Minuteman Launch Facility T-09 (Tango-09 LF), Guernsey Wyoming

Launch Facility T-09 was an unmanned Minuteman and later Peacekeeper missile launch facility assigned to T-01 Missile Alert Facility and Tango Flight in the F.E. Warren AFB missile field. Its parent base was F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming; its operating wing was the 90th Strategic Missile Wing during the SAC era and later the 90th Missile Wing; and its Peacekeeper-era squadron was the 400th Missile Squadron. Public Peacekeeper field documentation identifies T-09 as Francis E. Warren AF Missile Site T-09, PIN 8715, ILC GJAB. The site is in Platte County, Wyoming, near Guernsey. It was originally built as a Minuteman launch facility, later held Minuteman III before conversion to Peacekeeper, and was decommissioned after the Peacekeeper force was removed from alert.

T-09 sits in the open agricultural and rangeland landscape of southeastern Wyoming, west of the older Minuteman / Peacekeeper cluster around Guernsey and Wheatland. The coordinates identify the former launch facility compound, not a public access point. As with other Minuteman-origin LFs, T-09 was normally unmanned and was monitored from the associated launch control system rather than staffed by a missile crew on site. Public exterior photographs from 2013 document general views of the former launch facility, the silo area, a cathodic protection control box, a Hardened Intersite Cable System marker, and an M18 smoke grenade visible after training activity.

T-09 was one of the ten dispersed launch facilities assigned to Tango Flight. It began as part of F.E. Warren's Minuteman field, was later associated with Minuteman III, and was among the former Minuteman facilities converted for the LGM-118A Peacekeeper program. Public Air Force history states that Peacekeeper became operational at F.E. Warren in 1986 with 10 missiles, that the Air Force had 50 Peacekeepers in service there by 1988, and that all 50 were deactivated between 2003 and 2005.

On 2013-08-14, after the Peacekeeper mission had ended, the deactivated Tango-09 Launch Facility was used for a public-documented Air Force launch-facility recapture training exercise involving helicopter aircrews and tactical response force members. The official F.E. Warren article described the site as a deactivated Peacekeeper ICBM launch facility near Guernsey and stated that the 620th Ground Combat Training Squadron used it for LF recapture training scenarios. This record is useful because it shows how at least one former Peacekeeper LF remained valuable after deactivation as a realistic training location rather than simply becoming an abandoned or disposed missile property.

T-09 is no longer an operational missile launch facility. It was included in the Peacekeeper deactivation and New START-era silo-elimination documentation for F.E. Warren. The 2013 Environmental Assessment for Minuteman III and Peacekeeper silo elimination covered 50 Peacekeeper launch facilities and five associated Missile Alert Facilities assigned to F.E. Warren; it also listed a June 2007 Tank Closure Report for Launch Facility Tango-9. Current parcel ownership and long-term reuse were not verified. No public access is confirmed; the site should be viewed only from public roads where legal, and visitors should not enter fenced, posted, or private property.

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

Chronology

• 1965-06 F.E. Warren's Minuteman force became operational; T-09 was part of the Minuteman-origin missile field associated with Tango Flight.
• 1975 Minuteman III replaced Minuteman I at F.E. Warren.
• 1986 The first 10 Peacekeeper missiles became operational at F.E. Warren.
• 1988 The Air Force had 50 Peacekeeper missiles in service at F.E. Warren.
• 2005-09-19 The Peacekeeper missiles at F.E. Warren were deactivated.
• 2007-06 A Tank Closure Report was prepared for Launch Facility Tango-9, according to the 2013 silo-elimination EA bibliography.
• 2013-08-14 T-09 was used as a deactivated Peacekeeper LF for Air Force launch-facility recapture training near Guernsey.
• 2013 T-09 appeared in public Peacekeeper field photography with general views, silo-area views, a cathodic-protection-control-box photo, a HICS marker photo, and an M18 smoke grenade photo.
• 2013 The New START-era Minuteman III and Peacekeeper silo-elimination EA addressed the F.E. Warren Peacekeeper launch facilities.

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

All Peacekeeper Missile Silo Locations

All Minuteman/Peacekeeper Missile Silo Locations