The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: Military to put Cheyenne Mountain on standby ?

Friday, July 28, 2006

Military to put Cheyenne Mountain on standby ?


The military is relegating its newly renovated airspace and missile defense complex in Cheyenne Mountain to standby status - clouding the future of a Cold War nerve center touted as the most secure spot in America.

The green-jumpsuited sentries who electronically scan the skies from deep inside this granite cocoon southwest of Colorado Springs - built in the 1960s to withstand Soviet nuclear blasts - now are to blend into broader homeland defense operations under prairie skies at nearby Peterson Air Force Base.

"I can't be in two places at one time," said Adm. Tim Keating, commander of both U.S. Northern Command, set up in 2002 to fight terrorism, and North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. Both NORAD and Northcom have their headquarters at Peterson.

U.S. strategists created the mountain complex to prevent nuclear missile and bomber attacks. But today the government's best intelligence "leads us to believe a missile attack from China or Russia is very unlikely," Keating said in an interview this week.

The emergence of varied terrorist threats such as suicide bombers "is what recommends to us that we don't need to maintain Cheyenne Mountain in a 24/7 status. We can put it on 'warm standby,"' Keating said.

Just how warm depends on money to maintain the complex, military officials said. Keating said his goal is to be able to fire up the complex in an hour.

Keating today is scheduled to announce the decision he made after consulting with military chiefs in Washington. He'll move 230 surveillance crewmembers and an undetermined number of about 700 support staffers - as quickly and inexpensively as possible. The time frame: within two years.

About 1,100 people now work in the mountain. Military leaders promised there'd be no net job loss from the move.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think it would be cool to work in that mountain. Dangerous and a bit scary but cool.

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