View source for Cheyenne Mountain Complex

{{Short description|U.S. Space Force facility in eastern-central Colorado}}{{About|the U.S. Space Force facility in Colorado|the mountain itself|Cheyenne Mountain}}

{{use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name          = Cheyenne Mountain Complex
| native_name   = 
| partof        = 
| location      = Near [[Colorado Springs]], [[Colorado]] in United States
| occupants     = {{Flag|Canada}} {{Flag|United States}}
| coordinates   = {{coord|38|44|33|N|104|50|54|W|type:landmark_region:US-CO|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map   = United States#Colorado#North America
| image         = Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station Base Upgrade Photos (8248119).jpg
| image_size    = 
| caption       = 
| image2        = Emblem of Space Base Delta 1.svg
| alt2          = [[space force Delta 1]]
| type          = [[USNORTHCOM]] alternate joint operations center<ref>https://www.northcom.mil/CheyenneMountain/</ref>
| condition     = Alternate joint operations center
| built         = May 18, 1961 – February 8, 1966
| materials     = 
| used          = {{plainlist|
* Cheyenne Mountain Complex{{r|DelPapa}}{{rp|14}}
* NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex (January 20, 1965){{r|DelPapa}}{{rp|14}}
}}
| ownership     = {{flag|United States}}
| operator      = {{space force|United States}}{{clear}}
{{air force|United States}}{{clear}}
 {{air force|Canada}}{{clear}}
| controlledby  = [[file:Emblem of Space Base Delta 1.svg|23px]] [[Space Base Delta 1]]
}}

'''Cheyenne Mountain Complex''' ('''America's Fortress'''), is a [[Canada–United States relations|bi-national, highly classified, $142.4 million facility]], hosting [[Canada]] and the [[United States]] in [[North America]]. Commanded by [[United States Space Force]] (USSF), the Complex serves as [[collective security]], and a deterrent to a response to a nuclear attack by any party by both outside and within [[NATO]].

Throughout the [[Cold War]], the primary purpose was to deter and counter the threat posed by the [[Soviet Union]] and its [[Satellite state|satellite states]]. The Complex is administered by [[Peterson Space Force Base]]. 

[[NORAD|North American Aerospace Defense Command]],{{Efn|NORAD}} and the [[United States Northern Command]]{{Efn|USNORTHCOM}} main headquarters are now in Colorado Springs, United States, while some components operate in the complex which is inside of the [[Pike National Forest|Pikes Peak National Forest]], Colorado.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Behar |first=Michael |date=September 2018 |title=The Secret World of NORAD" {{!}} "Inside its granite fortress, the agency that has protected North America for 60 years still stands guard. |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/06_sep2018-norad-at-1-180969908/ |access-date=September 22, 2025 |work=[[Smithsonian Magazine]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2025 |title=Most Endangered Places List" {{!}} "NORAD Complex |url=https://nationaltrustcanada.ca/nt-endangered-places/norad-complex |access-date=September 22, 2025 |publisher=[[National Trust for Canada]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-05-12 |title=Things to know: 'The most secure facility in the world' |url=https://apnews.com/article/37e32892f43c41ef98bcc2991b52756d |access-date=2025-09-24 |website=AP News |language=en |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> About 10 miles (16 km) southwest of downtown [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]]. A result of the Pentagon’s [[post–Cold War era]] downsizing, the main components are now located in [[Peterson Space Force Base]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Space Command in Colorado Springs: Timeline |url=https://www.denvergazette.com/2020/12/15/history-of-space-command-in-colorado-springs-timeline-e3da741d-375d-5e90-aa59-0764337bd635/ |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=Denver Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref> Shuttered off due to the 2008 realignment and initiatives from the end of the [[Cold War (1953–1962)|Cold War]], it now operates as an [[Auxiliaries|auxiliary]] nuclear joint-command and control operations center.<ref>[https://www.petersonschriever.spaceforce.mil/Newsroom/News/Display/Article/3952641/sbd-1-participates-in-zombie-run/ SBD 1 participates in Zombie Run] Sanchez, Jamie (31, October, 2024). "SBD 1 participates in Zombie Run". ''Peterson and Schriever Space Force Base''. Retrieved September 22, 2025. <q>Cheyenne trail and through the complex which was built in the late 1950s during the height of the Cold War as a hardened command and control center.</q></ref> Integrated permanently under [[Cheyenne Mountain]], and in the confinements of the [[Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Black |first=Noel |last2=Clint |first2=Carlson |date=April 28, 2023 |title='''Lost Highways: Dispatches from the Shadows of the Rocky Mountains''' {{!}} The Ship Inside the Mountain: A Hidden History of NORAD and North America |url=https://www.historycolorado.org/lost-highways/2023/04/28/ship-inside-mountain-hidden-history-norad-and-north-americas-nuclear |access-date=2025-09-22 |website=www.historycolorado.org |agency=[[NPR News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN {{!}} Encyclopedia of the Great Plains |url=https://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.010.html |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=plainshumanities.unl.edu |agency=Air Force Space Command Public Affairs. Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base. August 1993.}}</ref> The joint–Canada and United States administered Complex can counter as much as a 30 [[TNT equivalent|megaton]] [[nuclear explosion]] from the [[Cold War (1979–1985)|Cold War]] as close as 1.2 miles (1.9 km).<ref>{{cite web |last=McKee |first=Spencer |date=April 12, 2019 |title=The Underground City Inside of Colorado's 9,570-foot Cheyenne Mountain |url=https://www.outtherecolorado.com/features/the-underground-city-inside-of-colorado-s-9-570-foot-cheyenne-mountain/article_ce093a04-5892-50c5-8570-d4a079cb8ebf.html |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=outtherecolorado.com}}</ref>

On September 2, 2025 plans under the official guidance of the [[United States Secretary of Defense]]{{Efn|Alt. Department of War}} [[Pete Hegseth]], and with the official signature of [[Donald Trump|President Donald Trump]], resulted in the [[United States Space Command]]{{Efn|USSPACECOM}} to be relocated to [[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]], Alabama.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Trump Announces Relocation of U.S. Space Command |url=https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4291622/trump-announces-relocation-of-us-space-command/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250919163808/https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4291622/trump-announces-relocation-of-us-space-command/ |archive-date=September 19, 2025 |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=U.S. Department of War |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Jennifer |last2=Watson |first2=Eleanor |last3=Navarro |first3=Aaron |date=September 2, 2025 |title=Trump announces Space Command headquarters moving from Colorado to Alabama |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/trump-announce-space-command-headquarters-location/ |publisher=[[CBS Interactive Inc.]] |agency=[[CBS News]]}}</ref> The Cheyenne Mountain Complex coordinated purpose upon completion, was to counter any [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear threat]] posed by the [[Soviet Union]] and its [[Satellite state|satellite states]].

== Description ==
It is a integrated secure military nuclear [[bunker]], used for crew training and as a backup command center when deemed necessary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=North American Aerospace Defense Command > About NORAD > Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station |url=https://www.norad.mil/About-NORAD/Cheyenne-Mountain-Air-Force-Station/ |website=www.norad.mil}}</ref> The military facility, uses the [[NORAD|North American Aerospace Defence Command]] the [[Air Force Systems Command]] (inactive), in addition to the [[557th Weather Wing|Air Weather Service]], [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]],{{Efn|(FEMA)}} and the [[Civil defense in the United States|United States Civil Defence Early Warning Center]] to remain nuclear deterrent against both threats and actions from both [[United States foreign adversaries|domestic and foreign adversaries of Canada and the United States]].{{r|Angelo}}

== History ==

=== World War II ===
Following the planned [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], the Soviet Union accelerated [[Soviet atomic bomb project|its atomic bomb project]], resulting in the [[RDS-1]] test in 1949. Both sides then pursued an all-out effort, realizing deployable [[thermonuclear weapons]] by the mid-1950s. The race in [[Nuclear weapons testing|nuclear weapon  testing]] reached its climax after the 1961 [[Tsar Bomba]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=How The End Of The Second World War Led To A Nuclear Arms Race |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-the-end-of-the-second-world-war-led-to-a-nuclear-arms-race |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=Imperial War Museums |language=en}}</ref> By 1960, both sides had developed [[Intercontinental ballistic missile|intercontinental ballistic missiles]] and [[Submarine-launched ballistic missile|submarine-launched ballistic missiles]], resulting in the threat of nuclear strike on the [[Continent|international]] level. 

=== Cold War ===
Significant confrontations, and drastic nuclear threats−occurred during the [[Korean War]], the [[First Taiwan Strait Crisis|First]] and [[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis]], the [[Berlin Crisis of 1961]], and more broadly the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Leading to the introduction of the intercontinental armed organization, specified as the North American Air Defense Command, operating under the designation of a nuclear deterrence from nuclear-armed aircraft with the aid of the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]]. In the late 1950s, the missiles from Cuba would be capable of reaching the United States very quickly. A secret proposal was developed to construct a airspace command and control center capable of sheltering multiple major components of the [[United States Armed Forces]] from nuclear missiles, more broadly to deter long–ranged Soviet bombers.{{r|NORAD CMC FS}}

=== Construction ===
[[File:Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station celebrates 50 years 160415-F-SO188-458.jpg|thumb|273x273px|[[NORAD]] F-16 fighter jets]]
By 1957, the first Nuclear Bunker operated within the United States began. The Strategic Air Command began construction in  [[Bare Mountain (Massachusetts)|Bare Mountain]], New England, United States sheltering the [[8th Air Force]], near the [[Westover Air Reserve Base|Westover Air Force Reserve Base]], [[Chicopee, Massachusetts|Chicopee, New England]]. It was fully capable of surviving a [[nuclear explosion|nuclear blast]] and designed so that the senior military staff could facilitate further military operations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WestoverYesterday.com: "The Notch and Grayson: Eighth Air Force's alternative command posts" |url=http://www.westoveryesterday.com/TheNotch.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115201511/http://www.westoveryesterday.com/TheNotch.html |archive-date=2017-11-15 |access-date=2017-11-15}}</ref>  The excavation of the mountainous terrain on Cheyenne Mountain in the vicinity of [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]], Colorado begun on May 18, 1961{{r|NORAD History}}{{rp|18}} under strict supervision of the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] for the construction of the North American Aerospace Defence Command primary Combat Operations Center by the private construction company, [[Utah Construction Company|Utah Construction & Mining Company]].<ref name="Howes">{{cite book |author=Merwin H. Howes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsRx9CoTOtcC |title=Methods and costs of constructing the underground facility of North American Air Defense Command at Cheyenne Mountain, El Paso County, Colo |publisher=U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Mines |year=1966 |pages=iii, 5, 68}}</ref>{{r|NORAD CMC FS}}  

Upon its completion, the Complex was obscured within a speculated 610 [[Metre|metres]] (2,000 [[Foot (unit)|feet]]) of [[granite]] covering an estimated 5 [[Acre|acres]] (2 [[Hectare|hectares]]) of total area on February 8, 1966.<ref name="721 CES">{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Lea |date=July 30, 2012 |title=721st MSG activates squadron, appoints leadership |url=http://www.peterson.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/326637/721st-msg-activates-squadron-appoints-leadership |access-date=July 3, 2016 |publisher=Air Force Space Command}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cheyenne Mountain NORAD |url=https://www.visitcos.com/blog/cheyenne-mountain-colorado-springs-learn-about-cheyenne-mountain-norad/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=Visit Colorado Springs |language=en-US}}</ref> During the following year, the complex achieved [[full operational capability]] on February 6, 1967. The total cost was $142.4 million.{{r|NORAD History}}{{rp|20}}<ref name="CMC">{{cite web |url=http://www.norad.mil/AboutNORAD/CheyenneMountainAirForceStation.aspx |title=Cheyenne Mountain Complex |publisher=NORAD |access-date=February 19, 2015}}</ref> Its systems included a command-and-control system developed by [[Burroughs Corporation]]. The electronics and communications system centralized and automated the instantaneous (one-millionth of a second) evaluation of aerospace surveillance data.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialcollections/index/ArticleOrders/256158.pdf |title=Burroughs Corporation of Detroit to supply NORAD control system |newspaper=The Gazette |location=Colorado Springs, Colorado |date=July 28, 1961 |page=1:4 |via=Pikes Peak Public Library |access-date=February 18, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219075332/http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialcollections/index/ArticleOrders/256158.pdf |archive-date=February 19, 2015}}</ref> The [[Space Defense Center]] moved from [[Ent Air Force Base|Ent AFB]] to the complex in 1965.{{r|NORAD History}}{{rp|20}} The NORAD Combat Operations Center was fully operational April 20, 1966{{r|DelPapa}}{{rp|15}} and The Space Defense Command's [[1st Aerospace Control Squadron]] moved to Cheyenne Mountain that month.<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=13437 |title=1 Space Operations Squadron (AFSPC) |publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency |date=September 6, 2012 |access-date=February 21, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913140051/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=13437 |archive-date=September 13, 2011}}</ref>
[[File:Operation Desert Storm 22.jpg|thumb|269x269px|Destroyed oil refineries from [[Gulf War|Operation Desert Storm]]]]
The following systems or commands became operational between May and October, 1966: The NORAD Attack Warning System,{{r|NORAD History}}{{rp|20}} Combat Operations Command,{{r|DelPapa}}{{rp|19}} and Delta I computer system, which recorded and monitored every detected space system.{{r|DelPapa}}{{rp|19}} By January 4, 1967, the [[United States civil defense|National Civil Defense Warning Center]] was in the bunker.{{r|Lewiston1967}}

=== Post–Cold War era ===

==== Persian Gulf War ====
{{Further|Persian Gulf War|Iraqi invasion of Kuwait}}
During the [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait]] kicking off the [[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]], United States armed forces, and Coalition Forces utilized the Cheyenne Mountain Complex for radar and satellite monitoring, communication and reconnaissance which was provided by Canada and the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Space Command in Colorado Springs: Timeline |url=https://www.denvergazette.com/2020/12/15/history-of-space-command-in-colorado-springs-timeline-e3da741d-375d-5e90-aa59-0764337bd635/ |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=Denver Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>[[File:Vice President visits Colorado Springs (170623-F-JY173-0099).jpg|alt=Fmr. Vice President Mike Pence visits Cheyenne Mountain Complex in a suit.|thumb|271x271px|Fmr. Vice President Mike Pence visits Cheyenne Mountain Complex]]
=== 21st century ===
On the 40th anniversary of the Complex completion former [[Vice president|Vice President]] of the United States, [[Mike Pence]] visited the complex on June 24, 2017, to discuss the recent re-activation of the [[National Space Council]]. On the 80th anniversary of [[World War II]], September 2, 2025, plans under the official guidance of the current [[United States Secretary of Defense]], [[Pete Hegseth]], and with the guided signature of [[Donald Trump|President Donald Trump]], resulted in the [[United States Space Command]], to be relocated from [[Peterson Space Force Base]] to [[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]], Alabama indefinitely.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2025-09-02 |title=Trump announces Space Command will move from Colorado to Alabama |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/02/trump-space-command-alabama-00539888 |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref> Increasing the chance of an attack by an outside party within [[Canada]] and the [[United States]] respectively. The relocation is due to Colorado's [[law]] on [[voting]] by mail.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-02 |title=Trump announces Space Command will move from Colorado to Alabama |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/02/trump-space-command-alabama-00539888 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref> [[File:U S Space Command Provisional Headquarters (7804765).jpg|thumb|273x273px|The site of the original headquarters of Space Command]]

==== COVID 19 pandemic ====
{{Further|COVID-19 pandemic}}
During the [[coronavirus]] [[SARS-CoV-2]]. In January 2020, the [[United States Northern Command]], and [[NORAD|North American Aerospace Command]] normal operations at [[Peterson Space Force Base]] were rearranged temporarily to Cheyenne Mountain Complex amounting to roughly 130 troops. Operating utilizing social distance, approximately 15 troops received no face-to-face contact with a estimated total of 5,000 testing positive for COVID across the [[NORAD|North American Aerospace Command]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-07 |title=NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain Nuclear Fortress Reactivated Amid Coronavirus Crisis |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/pentagon-reactivates-cheyenne-mountain-nuclear-fortress-deal-covid-19-pandemic-2971847 |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=International Business Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Infrastructure ==
{{multiple image<!-- we're cheating -->
| image1            = Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker.png
| total_width       = 250
| footer            = Diagram of tunnels to buildings within the mountain:
* '''Access Tunnel''' (right) with North and South openings at the mountain's east slope,
* '''side tunnels'''{{r|Finley}} to the main chambers and the support area,{{r|Lewiston1967}}
* a '''support area''' including reservoirs (blue), and
* '''main chambers''' (gray grid) for the centers (dark green buildings are 3 story){{r|Finley}} with 3 tunnels {{convert|45|ft|m}} wide, {{convert|60.5|ft|m}} high, and {{convert|588|ft|m}} long intersected by 4 cross tunnels {{convert|32|ft|m}} wide, {{convert|56|ft|m}} high and {{convert|335|ft|m}} long.{{r|Lewiston1967}}
| align             = left
}}
A large network of passages within the Complex, under 2,000 feet of gravel can withstand a [[blast wave]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-21 |title=List of the most known underground military installations around the world |url=https://www.newsweek.com/military-bunkers-underground-iran-list-satellite-images-2087623 |access-date=2025-10-16 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref> Soldiers from the [[United States Army]] aviation regiment, [[210th Aviation Regiment (United States)|210th Engineering Installation Squadron]], are responsible for maintaining the Complex and an additional network of [[Blast valve|blast valves]] with unique filters that can capture airborne [[CBRN defense|chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear]] contaminants.{{r|Terdiman}} 

The Complex is capable<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hagel Assesses Capabilities at Cheyenne Mountain Complex |url=https://www.dvidshub.net/news/507880/hagel-assesses-capabilities-cheyenne-mountain-complex |access-date=2025-10-16 |website=DVIDS |language=en}}</ref> to monitor missiles, space systems, commercial and [[Fighter aircraft|foreign aircraft]]. 

There is a total of fifteen three-story buildings that are protected from movement, e.g., earthquake or explosion, by a system of giant springs connected to the buildings, with flexible pipe connectors to limit the operational effect of movement.{{r|Terdiman}} A total of more than one thousand springs are designed to prevent one of the fifteen buildings from shifting more than 1 inch.{{r|Terdiman}}  The complex is the only underground [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] facility certified to be able to sustain a [[High-altitude nuclear explosion|high-altitude electromagnetic pulse]] (HEMP).{{r|Terdiman}}

=== Exterior ===
The access tunnel to the outside and leading up to the [[Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station]] are the [[Parking lot|parking lots]], a [[fire station]] operated by the 721st Civil Engineer Squadron<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cheyenne Mountain Fire & Emergency Services |url=https://5280fire.com/home/colorado-fire-apparatus-stations/el-paso-county/cheyenne-mountain-fire-emergency-services/ |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=5280Fire |language=en}}</ref><ref name="GNISfire">{{Cite gnis|2667293|Cheyenne Mountain NORAD Air Force Station Fire Department|access-date=July 25, 2012}}</ref>{{efn|The fire station is located at {{Coord|38|44|26|N|104|50|23|W}}.{{r|GNISfire}}}} and outdoor recreational facilities. The recreational amenities include Mountain Man Park, picnic areas, a racquetball facility, softball field, sand volleyball court, basketball court, a putting green, and a horseshoe area.<ref name="PAFBSS">{{cite web |title=Peterson Air Force Support Squadron: CMAFS |url=http://www.21fss.com/about/fitness-center/cmafs/ |access-date=February 20, 2015 |publisher=Peterson Air Force Base |archive-date=February 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220201401/http://www.21fss.com/about/fitness-center/cmafs/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Support ===
The complex has its own power plant, heating and cooling system, and water supply.{{r|721 CES}} The [[21st Space Wing|21st Mission Support Group]](inactive)<ref>{{Cite web |title=721st MSG inactivates, realigns with 21st MSG |url=http://www.peterson.af.mil/News/Article/1806992/721st-msg-inactivates-realigns-with-21st-msg/ |website=Peterson Air Force Base}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> ensures there is reliability of its electricity, water, air conditioning, power, and other support systems.{{r|Terdiman}} The threats, in descending order of likelihood, that the complex may face are "medical emergencies, natural disasters, civil disorder, a conventional attack, an electromagnetic pulse attack, a cyber or information attack, chemical or biological or radiological attack, an improvised nuclear attack, a limited nuclear attack, [and] a general nuclear attack." The least likely events are the most hazardous.{{r|Terdiman}}[[File:NORADBlast-Doors.jpg|thumb|The 25-ton North [[blast door]] is the main entrance to another blast door (background) beyond which the side tunnel branches into access tunnels to the main chambers.|left]]There is more water produced by mountain springs than the base requires, and a 1,500,000-gallon (5,700,000-litre) reservoir ensures that even in event of fire, there is enough water to meet the facility's needs. A reservoir of 4,500,000 gallons (17,000,000 litres) of water is used as a heat sink.{{r|Terdiman}} There is a "massive" reservoir for diesel fuel and a "huge" battery bank with redundant power generators.{{r|Terdiman}} There are a large quantity of cots for most of the personnel, including suites for high-ranking [[military personnel]] of the [[Military|armed forces]] within the bunker. Amenities include a [[Health facility|medical facility]], [[Shopping|market]], [[cafeteria]],{{r|Terdiman}} and [[Health club|fitness centers]]; both inside and outside the mountain.{{r|PAFBSS}}

== Renovations ==

=== Air Defense Command satellite systems ===
[[System Development Corporation]] updated Air Defense Command satellite information processing systems for $15,850,542 on January 19, 1973.{{r|DelPapa}}<ref name="Lowell">{{cite news |date=January 22, 1973 |title=Hanscom group awards NORAD contract |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/lowell-sun/1973-01-22/page-9/ |format=NewspaperArchive scan |newspaper=[[The Sun (Lowell)]] |access-date=February 22, 2015}}</ref> The improvements were primarily to the Space Computational Center's displays and application software, which was updated to provide real-time positioning of orbiting space systems for the NORAD Combat Operation Center. The first phase, which established a system integrator and modernized the communications to a major data processing system, was completed in October 1972.{{r|Lowell}}

=== Ballistic Missile Defense Center ===
The [[Missile Defense Integration and Operations Center|Ballistic Missile Defense Center]] (BMDC) BW 1.2 release was installed in February 1974 in the Combat Operations Center, under the command of CONAD. The [[Safeguard Program|Safeguard]] command and control system, operated by the commander, communicated warnings, observation data, and attack assessment to the Combat Operations Center. It was also designed to release nuclear weapons.<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Chapter 12. Ballistic Missile Defense Center |chapter-url=http://srmsc.org/pdf/004434p0.pdf |title=ABM R & D at Bell Laboratories: Project History, Part II |url=http://srmsc.org/ref1020.html#p2ch12 |access-date=August 6, 2012 |pages=1, 3}}</ref>

=== Combat Operations Center ===
By 1978, five operating centers and a command post resided within the NORAD Combat Operations Center. The Space Computational Center catalogued and tracked space objects. The Intelligence Center analyzed intelligence data. Data was consolidated and displayed in the Command Post by the System Center. The Weather Support Unit monitored local and global weather patterns. The NORAD Commander's wartime staff reported to the Battle Staff Support Center.{{r|GAO1978}}{{rp|5}}

=== Space Defense Center ===
The [[Space Defense Center|Space Defense Operations Center]] (SPADOC), established on October 1, 1979, consolidated United States Air Force satellite survivability, space surveillance, and US ASAT operations into one wartime space activities hub at the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Maj. Michael Muolo |author2=Maj. Richard A. Hand |title=Space Handbook: A War Fighter's Guide to Space |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gaZmwJUBeIsC&pg=PA39 |date=October 1, 1994 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=978-0-7881-1297-3 |page=39}}</ref> Space surveillance and missile warning functions were performed by the Core Processing Segment (CPS) using [[Worldwide Military Command and Control System]]'s Honeywell H6080 computers at the SPADOC Computational Center (SCC) and NORAD Computer System (NCS). A third computer was operational backup for SCC or NCS. By 1981, the H6080 failed to meet the requirements for timely computations.<ref name=WWMCCS>{{cite report |date=January 19, 1981 |title=Modernization of the WWMCCS Information System (WIS) |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a095409.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224101313/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a095409.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |format=ADA095409 |publisher=[[United States House Committee on Armed Services]] |access-date=August 29, 2012}}</ref>{{rp|54}} [[Space Detection and Tracking System|SPADATS]] was deactivated about 1980, although some of its logic continued on in SPADOC systems.<ref name="Weeden p. 4">{{cite web |url=http://swfound.org/media/15742/computer%20systems%20and%20algorithms%20for%20space%20situational%20awareness%20-%20history%20and%20future%20development.pdf |title=Computer Systems and Algorithms for Space Situational Awareness: History and Future Development |author1=Brian C. Weeden |author2=Paul J. Cefola |work=ISCOPS 12th International Conference of Pacific-Basin Societies |publisher=Advances in the Astronautical Sciences |via=Secure World Foundation |date=December 1, 2010 |volume=138 |pages=3–4 |access-date=February 23, 2015}}</ref>

=== Cheyenne Mountain Complex Improvements Program (427M) ===
NORAD had a series of warning and assessment systems that were not fully automated in the Cheyenne Mountain complex into the 1970s. In 1979, the Cheyenne Mountain Complex Improvements Program 427M system became fully operational.{{r|CMU}}{{r|DelPapa}}{{rp|27,93}} It was a consolidated Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade program for command center, space, ballistic missile, and space functions, developed using new software technology and designed for computers with large processing capacity.{{r|CMU}}{{r|GAO1978}}{{rp|39}} There were three major segments of the 427M system: the Communication System Segment (CSS), NORAD Computer System (NCS), and Space Computational Center (SCC).{{r|Comptroller}}{{rp|Chapter 1:2}} The 425L Command and Control System, Display Information Processor, Command Center Processing System, and other hardware were replaced by the NORAD Computer System (NCS). The new system was designed to centralize several databases, improve on-line display capabilities, and consolidate mission warning information processing and transmission. It was intended to have greater reliability and quicker early warning capability.{{r|GAO1978}}{{rp|9}} The Command Center Processing System's [[UNIVAC 1100/2200 series#Semiconductor memory series|original UNIVAC 1106]], re-purposed for Mission Essential Back-up Capability (MEBU),{{r|GAO1978}}{{rp|9}} was upgraded to the more robust [[UNIVAC 1100/2200 series#Semiconductor memory series|UNIVAC 1100/42]].{{r|WWMCCS}}{{rp|55}} The 427M system, intended to modernize systems and improve performance, was initially "wholly ineffective" and resulted in several failures of the [[Worldwide Military Command and Control System]] (WWMCCS) system.<ref>{{cite book |title=The World Wide Military Command and Control System evolution and effectiveness |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AIBRdaeLeXMC&pg=PA244 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=978-1-4289-9086-9 |pages=244–246|year = 2000}}</ref>

In 1979 and 1980, there were a few instances when false missile warnings were generated by the Cheyenne Mountain complex systems. For instance, a computer chip "went haywire" and issued false missile warnings, which raised the possibility that a nuclear war could be started accidentally, based upon incorrect data. Staff analyzed the data and found that the warnings were erroneous, and the systems were updated to identify false alarms. Gen. [[James V. Hartinger]] of the Air Force stated that "his primary responsibility is to provide Washington with what he calls 'timely, unambiguous, reliable warning' that a raid on North America has begun." He explained that there are about 6,700 messages generated on average each hour in 1979 and 1980 and all had been processed without error.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/29/us/nuclear-missiles-warning-system-and-the-question-of-when-to-fire.html?pagewanted=1 |author=Richard Halloran |title=Nuclear Missiles: Warning System and the Question of When to Fire |date=May 29, 1983 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=February 22, 2015}}</ref> An off-site testing facility was established in Colorado Springs by NORAD in late 1979 or early 1980 so that system changes could be tested off-line before they were moved into production. Following another failure in 1980, a bad computer chip was updated, and staff and commander processes were improved to better respond to warnings.<ref>{{cite book |title=The World Wide Military Command and Control System evolution and effectiveness |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AIBRdaeLeXMC&pg=PA244 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=978-1-4289-9086-9 |pages=249–253 |year=2000}}</ref>

The Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade (CMU) of November 1988, designed to consolidate five improvement programs, was not installed because it was not compatible with other systems at Cheyenne Mountain and it did not meet the defined specifications according to deficiencies identified during testing.<ref>{{Cite report |date=April 1991 |title=Costs to Modernize NORAD's Computer System Significantly Understated |url=http://gao.justia.com/department-of-defense/1991/4/attack-warning-imtec-91-23/IMTEC-91-23-full-report.pdf |format=Report to the Chairman,[House] Subcommittee on Defense [Appropriations] |publisher=General Accounting Office |access-date=February 22, 2015}} (also available at www.gao.gov/assets/220/211682.pdf)</ref>{{rp|15}} The five improvement programs were the CCPDS Replacement (CCPDS-R), CSS Replacement (CSS-R)<!--GAO1989-->, Granite Sentry upgrade<!--"upgrade" at {{r|CMU}}-->, SCIS, and SPADOC 4.{{r|Weeden}} SPADOC 4 was for upgrading the SCC with primary and backup [[:Category:IBM mainframe computers|3090-200J mainframes]]),{{r|Weeden}} and SPADOC 4 block A achieved [[initial operating capability]] (IOC) in April 1989.{{r|GAO1989}} The CSS-R "first element" achieved IOC on April 12, 1991;<ref>{{cite journal |date=June 1991 |title=New communications system operating |journal=Space Trace |publisher=Air Force Space Command |page=5}} (also on p. 5: "''Air Force" Space Command's headquarters building ... received the prestigious Secretary of Defense Blue Seal Award...May 13 ''[designed by]'' Peckham, Guyton, Albers and Viets, Inc. ... ground breaking ceremony on August 28, 1985 ''[occupied]'' in November 1987. ''[The last such award]'' was the [[United States Air Force Academy|Air Force Academy]] Visitor Center in 1988.''")</ref> and the 427M system was replaced {{circa|lk=no|1992}}. The CSSR, SCIS, Granite Sentry, CCPDS-R, and their interfaces were tested in 1997. Testing of Granite Sentry [[nuclear detonation]] (NUDET) data processing system found it to be inadequate.<ref name=CMU>{{cite report |title=FY97 DOT&E Annual Report |url=http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/dote97/index.html |chapter=Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade (CMU) |chapter-url=http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/dote97/97cmu.html |format=webpage transcription <!--of chapter--> |access-date=2012-09-09}}</ref>

=== Joint Surveillance System ===
The [[Joint Surveillance System]] (JSS), developed under an agreement with the Canadian government, became fully operational in seven Region Operations Control Centers (ROCCs) on December 23, 1983.{{r|DelPapa}}{{rp|49,57}} The Joint Surveillance System was implemented to replace [[Semi-Automatic Ground Environment]] (SAGE).{{r|Chronology}}

=== Survivable Communications Integration System ===
In 1986, Congress approved development of the [[Survivable Communications Integration System]] (SCIS) to communicate missile warning messages simultaneously over many forms of media, but it was subject to delays and cost overruns. By 1992, the project was estimated to be delayed to 1995 and cost projected to increase from $142 million to $234 million.<ref name=ADA298099>{{cite report |date=July 1992 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA298099 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413065059/http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA298099 |url-status=live |archive-date=April 13, 2015 |series=Attack Warning |title=Status of the Survivable Communications Integration System |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center |access-date=2012-11-27}}</ref>{{rp|2,9–10}}

=== Other systems ===
By 1992, the [[United States Space Command|U.S. Space Command]] Space Surveillance Center (SSC) was the data analysis and tracking center for [[Baker-Nunn camera]] images<ref>{{cite book |author=Office of Public Affairs |year=1992 |chapter=Space Control: Space Surveillance |title=Space Command |type=booklet |publisher=HQ [[Air Force Space Command]] |page=12}}</ref> and Cheyenne Mountain was connected to the [[AN/URC-117 Ground Wave Emergency Network]] (GWEN){{r|ADA298099}}{{Rp|16}} communication site in [[Pueblo, Colorado]]. By 1995, the [[Globus II|AN/FPS-129 HAVE STARE]] (Globus II) radar in California had been upgraded to "relay data to Cheyenne Mountain",{{r|MarOct}} and by October 1995 the [[1st Space Control Squadron|1st Command and Control Squadron]] (1CACS) in the bunker{{where|in which facility-Space Surveillance Center?|date=January 2012}} was providing space [[collision avoidance (spacecraft)|collision avoidance]] data to the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center's space control center.<ref name=Price>{{cite news |last=Price |first=SSgt Elton |date=October 1995 |title=Space insurance |newspaper=Guardian |publisher=Air Force Space Command}}</ref>

In June 1993, the Cheyenne Mountain Complex Operations Center had the USSPACE and NORAD Command Center,<!--Chapter 12 p. 91--> NORAD Air Defense Operations Center (ADOC), NORAD/USSPACECOM Combined Intelligence Watch Center (CIWC), USSPACECOM Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC), USSPACECOM Space Surveillance Center (SSC), AFSPACECOM Weather Operations Center, and the AFSPACECOM Systems Center within its facility.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bontrager |first1=Capt. Mark D |date=August 1, 1993 |edition=Third |chapter=Chapter14: Cheyenne Mountain Complex Operations Center Overview |title=Space Operations Orientation Course Handbook |location=Peterson AFB |publisher=21st Crew Training Squadron |page=1}}</ref>

Plans to house the USSPACECOM and NORAD command centers in the same location began by July 1994.<ref name=Orban1994>{{cite news |last=Orban |first=SSgt. Brian |date=July 1994 |title=Outstanding! |newspaper=Guardian}}</ref> A $450 million upgrade was made to the missile warning center beginning in February 1995. The effort was part of a $1.7 billion renovation program for Cheyenne Mountain.<ref name=Orban1995>{{cite news |last=Orban |first=SSgt. Brian |date=February 1995 |title=The trip wire |newspaper=Guardian |publisher=Air Force Space Command |page=6}}</ref>

'Granite Sentry' was an improvement program for the complex.<ref name=DefenseDaily>{{Cite news |date=May 4, 1993 |title=title tbd |url=http://business.highbeam.com/408155/article-1G1-13712576/cta-inc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030442/http://business.highbeam.com/408155/article-1G1-13712576/cta-inc |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |journal=Defense Daily |accessdate=2012-09-18 |quote=''CTA, Inc., Rockville, Md., $19 million (Estimated) indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for a maximum of 416,000 direct labor hours in support of the Granite Sentry Program, which will provide various software, hardware, and facility improvements to the NORAD Command Center, Air Defense Operations Center, the Battle Staff Support Center, and other agencies located at Cheyenne Mountain AFB, Colo.''}}</ref> It aimed "to provide a Message Processing Subsystem and a Video Distribution Subsystem, and [to upgrade] the NORAD Computer System display capability and four major centers: (1) the [[Air Defense Operations Center]], (2) the NORAD Command Center, (3) the Battle Staff Support Center, and (4) the Weather Support Unit."{{r|CMU}} It was also to process and display "[[nuclear detection]] data provided from the Integrated Correlation and Display System."{{r|CMU}}  For $230 million the program was also to "replace display screens of the Attack Warning and Attack Assessment System." It was delayed from 1993 to 1996.<ref name=Weeden/> 

Granite Sentry and other [[Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade]] interfaces were tested in 1997, and Granite Sentry's processing regarding "simulated [[nuclear detonation|[nuclear] detonation]] messages...injected into the [[Defense Support Program]] Data Distribution Center [was] not adequate...".<ref name=CMU/>
 
The Combatant Commander's Integrated Command and Control System (CCIC2S) program began in 2000 with a [[Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors|Lockheed Martin<!-- Mission Systems-->]]<ref name=LivingMoon>{{cite web |url=http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/02files/Space_Command01.html |title=Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (CMOC) |format=TheLivingMoon.com mirror webpage of former "Official Site" |access-date=2012-08-09}}</ref> contract "to upgrade all of the mission systems within Cheyenne Mountain, which included the space surveillance systems" for delivery in 2006.{{r|Weeden}}{{Rp|11}} The portion of CCIC2S modernizing "attack warning systems within Cheyenne Mountain [was to] cost more than $700 million from fiscal years 2000 to 2006",<ref>{{cite report |title=Defense Acquisitions: Further Management and Oversight Changes Needed for Efforts to Modernize Cheyenne Mountain Attack Warning Systems (GAO-06-666) |publisher=GAO |date=July 6, 2006}} [cited by [http://www.gao.gov/assets/100/94893.pdf GAO-07-803R p. 1, ref 4] af</ref> and the delayed CCIC2S upgrades for space surveillance were superseded{{when|date=January 2013}} by systems for the [[Joint Space Operations Center]]'s Space C2 program and [[Integrated Space Situational Awareness]] program.{{r|Weeden}}{{Rp|11}}

By 2003, consoles for the [[Missile defense#Mid-course phase|Ground-Based Mid-Course Defense (GMD)]] had been contracted for Cheyenne Mountain,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416646.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224110049/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416646.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |title=Near Term Command and Control of Homeland Air and Missile Defense |publisher=Dtic.mil |access-date=2012-11-27}}</ref> and the planned 18 month Cheyenne Mountain Realignment to move Command Center operations to Peterson AFB<ref>{{cite report |date=January 28, 2008 |title=Homeland Security: Roles and Missions for United States Northern Command |url=http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl34342.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010150433/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl34342.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 10, 2011 |format=CRS Report for Congress: Order Code RL34342 |publisher=Congressional Research Service |access-date=2012-07-22}}</ref> was complete by May 13, 2008.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Harrell |first=Eben |date=June 27, 2008 |title=Still Training for the End of the World |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1826276,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080729100659/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1826276,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 29, 2008 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=2012-07-28}}</ref> On August 3, 2011, a ribbon cutting was held for the January 2010 – June 30, 2011, Missile Warning Center renovation funded by [[United States Strategic Command|USSTRATCOM]].<ref name=Unveils>{{cite web |url=http://csmng.com/2011/08/17/cheyenne-mountain-unveils-renovated-missile-warning-center/ |title=Cheyenne Mountain unveils renovated Missile Warning Center |publisher=Colorado Springs Military Newspaper Group (CSMNG) |access-date=2012-10-02 |date=2011-08-17 |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224100027/http://csmng.com/2011/08/17/cheyenne-mountain-unveils-renovated-missile-warning-center/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Over the years, the installation came to house elements of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), [[United States Strategic Command|U.S. Strategic Command]], [[Air Force Space Command|U.S. Air Force Space Command]] and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM). Under what became known as the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (CMOC), several centers supported the NORAD missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control and provided warning of ballistic missile or air attacks against North America.{{r|NORAD CMC FS}}

=== Peterson and Vandenberg Air Force Bases ===
On July 28, 2006, the Cheyenne Mountain Directorate{{efn|The Cheyenne Mountain Directorate was previously called the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center.{{r|GAO}}}} was re-designated as the [[Cheyenne Mountain Division]], with the mission to assist in establishing an integrated NORAD and USNORTHCOM Command Center within the headquarters building at [[Peterson Air Force Base]].{{r|NORAD CMC FS}} The Unified Space Vault and the Space Control Center were moved from Cheyenne Mountain to the [[Joint Space Operations Center]] at [[Vandenberg Air Force Base]] about October 2007.{{r|GAO2007}}{{Rp|8}}

In 2006, NORAD relocated to a basement<ref name="washingtontimes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/05/a-dangerous-move/?page=all |title=Dangerous move for NORAD? |work=The Washington Times |access-date=December 9, 2014}}</ref> in the Peterson No. 2 building at the nearby [[Peterson Air Force Base|Peterson AFB]]. Northern Command and Space Command<ref name="washingtontimes.com"/> and Canadian military defense partners relocated at Peterson.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_4103478 |title=Military to put Cheyenne Mountain on standby |publisher=Denverpost.com |access-date=December 9, 2014|date=2006-07-27}}</ref> The Cheyenne Mountain complex is maintained by a skeleton crew and no longer operates on a [[24/7 service|24/7]] basis. The complex is on "warm standby", meaning it is only staffed when required.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/norad2.htm |title=Cheyenne Mountain – HowStuffWorks |work=HowStuffWorks |access-date=December 9, 2014 |date=2007-08-28}}</ref>

On the fiftieth anniversary of the NORAD agreement—May 12, 2008—the Command Center located within Cheyenne Mountain Complex was officially re-designated as the NORAD and USNORTHCOM Alternate Command Center. The Cheyenne Mountain Division of NORAD and USNORTHCOM was re-designated as the J36 branch within the NORAD and USNORTHCOM's Operations Directorates.{{r|NORAD CMC FS}}

=== NORAD Alternate Command ===
Since 2002, the complex has been classed as Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and has been used in crew qualification training, while the former command function has been redesignated as the "NORAD and USNORTHCOM Alternate Command Center" since 2008 after all the original functions of the complex were removed to Peterson Air Force Base.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.norad.mil/AboutNORAD/CheyenneMountainAirForceStation.aspx |title=North American Aerospace Defense Command |publisher=Norad.mil |access-date=December 9, 2014}}</ref> The complex is maintained by the 21st Mission Support Group which provides support and maintenance for the 'NORAD/USNORTHCOM's training, exercise and alternate command center functions, U.S. Strategic Command's Missile Warning Center, Detachment 2 of the 17th Test Squadron, Air Force Technical Applications Center's research laboratory, the Defense Intelligence Agency's Western Continental United States Regional Service Center'.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mybaseguide.com/air_force/66-200/peterson_afb_21st_space_wing |title=PETERSON AFB |publisher=Mybaseguide.com |access-date=December 9, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129144541/http://www.mybaseguide.com/air_force/66-200/peterson_afb_21st_space_wing |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station]] is owned and operated by Air Force Space Command. NORAD and USNORTHCOM now use just under 30% of the floor space within the complex and make up approximately 5% of the population at Cheyenne Mountain.{{r|NORAD CMC FS}} The Cheyenne Mountain Complex serves as NORAD and USNORTHCOM's Alternate Command Center and as a training site for crew qualification. Day-to-day crew operations for NORAD and USNORTHCOM typically take place at Peterson Air Force Base.{{r|NORAD CMC FS}}

=== Migration of NORAD communications to Cheyenne Mountain ===
In early 2015, Admiral [[William E. Gortney]], commander of NORAD and NORTHCOM, announced a $700 million contract with [[Raytheon]] to move systems into the complex to shield it from [[electromagnetic pulse]] attack, with additional work to be done at [[Vandenberg Air Force Base|Vandenberg]] and [[Offutt Air Force Base|Offutt]]. According to Gortney, "because of the very nature of the way that Cheyenne Mountain's built, it's EMP-hardened. And so, there's a lot of movement to put capability into Cheyenne Mountain and to be able to communicate in there".<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=AFP |date=April 7, 2015 |title=US aerospace command moving comms gear back to Cold War bunker |url=https://news.yahoo.com/us-aerospace-command-moving-comms-gear-back-cold-015320113.html |newspaper=Yahoo News |access-date=April 9, 2015}}</ref><ref name="AFP/Defense News">{{cite web |url=http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/international/americas/2015/04/08/norad-moving-comms-gear-back-to-mountain-bunker/25470435/ |title=NORAD Moving Comms Gear Back To Mountain Bunker |publisher=Sightline Media Group |date=April 8, 2015 |access-date=January 8, 2016}}</ref><ref name="defenseone">{{cite web |url=http://www.defenseone.com/management/2015/04/pentagon-moves-more-communications-gear-cheyenne-mountain/109549/ |title=NORAD Moving Comms Gear Back To Mountain Bunker |publisher=National Journal Group, Inc |date=April 7, 2015 |access-date=January 8, 2016 |author=Weisgerber, Marcus}}</ref>

== Units ==
Electronic Systems Division Detachment 10 at [[Ent AFB]] became <!--ESD Detachment 10, -->the Cheyenne Mountain Complex Management Office (CMCMO) in 1963,{{r|DelPapa}} the year the Chidlaw Combined Operations Center began operations; and on February 15, 1980, ESD Detachment 2 was established{{r|DelPapa}} at the "Cheyenne Mountain Complex" (Det 2 became the [[Air Force Systems Command|AFSC]] focal point during the Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade.){{r|GAO1989}} [[Aerospace Defense Command]] organizations in the bunker became a specified command when the major command ended in 1980; e.g., the J31 unit of HQ NORAD/ADCOM subsequently staffed the Space Surveillance Center in the same room as the Missile Warning Center (separated by partitions).{{r|Chronology}}<!--{{Rp|FAS}}--> The "HQ Cheyenne Mountain Support Group ... was activated at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex" in October 1981{{r|Chronology}}<!--{{Rp|FAS}}--> to support the [[Aerospace Defense Center]]'s operation of the NORAD combat operations center".<ref name=Lepingwell>{{cite report |last=Lepingwell |first=John W. R. |date=June 1986 |title=Soviet Assessments of North American Air Defense |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a223378.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224095058/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a223378.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |format=Research Report No. 86-2 p |location=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] Center for International Studies |publisher=Soviet Security Studies Working Group |access-date=2012-07-31}}</ref> In 1983 the [[Foreign Technology Division]] had an operating location at the bunker<ref>{{cite report |last=Fennessy |first=D |date=January 12, 1983 |title=Analysis of Cosmos 1220 and Cosmos 1306 Fragments (Secret) – Report AH-23 |publisher=FTD/OLAI |location=Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado}}</ref> and in 1992, an airman of the "1010th [[List of United States Air Force civil engineering squadrons|Civil Engineering Squadron]] at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base" developed a [[Stereoscopy|3-D]] [[AutoCAD]] model of the bunker "to zoom in on a specific room".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hall |first=SSgt Jesse |date=April 1991 |title=Mapping the mountain |newspaper=Space Trace: The Air Force Space Command Magazine ... funded Air Force newspaper |page=12 |quote=at Cheyenne Mountain AFB...Amn. Steven H. Leser ... is currently working a "pet project" that offers engineers a three-dimensional drawing of Cheyenne Mountain's interior.}}<br />{{cite journal |date=March 1992 |title=CES airmen is first termer of year |journal=Space Trace |page=13}} (additional article in March 1992 p. 13 identifies the "47th Communications Group, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base")</ref>

By 1995 a "missile operations section" supported the missile warning center,{{r|Orban1995}} and in 2001 the 1989 1CACS at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station was renamed the [[1st Space Control Squadron]].<ref name=AFHRA9711>{{cite web |title=1 Space Control Squadron (AFSPC) |url=http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=9711&page=1 |format=USAF Fact Sheet |publisher=[[Air Force Historical Research Agency|AFHRA]].af.mil |access-date=2012-09-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219162618/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=9711&page=1 |archive-date=2014-12-19}}</ref> On June 24, 1994, when the "[[Joint Task Force]] – Cheyenne Mountain Operations organization was brought online to take responsibility for the installation", Brig. Gen. Donald Peterson was the commander of the JTF,<ref name=TaskForce>{{cite news |date=July 1994 |title=Joint Task Force activates |newspaper=Guardian |page=12}}</ref> which was renamed the "[[United States Space Command|U.S. Space Command]] Cheyenne Mountain operations center" by March 1995.<ref name=MarOct> {{cite news |author=Rick W. Sturdevant|title=From Satellite Tracking to Space Situational Awareness: The USAF and Space Surveillance, 1957-2007|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26275054.pdf|journal=Air Power History |volume=55 |number=4|date=Winter 2008|pages=4–23|jstor=26275054}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=June 1996 |title=Recognizing its best |newspaper=Guardian}}</ref> On July 28, 2006, the Cheyenne Mountain Realignment{{r|GAO2007}} redesignated the Cheyenne Mountain Directorate to the Cheyenne Mountain Division.{{r|NORADmil}} Circa 2004 the bunker included the [[17th Test Squadron]]'s Detachment 2 and [[Air Force Technical Applications Center|AFTAC's]] research laboratory,<ref name="mirror">{{cite web |title=AFSPC Cheyenne Mountain AFS |url=https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=join_change_the_world.showPledgeDriverDetails&cpd_id=18707 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605134717/https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=join_change_the_world.showPledgeDriverDetails&cpd_id=18707 |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |access-date=2013-01-24 |publisher=Energystar.gov}} (mirror website of {{circa|2004|lk=no}} webpage at www.cheyennemountain.af.mil)[https://archive.today/20130216190150/http://www.sg1archive.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6463&st=120]</ref> in 2008 Detachment 1 of the [[392d Training Squadron]] <!--at the [[Joint National Integration Center]] -->operated the Cheyenne Mountain Training System (CMTS),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.schriever.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080129-134.pdf |title=Schriever Air Force Base Brochure |publisher=Schriever.af.mil |access-date=December 9, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611162614/http://www.schriever.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080129-134.pdf |archive-date=June 11, 2014}}</ref> and in 2011 the installation's 721st [[List of United States Air Force security forces squadrons|SFS]] was expanded.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afa.org/edop/2010/AFforcestructureAnnounc_051110.pdf|title=United States Air Force – Fiscal Year 2011 Force Structure Announcement|format=[[Air Force Association|AFA]].org webpage|publisher=Public Affairs|access-date=2012-11-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916071447/http://www.afa.org/edop/2010/AFforcestructureAnnounc_051110.pdf|archive-date=2012-09-16}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
=== Movies ===
* ''[[WarGames]]'' (1983) is set partly at the command center, where it was codenamed "Crystal Palace".{{r|Lowe}}
* ''[[Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines]]'' (2003) ends its story inside a 1960s-era nuclear bunker complex for VIPs named “Crystal Peak,” located in the Californian Sierras. Its entrance is visually identical to the eastward tunnel opening of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.
* ''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]'' (2014) has NASA's main command center within the bunker at Cheyenne Mountain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/12/cheyenne-mountain-norad-pop-culture/71074868/|title=From 'War Games' to 'Interstellar': NORAD's bunker is a film favorite|website=USA Today}}</ref>

=== Television ===
* In ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' and its spin-offs, Cheyenne Mountain houses "Stargate Command", a top-secret unit of the United States Air Force that uses the titular Stargate to explore [[exoplanets]].{{r|Kneis}} In recognition of the series' close relationship with the real-life Air Force, there is now a broom closet in the real Cheyenne Mountain Complex called "Stargate Command".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cheyenne-mountain-nuclear-bunker|title=Cheyenne Mountain Nuclear Bunker|website=Atlas Obscura}}</ref>
* The bunker is also a setting in the series ''[[Jeremiah (TV series)|Jeremiah]]''.{{r|Wright}}
* The base appears in [[List of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn episodes|Episode 7]] of the series ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn]]''. Here, the bunker is depicted as an Earth Federation base and used as firing control for the Gryps 2 colony laser.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

===Video games===
* In ''[[Horizon: Zero Dawn]]'', Cheyenne Mountain is known as All-Mother Mountain, and the Complex has been retrofitted as a Cradle facility prior to the apocalypse. The protagonist, Aloy, was found inside the facility.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
* ''[[The Terminator: Dawn of Fate]]'' included the facility as having been repurposed as Skynet's primary base of operations, something which was alluded to in the films. By the end of the game, the base is heavily damaged when the Resistance use the Time Displacement chamber to send [[Kyle Reese]] back to [[1984]] to save [[Sarah Connor (Terminator)|Sarah Connor]].{{cn|date=September 2024}}
* ''[[Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2]]'' included the facility in a cutscene after a nuclear attack on [[Washington DC]]
* In ''[[Wasteland 3]]'': Cult of the Holy Detonation, Cheyenne Mountain houses a power production facility that harvests energy from time-dilated nuclear explosion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-08-25-wasteland-3-cult-of-the-holy-detonation-is-the-last-dlc-for-the-game|title=Wasteland 3: Cult of the Holy Detonation is the last DLC for the game|first=Wesley|last=Yin-Poole|work=[[Eurogamer]]|date=August 25, 2021|access-date=August 27, 2021}}</ref>

===Online media===
* In 2025, YouTuber [[MrBeast]] featured the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in his video "$1 vs $1,000,000,000 Nuclear Bunker!", offering viewers a rare glimpse inside the facility and exploring its advanced defense systems. The segment begins around the 12:25 mark. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AbFXuGDRTs $1 vs $1,000,000,000 Nuclear Bunker!]

== See also ==
{{Portal|Canada|Colorado}}
* [[North American Aerospace Defense Command]]
* [[Raven Rock Mountain Complex]]
* [[Aerospace Defense Command]]
* [[United States Space Command]]
* Related Colorado Springs military installations
** [[Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station]]
** [[Peterson Air Force Base]]
** [[Ent Air Force Base]]
** [[Chidlaw Building]]
* [[Kosvinsky Kamen]] – a potential Soviet/Russian counterpart
* [[Mount Yamantau]] – a potential Soviet/Russian counterpart

== Notes ==
{{notelist|30em}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em |refs=
<ref name="Angelo">{{cite book |author=Joseph Angelo |title=Dictionary of Space Technology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wSzfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 |date=October 31, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-94402-5 |page=70}}</ref>

<ref name=Chronology>{{cite web |title=NORAD Chronology |url=http://www.norad.mil/Portals/29/Documents/History/A%20Brief%20History%20of%20NORAD.pdf |publisher=NORAD.mil |access-date=2012-09-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420161330/http://www.norad.mil/Portals/29/Documents/History/A%20Brief%20History%20of%20NORAD.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-20}}</ref>

<ref name=Comptroller>{{cite report |url=http://archive.gao.gov/f0102/115265.pdf |title=NORAD's Missile Warning System: What Went Wrong? |format=MASAD-81-30 |date=May 15, 1981 |publisher=U.S. Government Accountability Office |access-date=2012-08-06 |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811182650/http://archive.gao.gov/f0102/115265.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name=DelPapa>{{cite report |last1=Del Papa |first1=Dr. E. Michael |last2=Warner |first2=Mary P |date=October 1987 |title=A Historical Chronology of the Electronic Systems Division 1947–1986 |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a201708.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224105532/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a201708.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |number=ESD-TR-88-276 (AD-A201 708) |access-date=2012-07-19}}</ref>

<ref name=Finley>{{cite news |last=Finley |first=Bruce |date=2006-12-26 |title=Military to put Cheyenne Mountain on standby |url=http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_4103478 |newspaper=[[The Denver Post]] |access-date=2012-08-01}}</ref>

<ref name=GAO>{{cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/assets/100/94893.pdf |title=Defense Infrastructure: Full Costs and Security Implications of Cheyenne Mountain Realignment Have Not Been Determined GAO-07-803R |date=May 21, 2007 |publisher=Government Accounting Office}}</ref>

<ref name=GAO1978>{{cite web |date=September 21, 1978 |title=NORAD's Information Processing Improvement Program: Will It Enhance Mission Capability? |url=http://www.gao.gov/assets/130/123974.pdf |format=Report to Congress |publisher=Comptroller General |access-date=2013-01-24}}</ref>

<ref name=GAO1989>{{cite report |date=July 7, 1989 |title=Better Management Required to Resolve NORAD Integration Deficiencies |url=http://archive.gao.gov/d25t7/139055.pdf |series=Attack Warning |publisher=U.S. Government Accountability Office (IMTEC-89-26) |access-date=2012-09-19 |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811174348/http://archive.gao.gov/d25t7/139055.pdf |url-status=dead }} Also available [http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=696976 at hsdl.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604032800/http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=696976 |date=June 4, 2013 }}--the [[Homeland Security Digital Library]]</ref>

<ref name=GAO2007>{{cite report |last=D'Agostino |first=Davi M |date=May 21, 2007 |title=Defense Infrastructure: Full Costs and Security Implications of Cheyenne Mountain Realignment Have Not Been Determined |url=http://www.gao.gov/assets/100/94893.pdf |publisher=United States General Accounting Office (GAO—07-803R) |access-date=2012-09-09}}</ref>

<ref name="Kneis">{{cite book |author=Philipp Kneis |title=The Emancipation of the Soul: Memes of Destiny in American Mythological Television |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0KA83tzzEBkC&pg=PA78 |year=2010 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-631-60817-3 |page=78}}</ref>

<ref name=Lewiston1967>{{cite news |date=January 4, 1967 |title=America's Defense Tied to City in Mountain |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19670104&id=LmggAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1GYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2610,463764 |format=[[Google News]] Archive |location=Lewiston, Maine |newspaper=The Lewiston Daily Sun |access-date=August 29, 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Lowe">{{cite book |author1=David Lowe |author2=Tony Joel |title=Remembering the Cold War: Global Contest and National Stories |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ausAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 |date=January 21, 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-91259-0 |page=53}}</ref>

<!------<ref name=Macomber>{{cite news |last=Macomber |first=Frank |date=November 16, 1961 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19611116&id=4BgzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vTIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=2856,3056351 |title=Part 2: The Detectives |newspaper=[[Lodi News-Sentinel]] |access-date=2013-01-29}}&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3xgzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vTIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=3176%2C2987805 Part 1: The 'Alarm Clock']&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4BgzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vTIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=3098%2C3233569 Part 3: $66 million phone booth]</ref>---->

<ref name="NORAD CMC FS">{{cite web |url=http://www.norad.mil/Newsroom/FactSheets/ArticleView/tabid/3991/Article/1113/cheyenne-mountain-complex.aspx |title=Cheyenne Mountain Complex |publisher=North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) |date=April 26, 2013 |access-date=February 20, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150220041359/http://www.norad.mil/Newsroom/FactSheets/ArticleView/tabid/3991/Article/1113/cheyenne-mountain-complex.aspx |archive-date=February 20, 2015}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

<ref name="NORAD History">{{cite web |url=http://www.norad.mil/Portals/29/Documents/History/A%20Brief%20History%20of%20NORAD.pdf |title=A Brief History of NORAD |publisher=Office of History, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) |date=December 31, 2012 |access-date=February 11, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420161330/http://www.norad.mil/Portals/29/Documents/History/A%20Brief%20History%20of%20NORAD.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2015}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

<ref name=NORADmil>{{cite web |title=Cheyenne Mountain Complex |url=http://www.norad.mil/about/CMOC.html |work=North American Aerospace Defense Command |publisher=NORAD.mil |access-date=2012-07-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726070521/http://www.norad.mil/about/CMOC.html |archive-date=2012-07-26}}</ref>

<!-----<ref name=strike>{{cite news |date=December 21, 1961 |title=Miners Walk Off Defense Tunnel Job |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19611221&id=OTNWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1-cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2965,1788871 |format=[[Google News Archive]] |newspaper=The [[TBD]] Review |access-date=2012-07-28}}<br />{{cite news |date=December 21, 1961 |title=Air Defense Site Hit By Strike |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19611221&id=eiRSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xzUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=789,1086249 |format=Google News Archive |newspaper=[[The Victoria Advocate]] |access-date=2012-07-28}}</ref>--->

<ref name=Terdiman>{{cite web |date=June 27, 2009 |title=America's Fortress: Cheyenne Mountain, NORAD live on |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10274268-52.html |website=[[CNET]] |access-date=January 29, 2013|url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421035431/https://www.cnet.com/news/americas-fortress-cheyenne-mountain-norad-live-on/ |archive-date=April 21, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name=Weeden>{{Cite report |last1=Weeden |first1=Brian C |last2=Cefola |first2=Paul J |title=Computer Systems and Algorithms for Space Situational Awareness: History and Future Development |url=http://swfound.org/media/15742/computer%20systems%20and%20algorithms%20for%20space%20situational%20awareness%20-%20history%20and%20future%20development.pdf |publisher=[[Secure World Foundation|SWFound.org]] |access-date=2012-09-02}}</ref>

<!-----<ref name=Winkler>{{cite report |last1=Winkler |first1=David F |last2=Webster |first2=Julie L |date=June 1997 |title=Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA331231.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201202922/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231 |url-status=live |archive-date=December 1, 2012 |publisher=U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories |access-date=2012-03-26}}</ref>--->

<ref name="Wright">{{cite book |author1=David C. Wright, Jr. |author2=Allan W. Austin |title=Space and Time: Essays on Visions of History in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qY9lc1XSsx4C&pg=PA165 |date=April 6, 2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-5634-5 |page=165}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links|Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station|auto=yes}}

{{External media
|float=left
|width=600px
|image1= [https://web.archive.org/web/20131224100824/http://departments.weber.edu/mediarelations/fulltext.asp?id=90 construction scaffolding]
|image2={{circa|lk=no|1972}} [http://ed-thelen.org/72digest_f015-16.gif Space Defense Center]
|image3= [http://srmsc.org/pdf/004434p0.pdf BMDC Operations Room (p. 12-4)]
|image4= [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb371/ Space Computational Center]
|image5= [http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/project/ShowThumbnail.aspx?ThumbnailID=10066 landform viewed from Ent AFB site]
|video3= [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l59SEjAMAiA 1970s exterior footage] (minute 6:50)
}}

[[Category:Installations of the United States Space Force in Colorado]]
[[Category:Cheyenne Mountain Complex| ]]
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1965]]<!--December 1965-->
[[Category:History of Colorado Springs, Colorado]]
[[Category:Military history of Colorado]]
[[Category:National air defence operations centres]]
[[Category:North American Aerospace Defense Command]]
[[Category:Nuclear bunkers in the United States]]
[[Category:Continuity of government in the United States]]