Atlas F Site 579-3 Missile Silo, Elkins / Acme / Roswell area New Mexico

Atlas F Site 579-3 was one of the survivors in a missile field remembered for disaster. Built northeast of Roswell near Elkins, New Mexico, the site belonged to the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron at Walker Air Force Base, the same Atlas F field that lost three of its twelve sites to propellant-loading explosions between 1963 and 1964. Site 579-3 did not explode. It completed its brief alert career, was decommissioned during the early 1965 Atlas phaseout, passed through federal disposal, and later received an EPA Ready for Reuse determination. Its assigned missile, Atlas 44F / serial 61-2530 / tail number 530, survived military service and flew years later from Vandenberg with an ABRES reentry-vehicle research payload.

That contrast gives Site 579-3 its importance. Around it, the Walker missile field showed both sides of first-generation ICBM history: extraordinary engineering and serious operational risk. Beneath a rural Chaves County landscape, Site 579-3 once contained a deep vertical silo, a shock-isolated launch-control center, propellant systems, high-pressure gas systems, power equipment, security features, and a missile that could be brought from protected underground storage to launch-ready condition if Strategic Air Command ordered it. Its story is not only a story of a particular missile site, but a story of how the United States tried to make a liquid-fueled ICBM force survivable, fast, dispersed, and constantly ready during the most dangerous years of the Cold War.

Installation / Site Identity

Atlas F Site 579-3 was a one-missile Atlas F vertical-silo launch complex assigned to the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron at Walker Air Force Base, New Mexico. The parent wing was the 6th Bombardment Wing, later redesignated the 6th Strategic Aerospace Wing. The site was part of the Walker AFB missile field, a ring of twelve Atlas F launch complexes around Roswell, New Mexico.

The site is in Chaves County, New Mexico, northeast of Roswell, near Elkins and the U.S. Highway 70 North corridor.

The site identities were Corps of Engineers Construction Site Number 10 and the Air Force Operational Site Number as 3. The assigned missile as General Dynamics Missile Serial Number 61-2530, General Dynamics Manufacturing Number 44F, and Air Force Missile Tail Number 530. The missile was accepted on January 18, 1962, delivered on January 24, 1962, and later launched on December 3, 1969 with an ABRES payload after its military alert career ended.

Site 579-3 is inactive and decommissioned. November 30, 1962 is when the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron history lists missile operations as turned over to Strategic Air Command and operational. The inactivation date for the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron was March 25, 1965. Unlike Walker Sites 579-1, 579-2, and 579-5, Site 579-3 was not destroyed by an Atlas F propellant-loading explosion.

Location, Landscape, and Site Description

Site 579-3 was built in the open high-plains landscape northeast of Roswell. The site lay along the general U.S. Highway 70 North corridor in rural Chaves County, in country suited to the Atlas F concept of dispersal: far enough from Walker Air Force Base and from the other launch complexes to reduce vulnerability, but close enough for base support, security, maintenance, communications, and logistics.

The location mattered because Atlas F was designed around hardened dispersal. Earlier Atlas D and Atlas E facilities placed missiles in exposed gantries or semi-hardened coffin launchers. Atlas F moved each missile into a separate vertical silo. Site 579-3 therefore did not look like an airfield, depot, or conventional base. It was a fenced, controlled, industrialized launch parcel in a rural landscape, with the most important features below ground.

The principal structure was the launch silo. The Atlas F silo was a deep reinforced-concrete cylinder that housed the missile vertically on a lift launcher. Nearby underground spaces included the launch-control center, access tunnel, equipment rooms, utilities, power systems, and support spaces. Surface features originally included access roads, perimeter fencing, hardstands, utility structures, ventilation and exhaust features, antennas or communications equipment, entry-control features, and support areas for propellant, oxidizer, maintenance, and security operations.

The site's physical layout reflected the Atlas F launch method. The missile was not fired from the bottom of the silo. It was stored vertically underground, protected by heavy silo doors and the hardened launch structure. If ordered to launch, the silo doors opened, liquid oxygen was loaded as part of the launch sequence, the missile and launcher were raised above ground, the launcher was locked, and the missile was fired from the raised position. This made the entire complex a single integrated machine: silo, elevator, launch-control center, tanks, pumps, valves, electrical systems, environmental systems, communications, and crew procedures all had to function together.

The site also had a documented federal disposal footprint. EPA's 2009 Ready for Reuse letter states that the Department of Defense acquired approximately 230 acres for development of Silo Site 3. The actual missile facility occupied 8.26 acres, with additional easements for road access and an aircraft runway. In April 1968, the General Services Administration conveyed the 8.26-acre fee-simple missile-facility parcel and a 2.07-acre road easement to private owners. This distinction is important: the original construction/development area was much larger than the later conveyed core facility parcel.

Strategic and Cold War Context

Site 579-3 existed because the United States was racing to field survivable intercontinental ballistic missiles during a period of intense Cold War danger. The Atlas missile was America's first operational ICBM. The Atlas F was the most hardened operational Atlas version, and the Walker AFB field represented the final configuration of the first-generation Atlas weapon system: widely dispersed, one missile per hardened silo, with local crews and a launch-control facility integrated into each complex.

The strategic purpose was deterrence. A missile like the Atlas F was meant to convince an adversary that a nuclear attack on the United States would still be answered by a devastating retaliatory strike. Dispersal reduced the chance that a single enemy weapon could destroy multiple missiles. Hardening improved each missile's chance of surviving attack. Round-the-clock manning and alert procedures reduced the time needed to respond to a valid launch order.

Site 579-3 also illustrates the limits of the Atlas system. Atlas F was liquid-fueled. It used RP-1 kerosene fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. The RP-1 could be kept aboard the missile during alert, but liquid oxygen was cryogenic and could not simply remain loaded indefinitely as a long-term stored oxidizer. The Atlas missile's thin stainless-steel balloon-tank structure also required internal pressure. These features gave the missile high performance but demanded careful operations, exact procedures, and dangerous propellant-handling work.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron history states that the Walker-area sites were manned continuously and that all operational sites were at a high level of alert and ready to launch if necessary. For Atlas F, that kind of phrase needs explanation. "Placed in an operational launch-ready alert posture" did not mean that the missile sat continuously above ground, continuously raised on its elevator, or continuously loaded with liquid oxygen. It meant that the site, missile, crew, communications, checklists, security posture, power and support systems, RP-1 fuel condition, oxidizer availability, and launch equipment were placed in a condition from which a valid launch order could be executed through the Atlas F launch sequence. The missile normally remained protected underground; liquid oxygen would be loaded as part of launch preparation; the missile would then be raised and launched if the order continued.

That explanation matters because otherwise "launch configuration" can sound more physically static than it was. The Atlas F system was an alert system built around readiness, not a missile permanently sitting in the open. A launch-ready posture meant the complex was manned, connected to command channels, procedurally ready, and able to begin the controlled steps that would lead to launch. It was readiness to execute, not a permanent raised-and-fueled display state.

Construction and Activation

The Walker AFB Atlas F construction program began during the rapid national expansion of ballistic-missile infrastructure. In January 1960, the decision was made to construct Atlas launching facilities around Walker Air Force Base. The Corps of Engineers Albuquerque District requested soils investigations to determine whether the Roswell-area geology would support the proposed underground installations. The investigations were performed by Spencer J. Buchanan Company and Gordon Herkenhoff & Associates and were considered favorable.

Design work began in March 1960 after completion of the geologic investigations. Bechtel Corporation served as architect-engineer for the Walker sites. The facilities were advertised for bids on May 16, 1960, and bids were opened on June 15, 1960. The construction contract, in the amount of approximately $22.1 million, was awarded on June 16, 1960 to a joint venture consisting of Macco Corporation, Raymond International, Inc., The Kaiser Company, and Puget Sound Bridge and Dry Dock Company. Notice to Proceed was issued on June 20, 1960, and work was initiated on June 23, 1960.

The Roswell Area Office was activated on May 15, 1960, to supervise the work. The Corps of Engineers served as construction agent for the Air Force. The Walker Area Office later transferred to the Corps of Engineers Ballistic Missile Construction Office, or CEBMCO, which had been created to centralize and accelerate ICBM construction. At peak strength, the Walker field construction organization included military officers and a large civilian engineering and inspection staff. The work was urgent, expensive, and complex because the nation was building the operational ICBM force while missile designs, support systems, and procedures were still evolving.

Site 579-3 was Corps of Engineers Construction Site Number 10. EPA's Ready for Reuse letter states that the Department of Defense acquired the property in 1960 and that construction of Silo Site 3 was completed in October 1961. By late 1961, the major civil construction at Site 3 had been brought to completion, although missile installation, checkout, acceptance, training, and operational certification were separate steps.

The construction of a Walker Atlas F site required far more than digging a hole. The Launching Facility consisted of a launch silo approximately 178 feet deep and more than fifty feet in diameter, and a launch-control center roughly forty feet in diameter. The silo walls were heavily reinforced concrete, thickening near the upper portions of the structure. The launch-control center had thick reinforced walls, floor, and roof. The silo and launch-control center were connected by an underground tunnel.

Inside the silo, a massive steel crib was suspended on shock mounts. This crib supported the missile launcher and the equipment inside the silo. The launch-control center itself contained suspended floors on which equipment was mounted. The shock-isolation concept was central to the Atlas F design: the site was built to survive nearby blast effects well enough to preserve launch capability, while also protecting sensitive equipment from ground shock.

Construction proceeded through several major phases. First came open-cut excavation for the main work area, extending roughly thirty-eight feet below original ground surface. This open excavation was large enough to permit construction of the silo, launch-control center, work space, and a ramp into the excavation. Rock and hard material were broken by dynamite placed in drilled holes; lighter material could be ripped by bulldozer and hauled away by scrapers. After the open-cut work, the silo shaft was excavated to full depth. Crews drilled blast holes, loaded them with dynamite, broke material in controlled increments, and removed the broken material with cranes, clamshell buckets, muck buckets, and trucks.

As the silo deepened, steel ring beams were placed at close vertical intervals, and wire mesh, gunite concrete, and, where necessary, wood lagging stabilized the wall surface. Concrete placement was equally demanding. A typical Walker Atlas F site required approximately 6,000 cubic yards of concrete. Placement had to meet tight tolerances, especially for the interior silo surface. Concrete was placed by cranes and buckets, with tremies and vibrators used to consolidate pours. Temperature control mattered: heated water could be needed in winter, while ice could be added in summer to control concrete temperature at placement.

The upper portion of the silo was particularly heavily reinforced. The tour-construction document for the Walker sites describes closely spaced, large-diameter reinforcing bars in both horizontal and vertical planes. The silo cap, blast-door support areas, and upper structural mass had to resist blast effects while carrying the heavy mechanical systems associated with the launch doors and elevator.

The steel crib was one of the defining features of Atlas F construction. Macco Corporation erected all of the launch-control-center cribs and five of the silo cribs, while Owl Transportation and Trucking Company erected seven of the silo cribs. Long columns were preassembled into bents at the surface, lowered into the silo, then connected by beams and braces. Cryogenic and high-pressure vessels, diesel generators, grating, handrails, and other equipment were installed in coordination with the crib work. The tolerances were tight: the crib steel had to be aligned and leveled closely because the missile, launcher, piping, and support equipment depended on the structure's position.

Mechanical and electrical work followed and overlapped with structural work. Piping, pumps, pressure vessels, electrical systems, ventilation, air conditioning, control wiring, and other equipment were installed and tested. The propellant loading system required especially meticulous cleanliness. The Walker construction-tour document warned that the propellant-loading components were subject to extreme temperatures and high pressures and that foreign particles or hydrocarbons could create serious explosion hazards or impair system function. That warning is especially sobering in light of the later propellant-loading explosions at three other Walker sites.

The construction scale was enormous. The Walker tour document states that one Atlas F silo reflected approximately 48,000 cubic yards of open-cut excavation and approximately 24,000 cubic yards of silo-shaft excavation, for a total of roughly 72,000 cubic yards of material handled. The crib steel alone weighed about 600 tons, and when suspended and balanced on the suspension springs, the combined weight of crib steel, fueling vessels, motor generators, propellant-loading skids, and related equipment approached 1.8 million pounds. These figures make clear that Site 579-3 was not a small rural installation but a large underground industrial complex built in a short period under national-priority pressure.

The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron was activated as an ICBM unit in 1961 and organized at Walker AFB on September 1, 1961. The squadron received its first ICBM on January 24, 1962, the same day The squadron history states that the unit became fully operational during the Cuban Missile Crisis period and lists missile operations as turned over to Strategic Air Command and operational on November 30, 1962. Site 579-3 therefore moved from completed construction into one of the most intense opening periods of American ICBM alert service.

Missile System and Technical Role

Site 579-3 supported the SM-65F Atlas, commonly known as Atlas F. Atlas was the first operational American intercontinental ballistic missile, and the F model was the final and most hardened operational version of the Atlas ICBM. The Atlas F used all-inertial guidance and was deployed in separate vertical silo-lift launchers. It was designed to improve survivability and shorten reaction time compared with earlier Atlas configurations.

Public 579th SMS sources describe the Atlas F as using RP-1 fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. They also describe the Walker Atlas F missiles as fitted with a General Electric Mark IV reentry vehicle and a W-38 nuclear warhead with a yield of approximately 3.8 to 4 megatons, with a range of about 6,000 miles.

The Atlas F site's technical role was to keep one missile protected underground, maintain it in an alert condition, and execute the launch sequence if ordered through Strategic Air Command channels. The missile sat vertically on its launcher inside the silo. The site's underground launch-control center housed the crew and the control equipment needed to monitor, prepare, and launch the weapon. The launch-control center was not a remote Minuteman-style LCC controlling several unmanned silos; it was part of the individual Atlas F launch complex itself.

The Atlas F's fuel and oxidizer arrangement defined daily operations. RP-1 kerosene fuel could be stored aboard the missile during alert. Liquid oxygen, however, was loaded as part of the launch-preparation process. The missile's internal pressure had to be maintained, and if the missile was raised and launch was delayed, liquid oxygen could be topped off for a limited period before a final launch command. These procedures made Atlas F faster than older Atlas D and E launch arrangements, but still much more complicated than later solid-fueled Minuteman systems.

This is why the Walker field's accident history matters even for a site that did not itself explode. Site 579-3 used the same general weapon system, propellant concepts, and ground-support requirements as the accident sites. The operational record of Site 579-3 therefore cannot be separated from the technical reality of the Atlas F program: rapid reaction depended on careful propellant handling, pressure control, mechanical systems, cryogenic oxidizer procedures, trained crews, and disciplined maintenance.

Operational History

Site 579-3's operational life was short but intense. The site belonged to a twelve-site Atlas F squadron built around Walker AFB, one of Strategic Air Command's major bomber and missile bases in southeastern New Mexico. The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron was manned around the clock, and its sites were staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, during the squadron's active period.

The first major operational context for the site was the Cuban Missile Crisis. In October 1962, the United States entered its most dangerous nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union. The 579th SMS history states that during the crisis all operational 579th sites were at a high level of alert and ready to launch if necessary. For Site 579-3, the precise site-level readiness status during every day of the crisis is not fully reconstructed, but the squadron's role is clear: the Walker Atlas F field was part of SAC's heightened missile posture during the crisis period.

The careful wording is important. A launch-ready alert posture meant that crews were present, communications and command channels were active, the missile and support equipment were maintained for rapid execution of procedures, security and maintenance were heightened, and the site could begin the Atlas F launch sequence if a valid order arrived. It did not mean the missile was permanently exposed above the silo, nor did it mean the missile was continuously loaded with liquid oxygen. The missile remained protected underground until the launch sequence required door opening, liquid-oxygen loading, raising, and final launch steps.

During normal alert service, Site 579-3 required constant attention. Missile crews monitored the weapon system from within the underground launch-control center. Maintenance teams supported propulsion, guidance, electrical, mechanical, environmental-control, communications, and real-property installed equipment. Security personnel controlled access and protected the site. Propellant and oxidizer specialists maintained systems that would be used during countdowns, exercises, or launch-preparation activities. The site had to remain ready while also being safe enough for crews to work inside it.

Site 579-3's assigned missile had an unusually well-documented post-site career. The missile was Atlas 44F, General Dynamics serial number 61-2530, Air Force tail number 530. It was accepted on January 18, 1962 and delivered on January 24, 1962. After the Atlas F ICBM force was retired, the missile was later used as a launch vehicle. The launch date was December 3, 1969 and the payload was ABRES, a reentry-vehicle research program. This post-ICBM use links Site 579-3 to the broader second life of Atlas missiles as test and space-launch vehicles.

The operational history of Site 579-3 is also framed by nearby accidents. The Walker field lost Site 579-1 on June 1, 1963, Site 579-5 on February 13, 1964, and Site 579-2 on March 9, 1964, all during propellant-loading exercises according to public summaries. Site 579-3 was not one of the destroyed sites, but the accidents would have been central to the squadron's safety culture, maintenance concerns, operational procedures, and local public reputation. A surviving Walker site like 579-3 therefore has to be read against the field-wide experience: the same weapons system that gave SAC rapid strategic reach also demanded dangerous and highly technical field operations.

Deactivation and Disposal

Atlas F Site 579-3 left service during the accelerated retirement of the Atlas ICBM force. In May 1964, the Department of Defense announced that the Atlas F missile program would be phased out. In November 1964, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that remaining Atlas and Titan I liquid-fueled ICBMs would be phased out by the end of June 1965, reflecting the growing confidence in solid-fueled Minuteman and submarine-launched Polaris systems.

The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron history lists the first ICBM off alert on January 5, 1965, the last ICBM off alert on February 4, 1965, and the last ICBM shipped on February 9, 1965.

EPA's Ready for Reuse letter states that in May 1964 the Department of Defense announced the Atlas F phaseout and that in September 1965 Silo Site 3 was declared excess to the General Services Administration. In April 1968, GSA conveyed the 8.26-acre fee-simple parcel and 2.07-acre road easement to Louis and Patricia Angelos. The same EPA letter states that the current owner at the time of the 2009 determination was The Equity Group, Inc.

Site 579-3 is not an arms-control demolition site in the later Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty sense used for Minuteman and Peacekeeper reductions. Its retirement came earlier, as a Cold War modernization and reliability decision. The Atlas F program was overtaken by solid-fueled missiles that could remain on alert with much simpler launch procedures and lower propellant-handling risk. Site 579-3 therefore represents a pre-SALT, pre-START generation of ICBM disposal: missile removal, squadron inactivation, declaration as excess property, federal conveyance, later environmental review, and private reuse.

Environmental records provide the later disposal and cleanup story. The site became a Formerly Used Defense Site known as WAFB FAC SITE #3 / K06NM0481. The 2015 USACE New Mexico FUDS inventory lists WAFB FAC SITE #3 in Chaves County, Roswell, with Site Number 02 and HTRW category. EPA's 2009 Ready for Reuse determination summarizes earlier investigation and corrective action. A Preliminary Assessment and Site Inspection were conducted under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program by USACE to determine whether DOD activities had created conditions requiring further action.

The environmental investigation examined potential releases in the former underground storage tank area and the former sump outfall area. The septic leachfield was not sampled because the septic system had been backflushed and was reportedly still operational. Soil data detected manganese, arsenic, and iron at certain levels, but these were determined to be naturally occurring or not indicative of contamination. A PCB, Aroclor-1260, was detected above evaluation criteria in two soil samples from the sump outfall area. USACE then removed PCB-impacted soil, transported and disposed of it at a licensed disposal facility, and collected confirmation samples. EPA's letter states that the confirmation results did not require further removal or remedial action for the intended use categories. Groundwater was not encountered during a deep borehole to 250 feet, so groundwater samples were not collected.

The New Mexico Environment Department and USACE issued a Finding of No Defense Action Indicated in September 2007. EPA Region 6, with NMED concurrence, issued the Ready for Reuse determination on September 16, 2009. The determination stated that environmental conditions on the surface property were protective for current and anticipated future use, while also reserving authority to revisit the determination if conditions, land use, receptors, or newly discovered information changed.

Current Status and Site Use

Atlas F Site 579-3 is a decommissioned former missile launch complex on private property. The surface property was the subject of a 2009 EPA Ready for Reuse determination. At that time, EPA identified The Equity Group, Inc. as the current owner. Current ownership and public access should be verified locally before any visit, and the site should be treated as private property with no public access unless the owner has specifically authorized entry.

Chronology

• 1960-01 The decision was made to construct Atlas launching facilities in the Walker AFB area, and the Corps of Engineers Albuquerque District began the geologic and soils investigation process.
• 1960-03 Design work for the Walker Atlas F facilities began after the geologic investigations were completed.
• 1960-05-15 The Roswell Area Office was activated to supervise Walker Atlas F construction.
• 1960-05-16 The Walker Atlas F launch facilities were advertised for bids.
• 1960-06-15 Bids were opened for the Walker Atlas F construction contract.
• 1960-06-16 The construction contract was awarded to the Macco Corporation, Raymond International, The Kaiser Company, and Puget Sound Bridge and Dry Dock Company joint venture.
• 1960-06-20 Notice to Proceed was issued for the Walker Atlas F construction contract.
• 1960-06-23 Work began on the Walker Atlas F launch-facility construction program.
• 1960 The Department of Defense acquired the Site 579-3 property for development of Silo Site 3.
• 1961-09-01 The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron was organized at Walker Air Force Base as an Atlas F ICBM unit.
• 1961-10 EPA later stated that construction of Silo Site 3 was completed in October 1961.
• 1962-01-18 Atlas 44F / serial 61-2530 / tail number 530, later associated with Site 579-3, was accepted.
• 1962-01-24 Atlas 44F / serial 61-2530 / tail number 530 was delivered; the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron also received its first ICBM in January 1962.
• 1962-10 During the Cuban Missile Crisis, operational Walker Atlas F sites were placed in a high alert posture; for Atlas F this meant a launch-ready operational posture, not continuous aboveground or continuous liquid-oxygen-loaded condition.
• 1962-11-30 The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron history lists missile operations as turned over to Strategic Air Command and operational.
• 1964-02-13 Walker Site 579-5 was destroyed during a propellant-loading explosion.
• 1964-03-09 Walker Site 579-2 was destroyed during a propellant-loading explosion.
• 1964-05 The Department of Defense announced that the Atlas F missile program would be phased out.
• 1964-11-18 Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced the accelerated phaseout of remaining Atlas and Titan I liquid-fueled ICBMs.
• 1965-01-05 The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron history lists the first ICBM off alert.
• 1965-02-04 The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron history lists the last ICBM off alert.
• 1965-02-09 The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron history lists the last ICBM shipped.
• 1965-03-25 Site 579-3 was decommissioned, and the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron was inactivated.
• 1965-09 Silo Site 3 was declared excess to the General Services Administration.
• 1968-04 GSA conveyed the 8.26-acre fee-simple Site 3 parcel and a 2.07-acre road easement to Louis and Patricia Angelos.
• 1969-12-03 Atlas 44F / serial 61-2530 / tail number 530 was launched with an ABRES payload after its ICBM service ended.
• 2005-11 USACE completed a Site Inspection for Former Atlas Missile Silo Site 3.
• 2006-02 USACE completed a Site Inspection Report Addendum after confirmation sampling connected to PCB-impacted soil removal.
• 2007-09 NMED and USACE issued a Finding of No Defense Action Indicated for Site 3.
• 2009-09-16 EPA Region 6, with New Mexico Environment Department concurrence, issued a Ready for Reuse determination for Former Atlas Missile Silo Site 3.
• 2015 The USACE New Mexico FUDS inventory listed WAFB FAC SITE #3 / K06NM0481 in Chaves County with HTRW category.

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