Chapter II: The military-industrial Complex, The Missile Gap, and The Atlas ICBM.

 In 1958, I knew Eisenhower was the President. I had never heard of
the military-industrial Complex, The Missile Gap or the Atlas
ICBM.

 I was driving to Cheyenne, Wyo. in my 1955 VW. The 1955 model had
no gas gauge. When it ran out of gas I had to reach down on the
floor and turn a little selector lever. Then I could drive on
reserve for  another 40 miles or so. By the time I reached the
five thousand foot alt. of  Denver and turned North to Cheyenne
that little four cylinder engine was struggling and by the time we
reached the seven thousand feet alt. of Cheyenne it was barely
running. 

 My Sister Louise had a home just off the highway and I arrived
late in the afternoon. My Brother-in-law, a civil engineer, was
the Assistant Project Manager for Fuller Construction. He
explained he had a project going and I could work out the summer
as a laborer for the electricians union. The Fuller Construction
Co. received the primary construction contract to build the first
ICBM launching sites in the USA. 

 My job had very little to do with the Atlas ICBM. When I arrived
at the site, I found some very basic concrete buildings. Other
than the lack of windows they looked little different from any
industrial site. Concrete was being poured and the buildings
lacked any fixtures at all. My job was to haul the electrical
cables from the warehouse area out to the electricians. The
material handler's designation was a good name for day-laborer.
When the electricians were on a job that was too short to support
an apprentice program they used material handlers as gophers.     

 I spent my days getting used to working at seven thousand feet
alt. We loaded trucks filled with conduit and cable then drove
them a half mile or so to a launch pad or launch control center.
Then we unloaded the truck and went back for another load. Days
merged into weeks, weeks into the last part of summer. The
buildings were near completion and the union was phasing out their
material handlers. It would soon be time to saddle up and move on.
 
 Most of the men had been laid off. I was finishing the cleanup
work. Nothing that I had done that summer was different from any
other construction job. The buildings, to me were launch buildings
in name only. There was nothing about the project to get excited
about. Atlas was something far away from me in space and time.
This was just another construction site, and I was just one of
many laborers.

 On the next to last day of my employment I looked up when I heard
the sounds of a hard pulling diesel engine. I saw the smoke
pouring out of the exhausts and gradually a very heavily loaded
semi-trailer emerged from the draw next to the site. As it came
fully into view I could see why it was working so hard to come up
the draw. The tractor was pulling a 70 ft. trailer with an immense
load, covered completely by a great grey shroud.   

 I jumped into my pickup and arrived at  the front gate just as the
first Atlas ICBM arrived. Even covered in grey the missile looked
powerful, enormous and like something out of a Jules Verne story.
Then, in my naivety I was not thinking "big Bomb," I was thinking
"space rocket." 

 From the age of twelve I read all the more popular science fiction
writers. Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Hal Clement and others
took me on many adventures. Two things, other than Wine, Women,
and very little song, filled my fantasy life. Aviation and Science
Fiction. Science fiction and aviation (Aero-Space) had just pulled
up to the front gate. 

 I knew immediately that I wasn't going home. The thought of
leaving without seeing the Atlas unveiled, installed and
operational was ridiculous. I knew my future was sitting in front
of me.
 
 But, I had to find a new job. I learned that the company in charge
of this phase was the Convair/ Astronautics Div. of General
Dynamics. They were interviewing and hiring the next day, in
downtown Cheyenne. The fellow that supplied this information had
recently been hired to be a Safety Inspector. He had been about
the site for several days, wearing his white safety hat and
looking around. I had no qualifications for a safety job but
that's what they were hiring and I was there the next afternoon,
right after work.
 
 My interview was with the Safety Engineer. The fact that I had no
experience was painfully clear. Our discussion reached the subject
of my academic credentials. I talked around the fact that I had
recently been thrown out of college. I rambled on about college
mentioning more about fraternity life than about classes and
grades. Suddenly my interviewer's face became more animated. He
leaned over and said "you and I were in the same fraternity. We
were at different colleges and about 20 years apart but the same 
fraternity."  Once that unimportant fact was established I had the
job. I drove home as the Safety Inspector for Site 6.     

 Wearing my newly acquired white, safety hat, I reported the next
morning for my  employee orientation. The filling out of forms 
included an FBI and Security Classification questionnaire. I would
need a "classified" security level to work on this phase of the
project. I doubted that the incident of the Steak and Shake
Managers jaw would hold up my clearance. A classified government
badge made me feel pretty patriotic and important. I answered
every question completely and truthfully. 

 I then attended an Atlas familiarization course. We studied many
aspects of how the Atlas worked. Its propulsion system, guidance
systems, and support systems. For the first time  in my life I was
academically fascinated. I took many notes and studied in depth.
 
 Each site would have a central building above ground referred to
as the Launch Control Center (LCC). The LCC was surrounded by six
"coffin" launch buildings. The launch buildings, or pads, were
long, low, rectangular, concrete buildings, open at the top. The
roll back steel roof would be installed later. When completed 
they would house the Atlas D series ICBM which was built in San
Diego, by Convair. 

 The Atlas would rest horizontally within the building.  When
tested or launched the roof would be rolled back and a gantry,
supporting the Atlas, would slowly rise to a vertical position.
This would put Atlas into a ready to launch vertical position.  
When the construction and installation phase was complete the
launch buildings would be landscaped. That is, dirt would be
pushed against the outer walls until most of the building
appeared to be under ground. 

 The pads were a labyrinth of equipment. Tanks farms held the RP-1
Fuel (rocket propellant #1), a highly refined kerosene. Liquid
Oxygen (-293 degrees) would provide the oxidizer for the fuel.
Liquid Nitrogen (-320.4 degrees) and Nitrogen gas was used to
maintain the internal pressure of the Atlas, and purge pressure
for lines and systems. 

 The Atlas was like a giant, inflated football. Nitrogen pressure
kept it inflated. The stainless steel skin was less than the
thickness of a dime. The internal baffling separated the various
components. They were not strong enough to support the shape of
the missile. 

 When the Atlas classes were completed I went into the field to
work with a "more experienced" Safety Inspector. He  had been on
the job for three weeks before I arrived. The semi-blind led the
blind, but we got on well. Soon I was feeling more comfortable. I
realized that as little as I knew, those hired even a week after
me, knew less. Most of the day was filled with basic safety and
reports. A portable, high pressure container left unsecured, could
fall over, knock off a valve and cause injury. A man without a
safety hat, might catch a wrench on his head from those working
above.  We looked for basic violations of common sense safety
rules.  

 Then one day, on another pad, a man went into the permanent
nitrogen storage tank area and never came out. Two men going in 
after him were also overcome. A substantial nitrogen leak had
occurred. Nitrogen, being heavier than air, had displaced the air
at ground level. The men had walked into a nitrogen rich
atmosphere and were asphyxiated. They breathed nitrogen until they
passed out. Nitrogen was a very silent killer. 

 It became apparent that I must learn more and learn fast, if I was
to be an effective safety man. Technical knowledge might, one day,
prevent a death. We must also have more safety training for every
employee, contractor and sub-contractor. We also learned we
required better protective and emergency
equipment. 

 My site had an ambulance parked 24 hours a day, right next to the
Launch Control building. The vehicle was a WWII type four wheel
drive with the Red Crosses painted on the sides, top and back.
Every few days I climbed aboard and started the engine to make
sure it would run when required. 

 One afternoon an electrician was downed by a severe heart attack.
This was a man I knew and had worked with during the construction
phase. I ran for the ambulance, got it started and backed it up to
the launch pad. We loaded this man into the ambulance and began
our race for Cheyenne 26 miles away. I was pleased with our speed
of response. We had him on the way to the hospital in less than
fifteen minutes.