STATEMENT OF WILLIAM SHADDOX, ACTING ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS AND PUBLIC LANDS, COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCERNING S. 382, THE MINUTEMAN MISSILE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ESTABLISHMENT ACT OF 1999.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1999

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee to testify on S. 382, a bill to establish the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in the State of South Dakota, and for other purposes.

Last year, the Administration recommended a number of improvements to a similar bill in its testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. These recommendations were incorporated into S. 382. As a result, the Department strongly supports the current measure before this subcommittee.

Following the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union began a slow but steady arms race. The Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, authorized in 1958, became a symbol of the tensions that prevailed for over four decades during the period of history known as the Cold War. In 1961, the year of the Bay of Pigs, the first successful Minuteman test flight was conducted. However, it was not until 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, that President Kennedy brought the Minuteman system on line, which he referred to as his "Ace in the hole." In 1963, the 44^th Missile Wing, headquartered at Ellsworth Air Force Base, was activated and stood watch over a 150-missile deployment, covering 13,500 square miles of the upper Midwest. The 44^th Strategic Missile Wing was comprised of three 50-missile squadrons, the 66^th, 67^th, and 68^th Strategic Missile Squadrons. The Delta 1 and Delta 9 sites that are to be preserved and protected were part of the 66^th Strategic Missile Squadrons.

In 1965, as the first Minuteman II was being deployed at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, it was announced that the Ellsworth Air Force Base would also be receiving the new missile system. Although the work to refit the Ellsworth silos to accommodate the Minuteman II began in 1971, by the summer of 1968, a new generation missile, the Minuteman III, was ready for testing. By 1975, most of the missiles were replaced by the Minuteman III missiles, except for the 450 Minutemen II missiles which remained in the nation's arsenal at Malmstrom, Whiteman, and Ellsworth. The Minuteman II missile force structure remained intact for nearly two decades.

In November 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall marked what many considered the end of the Cold War. By 1991, President Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which called for the deactivation and removal of the 450 Minuteman II missiles. As deactivation proceeded, the Air Force, in conjunction with the National Park Service, identified the Delta 1 and Delta 9 sites for possible preservation as representative icons of the history of the Cold War and the backbone of what was then the United States' nuclear arsenal, in recognition of the important part it played in American diplomacy. Steps were taken to preserve the sites until decisions regarding their eventual disposition were made.

The Delta 1 and Delta 9 sites are the sole remaining examples of the original Minuteman configuration, and are among the oldest and least altered sites, with components dating back to the Cuban Missile Crisis. At the request of the U.S. Air Force, the National Park Service in December 1993, undertook a special resource study to determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the missile sites as a unit of the National Park System. The study, completed in 1995, concluded that these sites were suitable and feasible for inclusion in the National Park System.

S. 382 establishes the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site to preserve, protect, and interpret for the benefit, education, and inspiration of present and future generations the Minuteman II launch facility. The Delta 1 Launch Control Facility and the Delta 9 Launch Facility will tell the story of how the Minuteman Missile played a strategic role in the defense of our country during the Cold War.

Again, we strongly support S. 382. We feel that this is an important part of our history and deserves to be preserved.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my remarks. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.