NORAD's Cheyenne Mountain Combat Center, C.1966

Summary

“These display screens would display signs of air attack against Canada and the United States. By pushing buttons, the NORAD battle staff members can take an electronic look at the tracks of space satellites or aircraft, which are chartered on the display by computers This is the nerve center which would give the first warning of attack, and the command post from which NORAD battle commanders would direct the defensive air battle.” – NORAD Command Post: The City Inside Cheyenne Mountain In 1966, the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) Cheyenne Mountain underground facility became America’s command and control centre for when the Cold War turned white and the nuclear apocalypse became real. We can take a look around the bunker in pictures published in a 1966 official NORAD report by David W. Shircliffe, Directorate of Command History, Command Public Affairs Office, and the 1970s book NORAD Command Post: The City Inside Cheyenne Mountain by Henry W. Hough. The Need When the USAF Air Defense Command moved to Ent AFB in Colorado Springs in January 1951, it set up a tiny combat operations center in one of the office buildings by combining one room, a latrine with the plumbing removed, and part of a hallway. Control of the air battle from such cramped quarters became virtually impossible by 1952. A new concrete block COC built on Ent AFB, became operational on 15 May 1954. In comparison with the first COC, this new center was luxurious. Although this new COC had some 15,000 square feet of floor space, by the end of 1955 it was evident that even it would soon be inadequate. In response to General Partridge’s directive, the CONAD/ADC staff began preliminary planning in January 1956 on a larger COC, located underground. The existing above-ground COC would eventually be too small to manage the growing air defense system and currently was highly vulnerable to attack and sabotage. General Partridge gave a clear picture of the COC:’s vulnerability when he said: ‘The Comba...