Santa Maria Sun / News

Minuteman III soars without a hitch

BY AMY ASMAN

On June 29, Vandenberg Air Force Base successfully launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. The launch was an operational test to verify the weapon system’s reliability and accuracy, according an announcement from the base.

The missile carried three unarmed re-entry vehicles more than 4,000 miles at speeds in excess of 24,000 mph to pre-determined targets near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Col. David Buck, the 30th Space Wing commander, was the mission’s launch decision authority. Lt. Col. Lesa K. Toler, the 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, was the mission director for this test launch.

“It’s really something when you see a truly outstanding team come together,” 30th Space Wing Commander Col. David Buck said in a release to the media. “As a former Top Hander myself, I know that the Airmen of the 576th FLTS are the best of the best when it comes to force development evaluation.”

Throughout the mission, maintenance and operations task force personnel from the 91st Missile Wing out of Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota integrated with the 576th FLTS to perform operational tasks. Members of the 576th FLTS installed tracking, telemetry, and command destruct systems on the missile to collect data and meet 30th Space Wing safety requirements.

“These are dangerous times we’re living in right now,” mission director Lt. Col. Lesa Toler said in the release. “It’s extremely important our combatant commander has the capabilities he needs to perform the mission of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. Testing an operational asset pulled from the missile field at Minot provides us confidence our weapon system is capable of performing when needed.”

The data collected will be used by the entire ICBM community, including the United States Strategic Command planners and Department of Energy
laboratories.