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Minuteman ICBM Maintenance Training Silos |
From the beginning of the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic
Missile Program in February 1961 until the closure of Chanute AFB
in 1993, all Minuteman maintenance training was conducted here at
Chanute. The building that now houses the museum, Grissom Hall,
was the missile maintenance training facility. Consequently, the
museum now features four minuteman silo trainers, three above ground
and one below.
Two of the above-ground silo maintenance trainers simulate the upper
35 feet of Minuteman silos (two different versions of the missile)
and the third simulates the lower levels of the Minuteman silo and
the missile suspension system. The below-ground complex simulates
the upper portion of the Minuteman silo and launch tube for training
personnel in attaching and detaching simulated warheads to the missile.
This silo has a 100-ton blast door and crew entry hatch, but for
easy access for training it was also constructed with a stairwell
down into the sub-levels.
Minuteman Silo Restoration Project
Beginning in the fall of last year, museum volunteers began a restoration
and refurbishment of the underground Minuteman training silo aimed
at returning it to "like-new" condition. Updates and photos
will be placed here as progress is made. If you would like to volunteer
to help on this project please call the museum at (217) 893-1613
or email us. |
