A timeline of key events in Cheyenne Mountain’s history:
Early 1950s – The Cold War with the Soviet Union leads U.S. authorities to find a place where military warning facilities could survive a nuclear attack.
1958 – The U.S. and Canada establish the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) to monitor and defend North American airspace from attack.
1959 – Cheyenne Mountain is selected for the NORAD command site.
1961 – Excavation and construction work begin. More than 693,000 tons of granite is removed from the mountain. Eventually, 15 buildings, some mounted on springs, are constructed behind 30-ton blast doors, 1,400 feet inside the mountain.
1966 – The NORAD Operations Center inside the mountain becomes fully operational.
1979 – A simulation of a large Soviet missile attack is mistakenly interpreted as real by Cheyenne Mountain personnel and almost leads to a massive launch of U.S. nuclear missiles before the error is detected.
1981 – NORAD changes its name to North American Aerospace Defense Command. The Air Force starts computer system upgrades at an estimated cost of $968 million.
1983 – The hit sci-fi movie “WarGames,” starring Matthew Broderick and set at NORAD, is released. It is one of several Hollywood productions that have used Cheyenne Mountain as a setting, including the films “Sum of all Fears” and “Deep Impact” and TV’s “Stargate SG-1.”
1989 – NORAD begins military support of agencies fighting transport of illegal drugs into the U.S.
1998 – Computer upgrades started in 1981 are declared operational, at a total cost of about $1.8 billion.
2000 – The Air Force starts another program to modernize and integrate Cheyenne Mountain systems.
Sept. 11, 2001 – In the wake of the terrorist attacks that day, the complex closes its blast doors for the first time in decades when it’s suspected that a hijacked aircraft is headed for the mountain. The doors reopen when it’s determined no such threat exists.
2001 – NORAD’s mission expands to include monitoring air traffic within North America in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
2002 – U.S. Northern Command (Northcom) is established to fight terrorism at home and to lead the land, aerospace and sea defense of the United States. It is based at nearby Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. It carries out much of the same surveillance, with access to all the same data, as the NORAD command post.
2004 – Cheyenne Mountain is upgraded, doubling the command center’s 540 square feet. The overhaul is to accommodate the increased staff from Northcom and the Federal Aviation Administration.
February 2006 – U.S. Navy Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of Northcom and NORAD, tells The Denver Post he has launched an “internal study” of whether to keep the NORAD command post at Cheyenne Mountain.
July 2006 – A report by Congress’ Government Accountability Office says poor management has delayed needed upgrades to early-warning systems at Cheyenne Mountain and pushed the cost more than 50 percent over budget.
Sources: Denver Post archives, www.norad.mil, www.afspc.af.mil, GAO, The Associated Press, Answers.com.
