Atlas F Site 577-8 Missile Silo, Creta / Olustee area Oklahoma

Atlas F Site 577-8 was one of the twelve SM-65F Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile launch complexes assigned to the 577th Strategic Missile Squadron at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The site was the squadron's Site 8, located in Jackson County, Oklahoma, near the small community of Creta and in the broader Olustee area used by later federal environmental records.

The site belonged to the 11th Bombardment Wing, which was redesignated the 11th Strategic Aerospace Wing on 1962-04-01, and to the 577th Strategic Missile Squadron, the Atlas F missile unit assigned to Altus AFB. Atlas F launch complexes were self-contained vertical-silo sites with an underground launch-control center at the complex itself, rather than Minuteman-style unmanned launch facilities controlled from a separate remote launch control center.

Site 577-8 is inactive and decommissioned as a military missile installation. Construction at the site began on 1960-05-18, the site was turned over to the Air Force on 1961-09-20, and the Altus Atlas F missile force became operational in October 1962. Site 577-8 remained part of the operational 577th Strategic Missile Squadron until the Atlas F weapon system was removed from service in 1965. The site was decommissioned on 1965-03-25, the same date on which the 577th Strategic Missile Squadron was inactivated.

Its assigned operational missile was General Dynamics Atlas missile 62F, serial number 61-2548, Air Force tail number 548. The missile was accepted on 1962-03-24 and delivered on 1962-04-25. Unlike some former Atlas missiles that later flew as research, reentry-vehicle, or space-launch boosters, the Site 577-8 missile is listed as not launched and salvaged as scrap.

The former missile property later entered the Formerly Used Defense Sites environmental record as ATLAS MISSILE NO. 8 / K06OK0408 and as FFID OK69799F641000. The 2015 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers FUDS inventory lists the property at Olustee, Jackson County, Oklahoma, with Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste and Building Demolition / Debris Removal project categories. The Department of Defense DENIX FY22 response-complete table lists ATLAS MISSILE NO. 8 / OK69799F641000 as a Formerly Used Defense Site that achieved final Response Complete status before FY2022. The site should be treated as a decommissioned former missile complex on non-public property with no public access.

Location, Landscape, and Site Description

Site 577-8 is in rural southwestern Oklahoma, west of Altus Air Force Base and near the historic community of Creta. Federal environmental lists use Olustee as the city reference, which is appropriate for administrative purposes, while missile-location sources identify Creta as the nearest town. The site lies in the agricultural landscape of Jackson County, in the same broad plains-and-farm country that shaped the rest of the Altus Atlas F field. Its setting provided a dispersed launch point far enough from Altus AFB to reduce vulnerability to a single attack, but close enough for the base, wing, squadron, maintenance, communications, and security organizations to support it.

The location mattered because Atlas F was designed around dispersed, hardened, single-missile launch complexes. Official Altus AFB history states that the 577th Missile Squadron activated in 1961 to operate twelve Atlas F missile sites within a forty-mile radius of Altus. Site 577-8 was one point in that ring of hardened sites. The field included eleven launch complexes in Oklahoma and one in Texas; each individual complex contributed one missile to the squadron's deterrent force.

Site 577-8 was not a surface launch pad. It was a major underground launch complex built around a reinforced-concrete vertical silo, an elevator launcher, heavy overhead silo doors, an underground launch-control center, equipment and utility rooms, power and environmental-control systems, communications equipment, propellant and liquid-oxygen handling systems, access roads, security fencing, and a surface support area. In the Atlas F concept, the missile stood vertically inside the silo on its launcher. The underground silo protected the missile while it was not being launched, but the missile still had to be raised above ground before launch.

Public imagery shows the former Site 577-8 compound as a recognizable Atlas F complex.

Strategic and Cold War Context

Site 577-8 existed because the United States was rapidly building a survivable land-based nuclear deterrent during the early 1960s. Atlas was the first operational U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile. The National Park Service identifies Atlas as the United States Air Force's first operational ICBM, a system that had roots in post-World War II missile development and entered the Cold War at a time when long-range bombers alone were no longer considered sufficient.

Atlas F represented the most survivable operational Atlas basing mode. Earlier Atlas D and Atlas E facilities used aboveground or horizontal coffin-launcher arrangements that were more exposed than the later vertical silo-lift system. The F model placed the missile upright in an underground silo with an elevator mechanism. That increased protection against attack and weather, while still allowing the missile to be raised to the surface for launch.

The system was powerful but transitional. Atlas F was a liquid-propellant missile. Its RP-1 fuel could be kept aboard the missile, but liquid oxygen oxidizer had to be loaded during countdown. The missile also required complex ground support, pressure management, propulsion servicing, security, communications, electrical power, and trained crews. This made Atlas F more responsive and better protected than earlier Atlas configurations, but it did not have the simpler alert characteristics of later solid-fueled Minuteman missiles.

Site 577-8 entered the operational force at an especially tense moment. Official Altus AFB chronology states that the 577th Missile Squadron was activated on 1961-06-01 to operate the twelve Atlas F sites and that the squadron became operational on 1962-10-10. The official Altus AFB fact sheet similarly states that the silos became operational on 1962-10-10. USAF unit-history material records that the first Series F Atlas ICBM at the 577th SMS was placed on alert early in August 1962 and that the missile force reached operational status in October 1962. The Altus Atlas F sites therefore entered service immediately before the most dangerous period of the Cuban Missile Crisis. During that crisis, the 577th SMS sites were part of Strategic Air Command's nuclear alert force.

Construction and Activation

Construction of the Altus Atlas F missile field began as part of the nationwide program to deploy hardened ICBM launchers at dispersed inland sites. Official Altus AFB chronology states that construction began on the first of the twelve Atlas F sites around Altus on 1960-05-01. USAF unit-history material records that the Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District awarded the basic construction contract for the Altus Atlas F field to Morrison-Knudsen and Hardeman and Associates, with a combined bid of a little over $20.9 million. The same source lists the planned launcher locations as Lone Wolf, Hobart, Snyder, Cache, Manitou, Frederick, Creta, Hollis, Russell, Willow, and Fargo, Texas, and states that land acquisition for the field involved condemnation suits against 477 landowners in six counties to acquire 12,879 acres.

Construction at the Creta site began on 1960-05-18. The work required excavation of the deep silo, placement of heavily reinforced concrete, installation of the elevator-launcher, construction of the underground launch-control and support areas, and installation of propellant, liquid-oxygen, power, communications, ventilation, security, and environmental-control systems.

The site was turned over to the Air Force on 1961-09-20. Turnover did not mean that the full missile force was immediately operational. First-generation ICBM deployment involved construction, equipment installation, missile delivery, site activation, training, checkout, and SAC acceptance as overlapping processes. The Altus Atlas F field became operational in October 1962, with the official Altus chronology listing 1962-10-10.

Missile System and Technical Role

Site 577-8 was built for the SM-65F Atlas, the final operational Atlas ICBM variant. The Atlas F was stored vertically in a hardened underground silo on an elevator launcher. Unlike a Minuteman launch facility, which held a solid-fueled missile that could launch directly from its silo and was remotely controlled from a separate launch control center, an Atlas F complex combined a crewed launch-control area, ground-support systems, propellant equipment, and the silo-lift launcher within one launch site.

The missile's role was nuclear deterrence. It was intended to remain on strategic alert, ready to be prepared for launch if national command authority ordered it. During alert, the missile was protected below grade. For launch, liquid oxygen would be loaded, the silo doors opened, the missile and launcher raised above ground, and the missile launched from the elevated position. The system demanded continuous maintenance, testing, security, and crew proficiency because the launch sequence depended on many interrelated mechanical, electrical, propellant, pneumatic, hydraulic, environmental, and command-control systems.

Site 577-8 assigned missile was Atlas 62F, General Dynamics serial number 61-2548, Air Force tail number 548. The missile was accepted on 1962-03-24 and delivered on 1962-04-25. It is listed as not launched and salvaged as scrap. The record therefore indicates that Site 577-8's assigned missile served as an operational ICBM but did not receive a later test or space-launch career.

Public-source warhead and reentry-vehicle information identifies the Atlas E/F payload as the Avco Mark 4 reentry vehicle carrying the W-38 thermonuclear warhead. The National Air and Space Museum states that the Mark 4 RV was used on Titan I and Atlas E/F missiles deployed in the early 1960s and carried a W-38 warhead with a yield of about 3.75 megatons.

Operational History

The 577th Strategic Missile Squadron was the Altus Atlas F unit. Official Altus AFB chronology states that the squadron activated on 1961-06-01 to operate twelve Atlas F missile sites within a forty-mile radius of Altus and that the squadron would become operational on 1962-10-10. The official Altus fact sheet describes the missiles as controlled by the 577th Missile Squadron, sitting in underground silos with launch facilities manned around the clock, and becoming operational on 1962-10-10.

Site 577-8's daily military history was the repetitive but demanding work of first-generation ICBM alert operations. The launch complex had to remain secure, powered, communicated, and ready. Crews monitored the missile and launch equipment. Maintenance teams performed scheduled and unscheduled work on the missile, ground-support equipment, propulsion systems, liquid-oxygen systems, electrical systems, communications equipment, power systems, and environmental-control equipment. Security forces protected the site and controlled access. Higher headquarters inspected readiness, procedures, and response times. The missile could not simply sit unattended; Atlas F alert depended on people, machinery, and procedures working together.

The site also belonged to a missile force that became operational just as the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolded. During October 1962, Strategic Air Command heightened its alert posture. The Altus Atlas F sites were among the first hardened-silo Atlas F facilities available to SAC.

The active life of the site was short. By late 1964, national policy had moved toward phasing out Atlas D, Atlas E, Atlas F, and Titan I. The SAC Missile Chronology records that on 1964-11-19 Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that all remaining first-generation ICBMs, including all Atlas F missiles, would be phased out by the end of June 1965. USAF unit-history material records that the first 577th SMS ICBM was removed from alert on 1964-12-30, the last 577th SMS ICBM was removed from alert on 1965-02-04, and the last ICBM was shipped on 1965-02-10. The 577th Strategic Missile Squadron was inactivated on 1965-03-25.

Deactivation and Disposal

Site 577-8 was decommissioned on 1965-03-25. The site left active service as part of the national retirement of first-generation liquid-fueled ICBMs. The decision was not an arms-control treaty demolition program in the later START sense; it was a force-modernization and safety/readiness decision made as solid-fueled Minuteman missiles and more capable second-generation systems made Atlas less useful as an alert weapon.

The available sources distinguish several separate steps in the end of the site. Site 577-8's assigned missile, Atlas 62F / tail number 548, was not launched and was salvaged as scrap. USAF unit-history material records the squadron-wide removal of 577th SMS missiles from alert before the squadron's March 1965 inactivation, including the first missile removed on 1964-12-30, the last removed from alert on 1965-02-04, and the last shipped on 1965-02-10. Those dates describe the squadron phaseout sequence.

After deactivation, the property entered non-operational status and later the Formerly Used Defense Sites program. The 2015 USACE FUDS inventory lists ATLAS MISSILE NO. 8 / K06OK0408 at Olustee, Jackson County, Oklahoma, with HTRW and BD/DR project entries. The Department of Defense DENIX FY22 response-complete table lists ATLAS MISSILE NO. 8 / OK69799F641000 as a Formerly Used Defense Site with final Response Complete status before FY2022. ProPublica's DERP-based Bombs in Your Backyard dataset lists ATLAS MISSILE NO. 8, Olustee, Jackson County, Oklahoma, as Response Complete.

Current Status and Site Use

Site 577-8 is a decommissioned former Atlas F launch complex in Jackson County, Oklahoma. It is not an active military installation. No public museum, interpretive program, or authorized visitor program was found for the site. The current individual parcel owner was not verified, but the FUDS status and available imagery support treating the property as non-public, non-DoD land.

The site should be treated as private property with no public access. Former Atlas F complexes can present hazards from underground confined spaces, water, deteriorated concrete and steel, old utilities, chemical residues, environmental contamination, and fall hazards. No current engineering condition assessment suitable for public-access guidance was found. Viewing should be limited to lawful observation from public roads unless the current owner gives explicit permission.

Chronology

• 1960-01 Public announcements identified Altus AFB as the future hub for twelve Atlas F missile sites in southwestern Oklahoma and nearby Texas.
• 1960-05-01 Official Altus AFB chronology states that construction began on the first of twelve Atlas F missile sites around Altus AFB.
• 1960-05-18 Construction began at Atlas F Site 577-8 near Creta, Oklahoma.
• 1961-06-01 The 577th Missile Squadron activated at Altus AFB to operate twelve Atlas F launch sites.
• 1961-09-20 Site 577-8 was turned over to the Air Force.
• 1962-03-24 Atlas missile 62F / serial number 61-2548 / tail number 548 was accepted.
• 1962-04-01 The 11th Bombardment Wing was redesignated the 11th Strategic Aerospace Wing.
• 1962-04-25 Atlas missile 62F was delivered for the Altus operational ICBM mission.
• 1962-08 USAF unit-history material records the first Series F Atlas ICBM at the 577th SMS placed on alert early in the month.
• 1962-10-09 USAF unit-history material lists SAC turnover and operational status for the 577th SMS missile force.
• 1962-10-10 Official Altus AFB chronology states that the Atlas F missile silos became operational.
• 1962-10 The 577th SMS Atlas F sites were on heightened alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• 1964-05-14 A propellant-loading explosion destroyed squadron Site 577-6 near Frederick, Oklahoma; this did not occur at Site 577-8.
• 1964-11-19 Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced the planned phaseout of Atlas D, Atlas E, Atlas F, and Titan I missiles by the end of June 1965.
• 1964-12-30 USAF unit-history material records the first 577th SMS ICBM removed from alert.
• 1965-02-04 USAF unit-history material records the last 577th SMS ICBM removed from alert.
• 1965-02-10 USAF unit-history material records the last 577th SMS ICBM shipped.
• 1965-03-25 Site 577-8 was decommissioned and the 577th Strategic Missile Squadron was inactivated.
• 2015-09-30 The USACE FUDS Oklahoma inventory listed OLUSTEE, ATLAS MISSILE NO. 8, K06OK0408, with HTRW and BD/DR entries.
• 2017 ProPublica's DERP-based Bombs in Your Backyard dataset listed ATLAS MISSILE NO. 8, Olustee, Jackson County, Oklahoma, as Response Complete.
• 2022 The Department of Defense DENIX FY22 table listed ATLAS MISSILE NO. 8 / OK69799F641000 as a Formerly Used Defense Site that achieved final Response Complete status before FY2022.

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