
NPS/Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Job Duties – Securing The Missile Flight
The security controller on-shift monitored security at the LCF grounds, as well as all ten Launch Facilities (Missile Silos) in their flight area. The security control room featured windows overlooking the entrance gate and grounds. From this station, the security controllers would check identification of visitor so replacement crews could enter the site. A security team's first duty upon arriving at the LCF was a changeover process with the security staff on-duty, including inspections of the building and grounds. The previous security controller would brief the new team on what LFs were down and which ones were under maintenance. The changeover procedure was always the same between shifts and rarely changed.Each security controller also supervised a two-member security alert team. If the missile combat crew received indication that security was breached a tone of the Launch Facilities, they would immediately notify the security controller who would dispatch the security alert team to investigate. The security controllers were also responsible for storing and issuing weapons and ammunition to personnel at the LCF. Weapons were stored in a locker located in the weapons cage in the security control center and also the security alert team's bedroom.The Air Force equipped the security controllers with M-16s, the military's standard rifle after its introduction in 1964, with 240 rounds of ammunition for an M-60 machine gun.