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On this day, exactly thirty years ago, President Gerald
Ford's Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced, in his Annual Report
to Congress, the termination of a nuclear missile defense system that
had recently become operational at Nekoma, ND. The Senate approved the
decision the same day. Interestingly, the House of Representatives had
first voted to shut down the system the previous October, just one day
after it had become fully operational.
The Nixon administration had advocated the new "Safeguard" system,
and Congress had authorized its deployment seven years earlier. It was
a much-debated Cold War program, as evidenced by a 50-50 tie vote in the
Senate, with Vice President Spiro Agnew casting the deciding vote to build
it.
Initially, Safeguard was to have several component sites around the nation,
but it was pared down to a single site with the sole purpose of defending
the Minuteman missiles that were already in the ground in eastern North
Dakota. With the system operation, the greater Grand Forks area was one
of the most heavily armed and most powerfully defended territories in
the history of mankind…for awhile.
The apocalyptic vision of missiles launching to intercept incoming nuclear
missiles, with potential subsequent counter attacks and the unearthly
destruction eventually led to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the
Soviets; ultimately, the missiles and anti-missiles on the North Dakota
prairie were to be removed. But not before they were installed and completely
operational.
Nekoma is a village about 100 miles northwest of Grand Forks and about
10 miles south of Langdon. The town's founders must have had great vision
for the town when they named it, 100 years ago this March. Nekoma is a
Chippewa word meaning, "I promise to do something." Without
a doubt, the people of Nekoma did many notable things over the years…as
promised. So far, one “something” dwarfs all others.
If you want to know what that "something" looks like before
you make the trip to actually see it, look no further than the backside
of a U.S. one-dollar bill. The most striking facility at Nekoma is a massive
reinforced concrete pyramid that looks like it's missing its top, just
like the one on the dollar. Note, there is no "All Seeing Eye"
hovering over Nekoma's topless pyramid, at least as far as we can tell.
Also not seen are the 100 underground silos that once held missiles designed
to intercept incoming missiles.
According to the Federal Citizen Information Center, the pyramid on the
dollar signifies "strength and duration." The look-alike pyramid
at Nekoma is definitely strong -- it's made of thousands of cubic yards
of concrete reinforced with thousands of tons of steel. Duration will
likely not be a problem. Other well-known pyramids in Egypt and the Americas
have far outlasted the great civilizations that built them.
As for the duration of the operation of the Safeguard system at Nekoma,
it lasted for less than a year. Safeguard was fully deployed -- that is,
all 100 missiles were installed and ready to launch, but for just four
months.
If you're wondering how many of those one-dollar bills it took to build
and operate the whole Safeguard system, that's a little hard to pin down.
For a good round number, Time magazine puts it at $25 billion -- with
a "b".
A cold concrete pyramid remains as a monument to…rocket science?…the
Cold War?…the military industrial complex?…Congressional…foresight?
We'll let you decide. At a minimum, it represents the fulfillment of a
prophetic promise made 100 years ago…"to do something."
Sources:
http://srmsc.org
Koehler, Darrel. “Community of the Week: Nekoma, N.D.” The Grand
Forks Herald 28 Sep. 1998.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jan2006/20060111_3903.html
http://www.clw.org/archive/coalition/nmdbook00appendix2.htm
Thompson, Mark. “The Secretary of Missile Defense” Time 14 May
2001.
http://www.brook.edu/FP/PROJECTS/NUCWCOST/bmd2.htm
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/misc/ourflag/greatseal.htm
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