Take a tour with us inside the Super-Bunker that can survive anything.
Cheyenne Mountains stand 9,565 feet tall above sea level in the southeast of Pikes Peaks in the Colorado Spring’s background. It may not be a depiction of exceptional beauty if you look at its exterior, but what lies inside the mountain will amaze you. The Cheyenne Mountains contain an installation that is guarded by 2,500 feet of granite, making it the most secure military bunker in the USA. The crew in Cheyenne Mountains collects the data from global surveillance system and analyzes it to alert the government officials regarding the threats to North America.
This underground military city was completed in mid-1960’s during the Cold War, provided that it can protect against nuclear bombs, electromagnetic bombs, biological weapons, and even the electromagnetically destructive radiations from the Sun. The bunker is more of a concern now, given the recent North Korean aggression and nuclear capabilities.
The majority of the safety was provided by the sheer location of the bunker; the massive mountain provides enough shield already. However, 693,000 tons of granite was excavated to make the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, with a two-lane arch of 22 feet leading to the north tunnel. The bunker is protected against bio-particles and radioactive substances with over-pressurization of a rock-walled room with two doors, weighing 25 tons each. Last time, both the doors were closed on 9/11, declaring a ‘buttoned up’ scenario. Otherwise, the blast doors remain open. The complex harbors 6 million gallons of water stored in pools and 510,000 gallons of diesel.
Rusty Mullins, Deputy Director of the Air Force’s 721st Communications Squadron says “You learn to live without any sky, without any outside, but what’s on TV.”
The crew eats ready-to-eat meals, breath filtered air, and produce their own electricity with 10.5 MW power plant, along with six generators. As they say inside the bunker, “Without electricity, it’s just a cave.” The complex has a medical clinic, self-checkout store, gym that can turn into a hospital, and a chapel with a chaplain to help support physical, but emotional needs as well in critical times. For the worst time scenarios, there is a Norad’s alternate command center.
The crew would not be able to work without computers. Hence, the complex shielding provides both physical and digital protection against dead or cyber compromise. In that case where an electromagnetic pulse takes out every electromagnetic device in the Colorado Springs, the Complex will not be affected and its computers and feed-lines will remain secure. It would be as if you were inside a giant metal building or a Faraday’s cage.
The Global Strategic Warning/Space Surveillance Systems Center inside Cheyenne Mountain Complex is where the magic happens. Its details, however, are a matter of national security. The sky-scanning for potential missiles, study of their launch, behavior, and testing, along with mysterious space behavior and heat signature observation and analysis is carried out here. The data is then classified as good, bad, or neutral as reviewed by higher officials.
