[OldMissileer]

I’d also work out a treaty for some testing to make sure these old things still work.

We launch four to six Minuteman III ICBMs every year for the Follow On Test & Evaluation (FOT&E, or "Foot Shot" program.

These missiles are randomly selected from the operational Wings and shipped to Vandenberg AFB, CA. The missile is installed by the original Wing maintenance crews and then launched by the original Wing operations crews. The only thing not original on the bird are the nukes, which are replaced with either inert or telemetered re-entry vehicles.

[Monty22002]

I meant the warheads, underground.

[T-Bone Texan]

I once saw the plume from one of those test firings from Vandenberg, around 1999. As the plume went up into the different levels of the atmosphere and stratosphere and the sun hit it, it reflected all the colors of the rainbow.

It was beautiful, and it reminded me of freedom.

I was in front of my girlfriend’s home in San Jose, CA, several hundred miles away, and I immediately knew it was from Vandenberg, which made it all the more awe-inspiring.