Was stationed at VandyLand long ago. Been down in the undergrounds launch control sending missiles up through the silohs. It’s a trip.
Picture a giant steel ball underground with a 3-foot thick bank vault door you got to duck through to get in. Platform inside suspended by giant shock absorbers. In there for hours, door shut. Then....countown, launch. Big boom as blat door is blown on top of siloh, then loud rumble and off it goes, a few dozen feet from you.
Like a sci fi movie.
Sounds intense and fun
I slept on top of nuke & conventional torpedos in my berth in the torpedo room. Actually shot a few dummy torpedos in practice.
Also operated the launcher control panel for the 15 ICBM Poseidon Missiles we had on board but never shot a dummy one of those.
A few years ago, we were visiting friends in Maricopa. We were in their back yard in the evening darkness and my view was to the west. I saw a yellowish cloud that started growing. We were all looking at it then and it continued to grow. The only thing we could think it might be was a launch from Vandenberg. Being former Californians, we were really surprised that we were able to see the launch from Arizona. Our suspicions were supported by a story, with video, on the news that night.