[El Gato]

The facility had racks for crew members to lie down. (How odd, since both the on-coming and off-going crews would have nuclear code component thingys and not be permitted to sleep anyway.)

Nothing odd about it. This procedure is only done very infrequently. Normally the crew is only two guys. The Launch Control facilities are often a long distance from the main base. I don't know what the current schedule is, but back in the dark ages the crew would travel to the site, which might take several hours, then do a "tour" in the hole, then come topside to sleep while another crew manned the hole. Then they'd do another tour, after which they'd travel back to the main base. Weather and road conditions permitting.

At another time the tours were 24 hours, and one of the two could catch a few zzz's on a cot in the hole itself, once the basic tasks had been accomplished, and they were not on a heightened state of alert.

This was a special task, changing out the code device, not a normal day in the LCF.

[Captain Rhino]

Thanks for the info. I had gotten the mistaken impression that this was just a normal rotation of watchstanding sections (to use a Navy/Marine Corps term).