northern Command and Space Command have also relocated to Peterson Air Force Base.[57] Canadian military defence partners are now also located at Peterson.[58] The complex is maintained by a skeleton crew and no longer operates on a 24/7 basis. The complex is on "warm standby", meaning it is only staffed when required.[59]

On the fiftieth anniversary of the NORAD agreement—May 12, 2008—the Command Center located within Cheyenne Mountain Complex was officially re-designated as the NORAD and USNORTHCOM Alternate Command Center. The Cheyenne Mountain Division of NORAD and USNORTHCOM was re-designated as the J36 branch within the NORAD and USNORTHCOM's Operations Directorates.[5]

NORAD Alternate Command

Since 2002, the complex has been classed as Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and has been used in crew qualification training, while the former command function has been redesignated as the "NORAD and USNORTHCOM Alternate Command Center" since 2008 after all the original functions of the complex were removed to Peterson Air Force Base.[60] The complex is maintained by the 721st Mission Support Group which provides support and maintenance for the 'NORAD/USNORTHCOM's training, exercise and alternate command center functions, U.S. Strategic Command's Missile Warning Center, Detachment 2 of the 17th Test Squadron, Air Force Technical Applications Center's research laboratory, the Defense Intelligence Agency's Western Continental United States Regional Service Center'.[61] At its peak the Cheyenne complex had 1800–2000 personnel, now only 210 remain and the site's satellite dishes and antenna masts are now owned and used by commercial communication businesses.[62] In Early 2015, a contract was signed with Raytheon to move systems into the complex to shield it from electromagnetic pulse attack, with additional work to be done at Vandenberg and Offutt.[63]

Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station is owned and operated by Air Force Space Command. NORAD and USNORTHCOM now use just under 30% of the floor space within the complex and comprise approximately 5% of the daily population at Cheyenne Mountain.[5] The Cheyenne Mountain Complex serves as NORAD and USNORTHCOM's Alternate Command Center and as a training site for crew qualification. Day-to-day crew operations for NORAD and USNORTHCOM typically take place at Peterson Air Force Base.[5]

Units

Electronic Systems Division Detachment 10 at Ent AFB became the Cheyenne Mountain Complex Management Office (CMCMO) in 1963,[1] the year the Chidlaw Combined Operations Center began operations; and on February 15, 1980, ESD Detachment 2 was established[1] at the "Cheyenne Mountain Complex" (Det 2 became the AFSC focal point during the Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade.)[38] Aerospace Defense Command organizations in the bunker became a specified command when the major command ended in 1980; e.g., the J31 unit of HQ NORAD/ADCOM subsequently manned the Space Surveillance Center in the same room as the Missile Warning Center (separated by partitions).[41] The "HQ Cheyenne Mountain Support Group ... was activated at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex" in October 1981[41] to support the Aerospace Defense Center's operation of the NORAD combat operations center".[64] In 1983 the Foreign Technology Division had an operating location at the bunker[65] and in 1992, an airman of the "1010th Civil Engineering Squadron at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base" developed a 3-D AUTOCADD model of the bunker "to zoom in on a specific room".[66]

By 1995 a "missile operations section" supported the missile warning center,[48] and in 2001 the 1989 1CACS at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station was renamed the 1st Space Control Squadron.[67] On June 24, 1994, when the "Joint Task Force — Cheyenne Mountain Operations organization was brought online to take responsibility for the installation", Brig. Gen. Donald Peterson was the commander of the JTF,[68] which was renamed the "U.S. Space Command Cheyenne Mountain operations center" by March 1995[44]:a (the unit had an exercise branch in June 1996).[69] On July 28, 2006, the Cheyenne Mountain Realignment[56] redesignated the Cheyenne Mountain Directorate to the Cheyenne Mountain Division.[70] Circa 2004 the bunker included the 17th Test Squadron's Detachment 2 and AFTAC's research laboratory,[71] in 2008 Detachment 1 of the 392d Training Squadron operated the Cheyenne Mountain Training System (CMTS),[72] and in 2011 the installation's 721st SFS was expanded.[73]

In popular culture

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The entire installation at Cheyenne Mountain was designated the Cheyenne Mountain Air Station and the Cheyenne Mountain Air Station by February 1995.[2] In 2000, the installation was renamed Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. That year all Air Force Space Command Air Stations in the United States have been redesignated as Air Force Stations.[3] The Air Force Station is the site of NORAD's Air Defense Operations Center.[4]
  2. ↑ The heliport is located off Norad Road, before the parking lot, at 38°44′29″N 104°50′03″W / 38.74139°N 104.83417°W.[16]
  3. ↑ The fire station is located at 38°44′29″N 104°50′03″W / 38.74139°N 104.83417°W.[17]
  4. ↑ The Gaither Report, for instance, called for development of ballistic missile programs, early warning systems, and other defensive strategies.[20]
  5. ↑ The Cheyenne Mountain Directorate was previously called the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center.[55]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Del Papa, Dr. E. Michael; Warner, Mary P (October 1987). A Historical Chronology of the Electronic Systems Division 1947-1986 (PDF) (Report) (ESD-TR-88-276 (AD-A201 708)). Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  2. ↑ Orban, Staff Sgt. Brian (February 1995). "The trip wire". Guardian (Air Force Space Command): 6.
  3. ↑ "City". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO). February 5, 2000. Retrieved February 19, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  4. ↑ Joseph Angelo (31 October 2013). Dictionary of Space Technology. Routledge. p. 276. ISBN 978-1-135-94402-5.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 "Cheyenne Mountain Complex". North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). April 26, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Joseph Angelo (31 October 2013). Dictionary of Space Technology. Routledge. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-135-94402-5.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Peterson Air Force Support Squadron: CMAFS". Peterson Air Force Base. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  8. ↑ Joseph Angelo (31 October 2013). Dictionary of Space Technology. Routledge. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-135-94402-5.
  9. ↑ Joseph Angelo (31 October 2013). Dictionary of Space Technology. Routledge. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-135-94402-5.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Finley, Bruce (2006-12-26). "Military to put Cheyenne Mountain on standby". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "America's Defense Tied to City in Mountain" (GOOGLE NEWS ARCHIVE). The Lewiston Daily Sun (Lewiston, Maine). January 4, 1967. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Johnson, Lea (July 30, 2012). "721st MSG activates squadron, appoints leadership". Air Force Space Command. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 "America's Fortress: Cheyenne Mountain, NORAD live on". CNET. June 27, 2009. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  14. ↑ Brad Olsen (1 January 2013). Future Esoteric: The Unseen Realms. CCC Publishing. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-888729-46-7.
  15. ↑ Cheyenne Mountain (GOOGLE-DESIGNATED SUMMIT) (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Cheyenne Mountain Heliport". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Cheyenne Mountain NORAD Air Force Station Fire Department". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 "A Brief History of NORAD" (PDF). Office of History, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). December 31, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  19. ↑ Hunter Keeter (1 July 2004). The U.S. Homeland Security Forces. World Almanac Library. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-8368-5682-8.
  20. ↑ Lori Lyn Bogle (2001). The Cold War: National security policy planning from Truman to Reagan and from Stalin to Gorbachev. Taylor & Francis. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-0-8153-3239-8.
  21. ↑ Merwin H. Howes (1966). Methods and costs of constructing the underground facility of North American Air Defense Command at Cheyenne Mountain, El Paso County, Colo. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Mines. pp. iii, 5, 68.
  22. ↑ "Cheyenne Mountain Complex". NORAD. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Burroughs Corporation of Detroit to supply NORAD control system" (PDF). The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado). July 28, 1961. p. 1:4. Retrieved February 18, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Public Library.
  24. ↑ 1 Space Operations Squadron (AFSPC) (Report). Air Force Historical Research Agency. September 6, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Hanscom group awards NORAD contract" (NEWSPAPERARCHIVE SCAN). The Sun (Lowell). January 22, 1973. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Chapter 12. Ballistic Missile Defense Center" (PDF). ABM R & D at Bell Laboratories: Project History, Part II. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 "NORAD's Information Processing Improvement Program: Will It Enhance Mission Capability?" (REPORT TO CONGRESS). Comptroller General. September 21, 1978. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
  28. ↑ Maj. Michael Muolo, Maj. Richard A. Hand (October 1, 1994). Space Handbook: A War Fighter's Guide to Space. DIANE Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-7881-1297-3.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Modernization of the WWMCCS Information System (WIS) (ADA095409) (Report). United States House Committee on Armed Services. 19 January 1981. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  30. ↑ Brian C. Weeden and Paul J. Cefola (December 1, 2010). "Computer Systems and Algorithms for Space Situational Awareness: History and Future Development" (PDF). ISCOPS 12th International Conference of Pacific-Basin Societies 138. Advances in the Astronautical Sciences. pp. 3–4. Retrieved February 23, 2015 – via Secure World Foundation.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 "Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade (CMU)". FY97 DOT&E Annual Report (WEBPAGE TRANSCRIPTION) (Report). Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  32. ↑ NORAD's Missile Warning System: What Went Wrong? (MASAD-81-30) (Report). U.S. Government Accountability Office. May 15, 1981. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  33. ↑ The World Wide Military Command and Control System evolution and effectiveness. DIANE Publishing. pp. 244–246. ISBN 978-1-4289-9086-9.
  34. ↑ Richard Halloran (May 29, 1983). "Nuclear Missiles: Warning System and the Question of When to Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  35. ↑ The World Wide Military Command and Control System evolution and effectiveness. DIANE Publishing. pp. 249–253. ISBN 978-1-4289-9086-9.
  36. ↑ Costs to Modernize NORAD's Computer System Significantly Understated (REPORT TO THE CHAIRMAN,[HOUSE] SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEFENSE [APPROPRIATIONS]) (Report). General Accounting Office. April 1991. Retrieved February 22, 2015. (also available at www.gao.gov/assets/220/211682.pdf)
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 Weeden, Brian C; Cefola, Paul J. Computer Systems and Algorithms for Space Situational Awareness: History and Future Development (PDF) (Report). Secure World Foundation. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Better Management Required to Resolve NORAD Integration Deficiencies (PDF) (Report). Attack Warning. U.S. Government Accountability Office (IMTEC-89-26). July 7, 1989. Retrieved 2012-09-19. Also available at hsdl.org--the Homeland Security Digital Library
  39. ↑ "New communications system operating". Space Trace (Air Force Space Command): p. 5. June 1991. (also on p. 5: "Air Force" Space Command's headquarters building ... received the prestigious Secretary of Defense Blue Seal Award...May 13 [designed by] Peckham, Guyton, Albers and Viets, Inc. ... ground breaking ceremony on Aug. 28, 1985 [occupied] in November 1987. [The last such award] was the Air Force Academy Visitor's Center in 1988.")
  40. ↑ Simberg, Rand. (2009-02-11) Space Is Really Big| Transterrestrial Musings. Transterrestrial.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-18.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 "NORAD Chronology" (PDF). NORAD.mil. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 "Status of the Survivable Communications Integration System". Attack Warning. Defense Technical Information Center. July 1992. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  43. ↑ Office of Public Affairs (1992). "Space Control: Space Surveillance". Space Command (booklet). HQ Air Force Space Command. p. 12.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 a. [author not identified] (March 1995). Guardian. p. 12. Missing or empty |title= (help)
    b. [author not identified] (October 1995). Guardian. p. 15. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  45. ↑ Price, SSgt Elton (October 1995). "Space insurance". Guardian (Air Force Space Command).
  46. ↑ Bontrager, Capt. Mark D (1 August 1993). "Chapter14: Cheyenne Mountain Complex Operations Center Overview". Space Operations Orientation Course Handbook (Third ed.). Peterson AFB: 21st Crew Training Squadron. p. 1.
  47. ↑ Orban, SSgt. Brian (July 1994). "Outstanding!". Guardian.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Orban, SSgt. Brian (February 1995). "The trip wire". Guardian (Air Force Space Command). p. 6.
  49. ↑ "Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (CMOC)" (THELIVINGMOON.COM MIRROR WEBPAGE OF FORMER "OFFICIAL SITE"). Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  50. ↑ Defense Acquisitions: Further Management and Oversight Changes Needed for Efforts to Modernize Cheyenne Mountain Attack Warning Systems (GAO-06-666) (Report). GAO. July 6, 2006. [cited by GAO-07-803R p. 1, ref 4 af
  51. ↑ "Near Term Command and Control of Homeland Air and Missile Defense" (PDF). Dtic.mil. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  52. ↑ Homeland Security: Roles and Missions for United States Northern Command (CRS REPORT FOR CONGRESS: ORDER CODE RL34342) (Report). Congressional Research Service. January 28, 2008. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  53. ↑ Harrell, Eben (June 27, 2008). "Still Training for the End of the World". Time (magazine). Retrieved 2012-07-28.
  54. ↑ "Cheyenne Mountain unveils renovated Missile Warning Center". Colorado Springs Military Newspaper Group (CSMNG). Retrieved 2012-10-02.
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    "CES airmen is first termer of year". Space Trace: 13. March 1992. (additional article on March 1992 p. 13 identifies the "47th Communications Group, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base")
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External links

Media related to Cheyenne Mountain Complex at Wikimedia Commons

External media
Images
construction scaffolding
c. 1972 Space Defense Center
BMDC Operations Room (p. 12-4)
Space Computational Center
landform viewed from Ent AFB site
Video
Super Structures of the World
map with chambers' letters/numbers (minute 14:42)
1970s exterior footage (minute 6:50)