Last updated: September 9, 2021
Person
Tony Gatlin
NPS/Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Quick Facts
Significance:
As a Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander, in 1990 Tony Gatlin painted the "Thirty Minutes Or Less" art on the blast door to the Delta-01 Launch Control Center.
Place of Birth:
Little Rock, Arkansas
Date of Birth:
December 19, 1962
Tony Gatlin was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and enlisted in the Marine Corps following the bombing of the Beirut marine barracks in 1983; he becaome an officer in the Air Force in 1989. Following his training as a missile officer, Tony was assigned to the 44th Missile Wing based at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota where he served until 1992.
By 1990 Mr. Gatlin and his crew commander Rob Drury served as the primary crew for Delta flight. It was in this capacity that Tony suggested painting a mural on the blast door cover to the launch control center. The mural he painted remains preserved at the site today, and has become a symbol of the Cold War era.
Mr. Gatlin was interviewed for the park's oral history collection in May 2018. Below are several excerpts from his interview.
Tell us about your first alert.
My first alert is very memorable. I will never forget it; it was the day the Berlin Wall fell, the 10th of November, 1989. I went on alert; we were still in the Cold War, and I remember thinking when I came off of alert the next day, “it's kind of a new world.”
We didn't get any SAC message that came through over the intercom or any message traffic. It was all the topside, I think, called down and said, “hey, we're watching the news, y’all aren't gonna believe what happened.” And then, of course, the lights on the panel start lighting up and the other capsules start talking to one another, like “oh my gosh, this is crazy okay.” So that's how I remember it happening. Nothing official, but the unofficial communication channel was hot.
I mean, that was really life-altering because that was the beginning of the end of the Cold War, I felt. That was a life-changing moment.
What kind of art was present within the missile field when you served?
Each squadron kind of had its own personality and I think during my era that there was a squadron that was a little more loosey-goosey with the rules than another. I remember though it seemed like there was more artwork in one squadron than another. I remember there being a lot of artwork in the 68th [missile squadron]. I remember what looked like old bomber nose art, scantily clad lady in lingerie riding a warhead down, and I do remember that when women started coming on crew that that woman in lingerie mysteriously had more clothes painted on her. Between alerts somehow she'd gone from wearing very skimpy lingerie to like maybe a mini miniskirt or something I do remember that happening.
Describe for me what was the inspiration for the blast door painting, where was that derived from?
I can tell you, and it's way simpler than you might suspect. Alright, so there we were. It was [the] late ‘80s, early ‘90s. Domino's Pizza was running big advertising pushes; they were advertising their 30 minutes or less guarantee. So that was, I guess, kind of in the back of my mind. Since Rob and I were on the flight crew, it was our job to keep the capsule looking nice. The flight crew, we had to keep the crew logs and make sure that everybody had their schedule inputs to the scheduler and little duties like that as the flight crew. And one of our responsibilities was making the capsule nice for the crews and so I had the idea, like, “well, I've seen art in other places, it would be nice if we had some art on the door.” That's what makes me think it was a blank slate. I didn't cover over anything and I drew all over it. I don't think I painted it gray to then paint anything else on it. It was blank.
So I wanted to paint something on there and I asked Rob [Drury]. Rob was my immediate crew partner and crew commander and said, “Rob, is it cool you if I do this?” He goes, “yeah, I don't care. Let's do it.” So we were on alert and I called up to the facility manager, the F.M., and I said, “hey do you have any paint on-site?” and he said, “Oh, yes sir. We sure do we've got some paint. Do you need some down there?”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact. Send down what you've got and let me take a look.”
So a few minutes later, the bells and whistles clang and here comes the elevator and I go out there and look and the FM's secret stash of all this paint that he supposedly had was an off red and an off blue and that was it.
That was his stash of paint. What am I supposed to do with this?
And then the light bulb came on. You know what these colors look like it? It looks like a Domino's Pizza box and that was the inspiration. Just seeing those colors and knowing those are the only ones we had. I had in mind like a patriotic theme, but I can't paint an American flag in this light blue. That's gonna look awful.
Then it just hit me like, man, that's the color of a Domino's pizza box. There you go.
Then my first thought was, I was gonna write on there, I was gonna put, “Rapid City to Moscow in 30 minutes or less,” but Rob felt that was a little too pointed. He said, “hmm, what if we said worldwide delivery in 30 minutes or less?” There you go, that's it. So that was Rob's contributions he came up with the “worldwide delivery in 30 minutes or less or your next one’s free.”
So as we were on alert, Rob was manning the capsule, and I had the blast door open. I was kind of like one of these. I had one foot in the striped area and then I’d lean out here and kind of. I paint or I’d draw then I’d come back in the capsule, still trying to be a good boy. I wasn't just willy-nilly like. Still trying to abide by the rules but going out there to do the artwork.
Did the painting just occur in one alert, or did it take more than one alert?
I think it took me two alerts to get it done. I think I drew it out in one alert and started the painting. Then finished the painting on our next door together. So, a week or so probably.
Do you have any memory of how the painting, the finished painting, was received by your colleagues?
Colleagues loved it. Now I don't know if the higher-ups liked it. I never got feedback from any command element that, “hey man, you shouldn’t have done that,” or “oh hey, that looks good.” It was hands off. It was almost like if we don't say anything, it didn't really happen.
What you did on a lark has come to symbolize the Cold War. Was that your intention?
It certainly was not. It’s very humbling and I’m very honored that it’s there and that it resonates with the men and later the women that we served with. It’s humbling and honoring and I'm thrilled that it's there, and you guys are preserving it. But I never had any intention of it becoming anything other than entertainment for the crews that pulled alerts at Delta.