Launch Facility R-07 (Romeo-07), Meriden Wyoming

Launch Facility R-07 was one of the unmanned Minuteman-origin missile silos assigned to Romeo Flight in the F.E. Warren Air Force Base missile field. It was associated with R-01 Missile Alert Facility and the 400th Missile Squadron, later the only operational Peacekeeper missile squadron in the United States. Public Peacekeeper field documentation identifies the site as Francis E. Warren AF Missile Site R-07, PIN 8700, ILC GHZB, at 41-43-11, 104-36-56. The site lies in Goshen County, Wyoming, near Meriden, in the dispersed Romeo Flight area northeast of Cheyenne.

R-07 was designed to be easy to miss and hard to destroy. From the road, it belonged to the same quiet agricultural landscape as the rest of eastern Wyoming; beneath that low-profile surface, it was once part of a nuclear-alert network that moved from Minuteman to Peacekeeper, from early solid-fuel ICBM deterrence to one of the most powerful land-based missile systems ever deployed by the United States.

R-07 was sited in open agricultural and rangeland country, separated from its parent control facility and from neighboring launch facilities so that the Romeo Flight missiles would not form one compact target. Public field documentation lists the site by Peacekeeper-era identifier and coordinates, tying the location to the former F.E. Warren Peacekeeper field. As a former Minuteman/Peacekeeper Launch Facility, R-07 would have functioned as an unmanned, fenced, remotely monitored silo location with an access road, surface security and utility features, and the buried launcher structure beneath the visible site area.

R-07 was a restricted military facility during its operational life. Its post-deactivation ownership and access status should be verified through current land records before any visit. The site should be viewed only from public roads where lawful, and no one should enter the property without permission.

R-07 is no longer an active missile launch facility. The Peacekeeper force at F.E. Warren was deactivated after the end of the Cold War and the changing arms-control environment of the early 2000s. Air Force reporting and Warren public history identify 2005-09-19 as the formal end of the Peacekeeper mission at F.E. Warren. After Peacekeeper deactivation, the former Peacekeeper launch facilities became part of the New START elimination program. F.E. Warren announced in 2013 that fifty previously deactivated F.E. Warren Peacekeeper launch facilities would be permanently eliminated, with current plans calling for the silos to be filled with earth and gravel rather than destroyed by older implosion methods.

For the full Romeo Flight narrative, see R-01 Missile Alert Facility / Launch Control Center

Chronology

• 1964 Approximate early operational period for F.E. Warren Minuteman launch facilities in the Romeo Flight field.
• 1970s F.E. Warren Minuteman facilities were modernized from Minuteman I to Minuteman III; Warren public history states that Minuteman II was never deployed at the base.
• 1980s Selected former Minuteman silos in Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, and Tango Flights were converted for LGM-118A Peacekeeper operation.
• 1986 Peacekeeper reached initial operational capability at F.E. Warren.
• 1988 Fifty Peacekeeper missiles were on alert in modified Minuteman III silos at F.E. Warren.
• 2005-09-19 The Peacekeeper mission formally ended at F.E. Warren.
• 2013-08-23 F.E. Warren announced that fifty previously deactivated F.E. Warren Peacekeeper launch facilities had been selected for permanent elimination under New START.
• 2014 F.E. Warren's public release stated that plans called for elimination of the former Peacekeeper launch facilities north of Cheyenne by December 2014.

Read about the Peacekeeper Missile at F.E. Warren AFB

All Peacekeeper Missile Silo Locations

All Minuteman/Peacekeeper Missile Silo Locations