Florida Leaders go inside of a mountain
The Air Force Reserve's 920th Rescue Wing Commander, Col. Steve Kirkpatrick, hosted a group of 27 civic leaders on an outreach trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado. During the trip civic leaders were briefed on several special Air Force Reserve missions to include modular airborne firefighting and space. A special tour of Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (CMAFS) was provided as well. In the late 1950s, at the height of the Cold War , the idea of a hardened command and control center was conceptualized as a defense against long-range Soviet bombers. The Army Corps of Engineers supervised the excavation of Cheyenne Mountain and the construction of an operational center within the granite mountain. Today, 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. (U.S. Air Force Photo)