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Black Hills Bandits


Bobby
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This patch was a morale / mascot patch for the 44th Strategic Missile Wing, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. Notice the sets of four stars on each side of the patch. The 44th was inactivated in 1994, so your patch dates before that time. My educated guess is the mid-1970's.

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Johnny Signor

Cheesecloth backing usually in the 60's-70's era ..............

try USAFpatches.com for an image/ID type in the title on the "search" area

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  • 9 years later...
Russ Hall

Here is a useful ewb site

http://www.themilitarystandard.com/missile/minuteman2/ellsworth-deac.php

 

Deactivation of Minuteman II at Ellsworth AFB

The Minuteman II ICBMs at the 44th Strategic Missile Wing (SMW) at Ellsworth Air Force Base became the first missile wing in the country to have its Minuteman II missiles removed under the START Treaty. The deactivation began on 3 December 1991 with the removal of the missile from the Golf-02 silo near Red Owl, South Dakota. The removal of the Air Force's first Minuteman II at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota marked the beginning of the country's Minuteman II disarmament effort. The last Minuteman II missile in South Dakota was removed from its silo in April 1994. The Air Force conducted numerous studies to minimize economic and environmental impacts on the state and conducted public meetings to solicit input on proposed procedures from residents. The Air Force also disseminated information on silo deactivation through the public meetings and newsletters.

A group of Air Force missile maintainers known as the "Black Hills Bandits" held the responsibility for deactivation of the Minuteman II LFs and LCFs at Ellsworth Air Force Base between 1994 and 1997. This group of trained missile technicians worked to develop deactivation procedures customized to the needs of the 44th SMW, including lists of items to save, building maintenance plans, and procedures for handling hazardous waste. The procedures were based on guidelines for deactivation developed by the Air Force. The group developed the "44 MW Deactivation Maintenance Plan" that set out a fifteen-day schedule for Minuteman II deactivation. Some challenges specific to the 44th SMW included developing techniques for handling hazardous materials, such as polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs) or mercury bulbs. A plan also had to be developed for the removal of the weapon guidance and authentication system. On the eleventh day, the SMW turned the LF or LCF over to the base civil engineering squadron to complete deactivation procedures, including the shutdown of the electrical system.

In addition to the deactivation activities described above, LF sites also required imploding the silos, abandoning or removing the azimuth markers located on private land, filling the silo with rubble, and capping the silo with a concrete lid. Crews also filled sewage lagoons and removed diesel storage tanks at LCFs. The silo door was buried in a fourteen-to twenty-foot-deep hole. The site was then graded to predemolition contours and resurfaced with gravel. Non-gravel surfaces were graded and seeded and cathodic protection wells were capped four feet below ground surface. Following deactivation of the fifteen-day deactivation schedule, the sites were placed in caretaker status until the site was turned over to the dismantlement contractor. While in caretaker status Air Force crews maintained the sites, mowing lawns and repairing security fences. Following dismantlement, a second caretaker status ensued until the site was sold to an adjacent landowner. Deactivation procedures were modified for Delta-01 and Delta-09 as they were going to be preserved for interpretative use.

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