Free Republic

In the 1970s, the Air Force launched a Minuteman ICBM launched from a C-5 Galaxy. Hold on, what!?!? That was my reaction upon learning that the above sentence is true. In 1974, the Air Force decided that it could turn C-5 Galaxy airlifters into flying SSBNs. Yup, Air Force planners thought the missile would be tougher for the Soviets to take out with a preemptive strike if it was already aboard a moving target like a C-5 versus sitting in a stationary missile silo. So, they loaded a Minuteman into a C-5 that parachute-dropped the 60-foot tall missile out of...

The U.S. Air Force test program for its Minuteman III ICBMs has been interrupted by a "mechanical problem" that will delay the next test seven months. The missile, selected at random from those stored in Midwest silos, was brought to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, placed in a silo there, and readied for firing into the Pacific. But during the installation of the missile in the silo, a problem was encountered. The air force won't say what exactly the problems is, or if it is something common to other Minuteman missiles. This kind of testing is not as realistic...

<p>KIMBALL, Nebraska (AP) -- In an era of rainbow-colored terror warnings, the underground home of Don and Charlene Zwonitzer makes duct tape and plastic sheeting seem like the first little pig's house of straw.</p> <p>The Zwonitzers figure they could hold out a year without having to leave their home in an Atlas E missile silo.</p>

Nuns say prison won't kill their spirit of protest Thursday, July 24, 2003By Charles Honey Press Religion Editor The Catholic sisters have been in jail before, after breaking into U.S. military bases to pour their own blood on weapons and symbolically hammer against warfare. But on Friday, three Grand Rapids-based Dominican nuns face sentences in a Denver federal court far harsher than any they ever have received -- raising protests that they are paying an unjustified price because of the U.S. crackdown on terrorism. Sisters Jackie Hudson, Ardeth Platte and Carol Gilbert are to be sentenced for their protest at...