The site was named after the Army Air Defense Commands third commanding general, Lt. Gen. Stanley R. Mickelsen.
The Safeguard complex became operational on October 1, 1975.
Twenty-four hours later, Congress decided to shut the program down, deeming it militarily ineffective.
Five months later, the Army began pulling the complex down.
The time from detection to launch of the system was just six seconds.
Construction of the Mickelsen complex began in 1970.
The four faces of the MSR had four circular eye-like structure that searched for targets in all directions.
Thirty Spartan and 16 Sprint missiles were deployed in underground launchers.
An addition 50 Sprint missiles were deployed at four remote launch sites.
But soon after, its drawbacks became apparent.
It didnt take Congress long to realize the debacle.
The next day itself, it pulled the plug on the Safeguard Program.
It is unclear what the Hutterites intend to do with the site.
For now, it remains abandoned and unused.
Spartan missile field.Photo credit
The interior.Photo credit
Sources:Wikipedia/Missile Threat/Weather.com
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