Marines

Photo Information

Quantico Logo

Photo by

Last Peacekeeper class graduates

20 Oct 2004 |

The era of the Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile is coming to a close as the last class of Peacekeeper operators graduated here Oct. 15. There will be no more Peacekeepers after September 2005.

Gen. Lance W. Lord, commander of Air Force Space Command, presided over the graduation. The class of six second lieutenants has been assigned to the 400th Missile Squadron at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., where they will remain on duty until the last missile is deactivated.

When development began on the system in the late 1970s, plans called for the missiles to be deployed within a series of protective shelters linked by rail to increase survivability and defend against accurate targeting by enemies.

In 1982, however, the proposal was already proving too slow and costly. As a result, President Reagan ordered a swift deployment of 100 of the missiles to existing launch facilities and designated the system as the Peacekeeper ICBM.

The first test launch of a Peacekeeper occurred here June 17, 1983, and the first full-scale operational missile was manufactured in 1984. Congress capped the project at 50 missiles in 1985 because a mobile, survivable basing plan still had not been realized, and costs were skyrocketing.

The first Peacekeeper was deployed at F.E. Warren in December 1986, and shortly thereafter, the 400th MS assumed operational control of the 50 Peacekeeper missiles. Plans for increased survivability via the rail mobile system eventually were discarded because of budgetary constraints and a changing international climate.

By 1993, the world had changed so much that the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signed by President George H.W. Bush and Russian president Boris Yeltsin, eliminated all nuclear delivery systems with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles. This included the Peacekeeper. As a result, the first Peacekeeper was deactivated Oct. 4, 2002. The remainder will be deactivated by September 2005.

When the 400th MS stands down, these last operators will be reassigned to a Minuteman missile squadron after receiving upgrade training.
Marine Corps Base Quantico