ONE-TEN
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2026
- Messages
- 1,055
So I’m a child of the 80’s. And the last legs of the Cold War and being invaded by Russia, or having a NUKE dropped on us, was a childhood fear to me. (Thanks a lot Red Dawn!) In 2004, my pregnant wife, young son & I moved to Tucson Arizona. I quickly learned the shooting spots to go to. Also was big into bird & varmint hunting when I lived there.
One day we were out bird hunting, (dove & quail), and came across the old ICBM missile silo off 10, near Empirita Rd. For those who don’t know, southern Arizona was largely home to the old Titan II ICBM Nuclear Missiles. Obviously the NUKES are gone, however, the Silos are still intact. At some point, they were all buried. But while there, someone had used a CAT or a Backhoe to trench a path into this particular silo. So, my two buddies and I went in. What an amazing thing to see, I thought to myself! This incredible piece of history which, during my lifetime, was operational & housed a giant Nuclear ICBM that could decimate ANY region on planet Earth! What an AWESOME & TERRIFYING piece of power. A “Finger of God”, one might say. (Although still not even close!) But yeah, I was mesmerized by it. I felt so lucky to have been able to experience that. When we went back some time later, the trench had been filled in again, leaving no trace it was even under our feet! I never did get pictures.
Low & behold, some years later, it was SOLD. Sold for north of $800K. (how cool would that be to have your very own MEGA Bomb shelter!? The Tatan II ICBMs were taken offline in 1984. I do remember hearing about these Giants being dissassembled & the Nuclear Warhead Cores being stored. Anywhos, I wanted to share that. I’m sure there are some other Arizona guys here who also remember it. I know, back in the on The High Road, SO MANY people knew about these.
This was the entrance from the outside. The Trench that was dug is clearly visible.
Here is the long corridor that led to like a staging area for the control room. I wish there more. We saw living quarters with Steel Bunk Beds frames. And then an upstairs which was the control center. The panels for all the computer stuff, switches, widgets & dilly-doo-dads, was still there. Just all the electronics were gone. There was also dozens & dozens of some serious electrical wire that was cut, and likely removed what they could. (Along with the Copper piping.) I remember the cut off ends of wires imbed in concrete like 4” diameter, then made up of smaller gauge wire.
One day we were out bird hunting, (dove & quail), and came across the old ICBM missile silo off 10, near Empirita Rd. For those who don’t know, southern Arizona was largely home to the old Titan II ICBM Nuclear Missiles. Obviously the NUKES are gone, however, the Silos are still intact. At some point, they were all buried. But while there, someone had used a CAT or a Backhoe to trench a path into this particular silo. So, my two buddies and I went in. What an amazing thing to see, I thought to myself! This incredible piece of history which, during my lifetime, was operational & housed a giant Nuclear ICBM that could decimate ANY region on planet Earth! What an AWESOME & TERRIFYING piece of power. A “Finger of God”, one might say. (Although still not even close!) But yeah, I was mesmerized by it. I felt so lucky to have been able to experience that. When we went back some time later, the trench had been filled in again, leaving no trace it was even under our feet! I never did get pictures.
Low & behold, some years later, it was SOLD. Sold for north of $800K. (how cool would that be to have your very own MEGA Bomb shelter!? The Tatan II ICBMs were taken offline in 1984. I do remember hearing about these Giants being dissassembled & the Nuclear Warhead Cores being stored. Anywhos, I wanted to share that. I’m sure there are some other Arizona guys here who also remember it. I know, back in the on The High Road, SO MANY people knew about these.
This was the entrance from the outside. The Trench that was dug is clearly visible.
Here is the long corridor that led to like a staging area for the control room. I wish there more. We saw living quarters with Steel Bunk Beds frames. And then an upstairs which was the control center. The panels for all the computer stuff, switches, widgets & dilly-doo-dads, was still there. Just all the electronics were gone. There was also dozens & dozens of some serious electrical wire that was cut, and likely removed what they could. (Along with the Copper piping.) I remember the cut off ends of wires imbed in concrete like 4” diameter, then made up of smaller gauge wire.
Last edited:
It’s one of those events which has really stuck with me.
