Long before the Star Wars Missile Defense Shield was a thing, the US Government deployed a nuclear anti-ballistic missile system in Nekoma, North Dakota. It was the only operational facility of its kind. You can read more about it in our previous post, here.
These photos are from spring and summer of 1971, taken by an unknown government photographer.
The silver culvert center-right in the photo above is the escape tunnel, which was later buried.
A beautiful shot, very reminiscent of something out of Egypt, if the ancients had known about cranes, rebar and concrete.
As mentioned in our main gallery, the Mickelsen Safeguard Complex had reinforced underground launchers for thirty Spartan and sixteen Sprint nuclear tipped missiles. In the photo above, the Sprint is on the left and the Spartan is on the right.
Original content © 2016 Sonic Tremor Media
Ghosts of North Dakota 
Nice pics of the building of the site, now Cavalier AFS, most likely by an AUTHORIZED gov’t photographer.
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The Nekoma site was NOT the same site as Cavalier AFS. Nekoma is where the Army’s Missile Site Radar (MSR) was, as shown in these pictures. The Spartan missiles and Sprint missiles were also at Nekoma, although four other Remote Sprint missile sites were scattered around. Cavalier AFS (first known as Concrete) was where the Army’s Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR) was located; it has been modernized, and is still in use by the Air Force.
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worked at both PAR & MSR 1972 and 1973 as an electrician
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Why did they shut it down so quickly
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WHERE did the people live who built it, and who were to operate it?
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