None of us, certainly not me, ever anticipated the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. We definitely did not anticipate the end of the Soviet Union in our own lifetimes or the breakup of the Warsaw Pact military alliance. Before many of us were born, the Cold War began soon after the end of WWII. That's all most of us knew through the Eisenhower years and the U2 debacle, and the Cuban Missile Crisis under President Kennedy, and the Vietnam War during the terms of Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford.
Although the Cold War did end, and many of the U.S. land-based missiles have been removed, and a few missile bases have been closed, the 91st Strategic Missile Wing is still there at Minot AFB, one of only three remaining operational missile units. (When I was on active duty, there were, I believe, three Titan missile units still active, as well as the six Minuteman missile wings. The Titan missiles and wings were deactivated back in the 80's.)
The three Minot missile squadrons--the 740th, 741st, and the 742nd--are still there. The 5th Bomb Wing of B-52H's is also still there. And, unlike in the days before the personal computer, the base, of course, now has a Web site:
Last week, someone even crawled over the fence at an LF as "a sign of protest", prompting a significant security response. Under the link "Art" you can even find the squadron patches that are similar to the ones we wore back then (the name of each squadron is now beneath the main part of the patches, which have not changed). "Clavis Pacis" is still the motto of the 742nd: "Key to Peace". It is now featured above the same main section of the patch: where the blue-outlined, white missile; the green olive branch; the red lightning bolt; and the yellow key are still as they were in my day.
I still have one of my old "crew-blue" uniforms in a plastic bag in the closet. The "Combat Crew" patch is above the right breast pocket. The missile badge is on the left pocket. On the left shoulder is my "Crew Member Excellence" patch that I earned after I received five Highly Qualified (HQ) ratings during my Standardization Board (Standboard) Evaluations as a deputy and crew commander.
I actually received two HQ ratings and two Qualified (Q) ratings as a deputy, and five HQ ratings as a crew commander. I never "busted" a Standboard evaluation. I was the exception to the rueful remark that was often made: "There are two types of crewmen: those who have busted and those who will bust" an evaluation.
Given that most of what I knew from 32 years ago is still in place and functioning, though the equipment has probably seen a number of significant upgrades and improvements, some of what I wrote below at the time I was stationed there is still true, even if the Cold War enemy was defeated a decade after I left Minot.
Resolve
Lengthening
hours of the years we monitor missiles and wait.
I see no change.
Only defeat seems the end of distrust.
The launchers will never dismantle
before they rust,
unless some new device,
some great outmoding force,
appears to replace.
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