physics

Missile combat crew

Missile combat crew is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Missile combat crew rather than just read about it. In short: A missile combat crew (MCC), is a team of highly trained specialists, often called missilemen, or missileers, staffing Intermediate Range and Intercontinental ballistic missile systems (IRBMs and ICBMs, respectively). In the United States, personnel, officially coded as Nuclear and Missile Operations Officers (AFSC 13NX), of the United States Air Force, operate underground missile systems at launch control centers l…

Key takeaways

Missile combat crew belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Missile combat crew to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Missile combat crew from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A missile combat crew (MCC), is a team of highly trained specialists, often called missilemen, or missileers, staffing Intermediate Range and Intercontinental ballistic missile systems (IRBMs and ICBMs, respectively). In the United States, personnel, officially coded as Nuclear and Missile Operations Officers (AFSC 13NX), of the United States Air Force, operate underground missile systems at launch control centers located throughout the country. There are also a select few missileers that have the chance to become part of a Missile Combat Crew-Airborne (MCC-A) operating the Airborne Launch Control System which provides a survivable launch capability for the Minuteman ICBM force. Crew size varies among the different missile systems, but the number is always greater than one, to abide by USSTRATCOM's two-man rule for positive control of nuclear weapons.

Origins The first missile combat crews were composed of trained aviators (e.g., B-47, B-36), but later generations had no aviation experience and were "grown" to be missileers from the start of their careers. From the early days of United States missile crew operations until the late 1970s, the career field was closed to female personnel. Changes were implemented to allow for full female crews on both Titan II and Minuteman/Peacekeeper crews. In 1978 the restriction of having women on crew was lifted for the Titan ICBM. Recognizing the limitations in personnel scheduling, Strategic Air Command relieved restrictions on same-sex crew pairings, into "mixed" crews on January 1, 1988.

Training Combat crew training consisted of three phases, Undergraduate Missile Training (UMT), Unit Qualification Training (or Unit Orientation Training), and recurring training. UMT was performed by the 4315th Combat Crew Training Squadron/392d Training Squadron at Vandenberg AFB, California and lasted 13 weeks. UQT/UOT was held at the missile base(s) the personnel was assigned to, and conducted by local instructors, lasting three or four weeks. Recurring training happened continually on a monthly basis, and was conducted by local instructors.

Locations Locations of United States missile launch complexes varied by system. Most launch control centers were built in population-sparse locations, such as the Northern Tier (Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota), Midwest (Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Colorado) and the Southwest (Arizona, Texas, New Mexico). Titan II sites were supported by Little Rock AFB in Arkansas, Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona, and McConnell AFB in Kansas. 18 Titan II Missile sites were supported by each base. Each missile complex was organized near a missile support base (MSB). Crews would gather on the base, receive briefings and equipment, and travel out to their alert location by either truck or helicopter.

Working environment The missile launch control environment also varied by system. Early missiles such as Thor and Atlas, relied on support facilities above ground, with crews protected in a shelter of some sort. Later systems were buried underground, either with the missiles located nearby (i.e. Titan) or a distance away (Peacekeeper, Minuteman). In the underground environment, crews dealt with artificial lighting, recycled air, loud noises, and intimately close quarters (in Minuteman and Peacekeeper) with equipment racks. The Atlas F was in an underground silo, along with the launch crew quarters, separated by a tunnel.

Alert tours Peacekeeper and Titan II alerts were usually 24-hour tours, with additional time required for briefings at the MSB, and travel time to and from site. Minuteman crews were on 40 hour alerts with additional time required for briefings at the MSB, and travel time to and from site. An experiment with 72-hour tours was started in 2006 but was ended sometime later for unknown reasons.

Project OIL CHANGE OIL CHANGE was a test implemented by SAC to test if two-person 36-hour tours for Minuteman ICBM crews were feasible; before OIL CHANGE, three crew members were needed (MCCC, DMCCC, Alternate MCCC). The test ended in mid-1968, with the OIL CHANGE recommendations implemented 29 November 1968.

System specifics Each missile crew had at least two officers on-site operating the equipment: the missile combat crew commander (MCCC) and deputy missile combat crew commander (DMCCC). The earlier systems, such as Atlas, Thor and Titan, required more personnel to monitor increasingly complex systems (as listed below).

Atlas The Atlas-F silo-based variant had a crew complement of five members:

MCCC DMCCC Ballistic Missile Analyst Technician (BMAT) Missile Facilities Technician (MFT) Electric Power Production Technician (EPPT)

Titan Titan II crews numbered four:

MCCC DMCCC Ballistic Missile Analyst Technician (BMAT) Missile Facilities Technician (MFT).

Minuteman/Peacekeeper Minuteman and Peacekeeper missile crews numbered two: the MCCC and DMCCC. Tasks within the system technical orders were sometimes labeled for each crew position, although the majority of tasks could be accomplished by either member.

Airborne Launch Control System The Airborne Launch Control System is operated by an airborne missileer crew aboard Airborne Launch Control Center aircraft. The Missile Combat Crew-Airborne consists of the Missile Combat Crew Command-Airborne (MCCC-A) and the Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander-Airborne (DMCCC-A).

Global counterparts

Soviet/Russian Very little is publicly known about Soviet/Russian missile crew members. Following Soviet doctrine, launch control functions are entrusted to higher-ranking officers (lieutenant colonel equivalents), in contrast to United States policy of entrusting lower-ranking officers (captains and lieutenants) with day-to-day functions.

French Little is publicly known about the French ICBM system, including personnel issues. The land-based deterrent, consisting of Hadès and SSBS S3D missiles was deactivated by President Jacques Chirac in February 1996.

China Nothing is publicly known about Chinese ICBM personnel or their activities.

Photo gallery

See also Air Force Global Strike Command LGM-30 Minuteman Missile Badge Missile launch control center

References

Further reading Womack, John (1997). Titan Tales: Diary of a Titan II Missile Crew Commander. Soliloquy Press. ISBN 978-0-9655546-0-2.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Missile combat crew

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Missile combat crew claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Missile combat crew before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Missile combat crew ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Missile combat crew

In research: Missile combat crew appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Missile combat crew in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Missile combat crew is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Intercontinental ballistic missiles of the United States, Nuclear command and control, United States Air Force, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Missile combat crew outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Missile combat crew” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Missile combat crew in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Missile combat crew means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Missile combat crew out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Missile combat crew in simple terms?

Why does Missile combat crew matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Missile combat crew?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Missile combat crew.