Atlas D Missile Site A-1

The missiles here first belonged to the 566th Strategic Missile Squadron, activated on April 22, 1959 and operational on March 30, 1961; the 549th replaced it on July 1, 1961. Each of Offutt's three complexes held three Atlas D missiles in above-ground coffin launchers. On October 20, 1962, during the Cuban crisis, SAC ordered missiles put on alert as covertly as possible. The 549th was the last squadron to keep the D model on alert. Its last missile stood down on October 1, 1964, and the missiles went to storage that month for reuse as research launch vehicles.

What the plaque says

Atlas D Missile Site A-1 During the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, in October 1957. A perceived "missile gap" led to the massive construction of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) sites in the United States in the early 1960s. The Atlas was America's first ICBM. The 549th Strategic Missile Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha was tasked with deploying the Atlas D at three sites: A-1 at Mead, A-2 at Arlington, and A-3 at Missouri Valley, Iowa. The sites consisted of a launch operations building, three launch and service buildings, two warhead storage magazines, and associated generating and communi- cations facilities. The 103-foot by 133-foot launch and service buildings of reinforced concrete contained the missile bays. To launch a missile, the roof of the bay was pulled back and the 83-foot tall, liquid-fueled rocket was raised upright. The Atlas had a range of 10,360 miles. This launch complex was completed in July 1960 and deactivated in October 1964. Today, it is home to Mead Atlas and Titan Readiness Centers of the Nebraska National Guard. Nebraska Army National Guard Nebraska State Historical Society, 2016

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum — 13 mi
  Two hangar-sized halls beside I-80 near Ashland holding the bombers and reconnaissance planes of the command that ran America's nuclear force from Offutt, south of Omaha, from 1948 to 1992.
• Fort Atkinson State Historical Park — 29 mi
  The first U.S. Army post west of the Missouri, a garrison town of more than a thousand people on Council Bluff from 1820 to 1827, rebuilt on its own foundations.

More markers nearby

• Atlas D Missile Site A-1 — 2.2 mi
• The Yutan Oto Indian Village — 4.1 mi
• Oto Indians — 5.1 mi
• The Armour and Company Icehouse — 6.0 mi