| Summary: | -sile treaty was signed, the Air Force began replacing the Minuteman II missiles with Minuteman III missiles in 300 missile silos throughout the northern plains. No state had more Minuteman III missiles than North Dakota. The missiles were designed to reach Moscow in a half hour roaring directly over the North Pole. The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty calls for the reduction of the numbers of deployed strategic offensive weapons. A large part of the Minuteman III missile force on the Dakota plains had to be destroyed to comply with the treaty. About 450 ICBMs have been destroyed and about 500 remain, including 150 in the Minot area. In 1993, the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted to deactivate the ICBM missile group near Grand Forks and move Minuteman III missiles near Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. The last missiles, 60 feet long and weighing 79,000 pounds, left North Dakota in 1998. After the missiles were removed, the mission was to destroy 150 missile launch silos in northeastern North Dakota. In time, the 15 command centers that controlled 150 missiles will be sold. Officials in Cooperstown hope to convert one of the command centers into a museum. Contractors were hired to pull recyclable materials out of the 90 foot deep silos. The 110 tons silo doors were left in place during the implosion. After the implosion, an observation hole was dug around the silo site and left open for 90 days for verification by Russian satellites. Then, the final salvage operation began. Fertile North Dakota soil will replace the silos, and North Dakota's fanners will plant crops where weapons of distinction were once housed. The last missile silos in northeastern North Dakota are scheduled to be destroyed in 2001, ending another facet of the Cold War. Russia has been doing the same thing with its missile sites in the Ukraine. The United States Air Force has been charged to ensure environmental cleanup is completed at each sites after they have been destroyed. 124 2001-2003 North Dakota Blue Book
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