When I was in grade school my dad, after tireless persuading from the ladies in his life, agreed to participate in Take Your Daughter to Work Day. I thought it would be so much fun to see where my dad worked and what he did all day when he was there, but most of all I wanted an excuse to miss school. Since my dad had a pretty demanding job as a Project Manager at KBR/Halliburton, he didn't have much time to "show me the ropes" so he had me sit in an empty cubicle near his office and read stacks of civil engineering magazines and brochures. Pretty fun for a 11-year-old. I even got to write a report to turn in at school the next day. Needless to say I never asked to participate in that nonsense again. I'd much rather spend the day at school.
When Allen told me that his squadron was hosting a Missile Alert Facility Family Day, or Take Your Family to Work Day, I was pretty scared. I started having flashbacks of mind numbingly boring brochures and watching the wall clock tick seconds off that felt like minutes. Of course, once he told me there would be a barbecue I was sold. What can I say? I like hamburgers.
Thankfully, It turned out to be a fun and interesting experience, and I was only required to sit through one PowerPoint presentation which must be some kind of Air Force record. The tour itself was the best part so I'll just skip right over the rest. First we toured the above ground part of the facility which is where the military police and chef stay while they are on duty. Unfortunately for them (and their families) the shifts last 3 days instead of just 1 like missileers. That portion of the facility reminded me a lot of a fire house. There were a few bedrooms, a common living/dining space, a workout room and a recreational area complete with a big TV. The best part was the industrial equipped kitchen. They could truly feed an army if necessary!
Next we were able to tour the actual capsule where my beloved spends his time. Sadly, it's devoid of all the recreational perks and pseudo-homey vibe of the above-ground area. After a very rigorous security clearance process our group was finally allowed to go down the hatch, so to speak. On our way to the elevator Allen made sure to point out the stairs since that's they only way out in case the elevator is inoperable. On the way down in the elevator is there is an exposed wall that everyone signs after they work their "LFA" or Last F*cking Alert. Allen can't wait to have his name on that wall!
The elevator goes about 2 stories into the ground and leads to a hallway with a huge blast door. This is where I started to feel like I was back in Cheyenne Mountain (which I was fortunate enough to tour while living in Colorado Springs). The capsule is supported by giant shock-resistant springs and since its built into the ground there are still parts of rock exposed behind the walls and under floors. Behind the first blast door is a dead end. If you go right you are in the equipment room and right is another blast door which leads to the actual capsule room itself. We spent a few pointless minutes in the equipment room while Allen tried to explain the function of the big noisy machines but it was so loud that I had to wear earplugs so I have no idea what he was talking about.
Next we got to see the capsule room which I'm pretty sure should be called the time-capsule room since it looks exactly like the inside of an early 1980s space shuttle. I would know since I toured several as a kid at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It makes sense that the capsule has a retro vibe since it's pretty likely that the equipment hasn't been updated since the 80s. I was almost expecting for a countdown to begin and for us to shoot right out of the ground and in to space. No such luck, but I did get to see the launch control panel which is not a big red button like portrayed in War Games. Instead, it is two key locks. One for each missileer and they have to be turned concurrently along with the keys of two other missileers in another capsule. It actually takes 4 people to launch a nuke. Who knew? Not me until I went on this informative tour!
The day was really interesting and I'm glad I had a chance to see where Allen works and what he does when he is there. Most of his job is top secret so I only get to know bits and pieces of the real mission. It makes it hard to understand and follow what it is that he actually does so the chance to see some of it in person was helpful. Of course, we didn't see any juicy, classified material but with all the security required to let us in to the site you would have thought we might be privy to some sensitive information. Nope, just a tour and some burgers. They wouldn't even let Samuel down in the capsule since they were worried that curious toddler hands might find some troublesome buttons to push that would cause a threat to national security, or something like that.
I sure am proud and impressed by my husband. He may not always like his job, and feel stress and pressure to never make a mistake, but very few people can say that they have had such an awesome responsibility. It's likely that he will never launch a nuclear missile but he does have the power to do so which makes him a total bad-ass in my book!
