Crew Quarters

Lore & Background

The LCC is designed to provide maximum protection for the missile combat crew and equipment vital to missile launch. Missile silos are common across the western United States, and over 450 missiles remain in US Air Force (USAF) service. Due to modern conventional weapons, missile launch control centers are becoming rarer in the US, and it is expected that the number of missiles will stay at 400 Minuteman III.

Reader's Guide

All LCCs are dependent on a missile support base (MSB) for logistics support. For example, Minot AFB is the MSB for the 91st Missile Wing. Three types of Minuteman LCCs exist: Alternate Command Post (ACP), Squadron Command Post (SCP), and Primary LCC (PLCC). There are four configurations of the LCC, differing primarily in the amount and location of communications equipment.

One ACP LCC is located within each Minuteman wing and serves as backup for the wing command post. Three SCPs serve as command units for the remaining squadrons within the wing, and report directly to the wing command post. The ACP doubles as SCP for the squadron it is located within. The remainder of the LCCs (16) are classified as primary LCCs.

Four primary LCCs are located within each squadron and report to their respective command post. The Titan II LCC held four crew members: the Missile Combat Crew Commander (MCCC), the Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander (DMCCC), Ballistic Missile Analyst Technician (BMAT), and the Missile Facilities Technician (MFT). Titan II had a three-story LCC dome. The first level was the crew's living area and contained a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and a small equipment area.

The second level was the launch control area. The lowest level held communications equipment, battery backup supplies, the sewage lift station, the motor-generator, and several other pieces of equipment. There were two types of Titan II sites: standard, and ACP sites. ACPs had all the equipment of a standard site plus additional communication equipment.

A Minuteman wing consists of either three or four squadrons. Five flights comprise each squadron. Each flight directly controls ten Minuteman missiles remotely. Each flight is commanded from a Launch Control Center.

The Minuteman LCC is an underground structure of reinforced concrete and steel. It contains equipment and a Missile combat crew of two officers capable of controlling, monitoring, and launching the 10 Minuteman missiles in unmanned launch facilities within the flight. One LCC in each Minuteman squadron is designated a Squadron Command Post and has the ability to take control of and remotely launch the Minuteman missiles of any other flight in its squadron.

One of the wing's Squadron Command Posts is designated a Wing Command Post and can execute an authenticated EWO for any flight of Minuteman missiles in the wing.