handful of well-placed JDAMS.
Posted on 06/05/2009 7:51:34 AM PDT by Bernard Marx
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — Beefed up security at Vandenberg Air Force Base is preventing public access to the state's Point Sal Beach, which can only be reached on foot through military base property.
Outdoor recreational activity has also been banned on most of Vandenberg's 98,000 acres near Lompoc.
The military says the heightened state of security will be in place indefinitely. Officials with Vandenberg's 30th Space Wing says the Department of Defense ordered the increase in security and no details are being released.
However, the measures were imposed after Osama bin Laden released an audio recording threatening Americans.
Literally...
“Gates toured an 800-acre missile-defense complex at Fort Greely, Alaska, today and climbed down into a silo to inspect one of the 16 interceptor rockets now positioned at the base.”
- http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aUXajZZCfS88&refer=us
. . . well, i guess he did have a look
didn’t realize he got that up close and personal with the inspection
Lived on base at Vandenberg as a kid from 64-68. Great memories- surf fishing, deer hunting, watching missile shots (including a a few aborted ones right after launch).
As it was explained to me by a VAFB official, a satellite in polar orbit basically orbits the poles as the earth turns below, and so ultimately can get a view of the entire globe. A satellite in geosyncronous orbit basically orbits the girth of the earth (!!), for example, the equator, and can remain in a "fixed" spot above in relation to the earth. Or something like that! In other words, a satellite in geosynchronous orbit can't get a view of the entire globe over time, whereas a satellite in polor orbit can. It's been a few years (!) so my memory is hazy. But I do remember clearly that Vandenberg is uniquely valuable to the USAF because of its capability to safely launch to polar orbit.
P.S. Quix, thanks for the ping.
I had read somewhere else that the Barking Sands beach access was closed in the last few months at the Pacific Missle Range Facility on the west shore of Kauai.
I used to live just a few miles from VBerg almost directly beneath the polar orbit flight path. I remember seeing a polar satellite night launch in the late 80s that was an amazing spectacle. It was like a huge man-made aurora in brilliant blue-green with a white-hot miniature sun of rocket exhaust at the center. We watched the rocket stage and the new little second-stage "sun" slowly grow smaller until it vanished at altitude. The "aurora" blazed away for a good hour afterward and was made even more beautiful by a light fog. It was visible over a very wide area.
We saw lots of westward launches too. Minuteman ICBMs were being reliability-tested, or at least that's what we were told. They were always aimed toward the South Pacific.
Roflmao (which I almost never do!)
Yellow (elevated) according to this:
http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm
I think we’ve been at that level for quite some time. Someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
I wish I had more confidence that we would actually fight back.
Where is that info? Or is it not something we are privy to?
I’m tryin’!!!
Truthfully, some of us do both.
Wouldn’t zero have to approve the development or movement of any counter measures?
If so, the move is highly suspect.
Is that the nude beach? I went through AF ROTC field training at Vandenberg. Instead of an airplane ride, we got a chopper ride. The choppers were used to clear the beaches and the water in the safety zone before a missile launch. My ride was an ancient (in 1971 it was ancient) UH-1. Anyway, the pilot told us how much "fun" it was to clear the nude beach. Sometimes they'd swing up there even when it didn't need to be cleared. :)
Vandenberg is currently scheduled to launch a Minuteman III missile on June 29th.
Vandenberg is a huge base, most of the area is semi open, with no real limits to access. They even graze cattle there. Only a relatively small "cantonment" area is "secure" with access only through guarded gates. A bit unusual for an AF base, but many Army posts are like that. The difference being that Air Force bases have been "secure" and "closed" as long as I've known, (remember '71), while most large Army posts were open, even the "cantonment" area, until 9-11. I once accidentally drove on to Ft. Riley, and drove for a couple of miles before determining, 1) I was lost and 2) there was no way out but the way I came in. And that was during Desert Shield, the place was virtually deserted.
In any event, here is the text of the news release on the Vandenberg Web Site:
Base officials increase security measures
Release Number: 010609
6/3/2009 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Due to guidance from the Department of Defense, 30th Space Wing officials directed higher security routines here today for an indefinite period of time.
While most security practices will be, by nature, unobtrusive and not disruptive for surrounding communities or for civilians who work on base, base officials have suspended outdoor recreational activities outside the base cantonment area and closed access to Point Sal Beach via Brown Road.
Public Affairs will inform the public when the increased security routines cease.
For more of Point Sal access, go to:
But they may also be worried about a threat to the base and it's facilities as well.
Indeed.
Thx for the link.
I hope he didn’t sabotage anything while he was down there.
Sigh.
Thx for your kind reply and info.
Thanks.
Interesting.
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