Wing furthers commitment to preserving Peacekeeper site

Col. Stephen Kravitsky, 90th Missile Wing commander, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., signs an amendment to an agreement between the base and the state Oct. 5, 2015, in the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne, Wyo. The amendment allows F.E. Warren to dispose of four of the five deactivated Peacekeeper Missile sites it currently maintains. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jason Wiese)

Photo Details / Download Hi-Res
Wing furthers commitment to preserving Peacekeeper site

Milward Simpson, director of the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, speaks at an event in the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne, Wyo., Oct. 5, 2015. Simpson and Col. Stephen Kravitsky, 90th Missile Wing commander, attended the event to sign an amendment to an agreement between F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., and the state regarding the historical preservation of a deactivated Peacekeeper Missile site. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jason Wiese)

Photo Details / Download Hi-Res
Wing furthers commitment to preserving Peacekeeper site

A Peacekeeper Missile replica stands near F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., Gate 1 April 4, 2012. The missile was the most powerful weapon in the U.S. arsenal until its deactivation in 2005. A Peacekeeper Missile site is scheduled to be turned into a museum in Wyoming, the only state in which the missile system was active. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)

Photo Details / Download Hi-Res

Wing furthers commitment to preserving Peacekeeper site

Published Oct. 9, 2015
By Senior Airman Jason Wiese
90th Missile Wing Public Affairs

F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- Col. Stephen Kravitsky, 90th Missile Wing commander, and Milward Simpson, director of the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, signed an amendment to an agreement between the base and state aimed at preserving a deactivated Peacekeeper Missile site as a historic landmark and museum.

The amendment ensures the compliance of the arrangement with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, said Travis Beckwith, 90th Civil Engineer Squadron.

Specifically, the amendment allows the base to dispose of the four other Peacekeeper sites that it has been required to maintain after the historic information and items in those sites have been documented and inventoried.

The Peacekeeper site Q-01 is currently maintained by base personnel because of the role the Peacekeeper played in U.S. and world history. The aim is for Wyoming to take over the maintenance of the site and turn it into a museum open to the public by 2017, Kravitsky said.

"Q-01 is well suited to turn over to the state so they can tell the history of the Peacekeeper missile system," Beckwith said. "These sites played a pivotal role in bringing about the end of the Cold War. This system is the pre-eminent combat system the U.S. has ever developed. The sophistication of it is incredible."

Simpson said it makes him proud that Wyoming played such an integral part of world history by being the only state to house the most powerful weapon the U.S. ever had.

Earlier in his career, Kravitsky was a maintenance officer at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and worked on the Peacekeeper weapon system, so he said preserving the site is important to him. He added it is even more personal for the wing vice commander, Col. Ronald Allen, who was on-alert as a Peacekeeper missileer when the system was still active.

"I encourage everyone to take the opportunity to visit the site once it is open to the public," Kravitsky said. "I will definitely be visiting."