Project Greek Island:
In order to preserve to the balance of power in the USA in the event of a nuclear war, President Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted to protect the three branches of the government in a hardened facility to ensure continuity of government (CoG). Construction began on the grounds of the Greenbier Hotel, in the town of White Sulphur Springs; located in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. Originally code named Casper, it was later designated Project Greek Island. Set forth in 1959, the project took 2½ years to complete. The end result was an 112,000 square foot bunker located 64 feet beneath the “West Virginia” wing of the hotel. The steel reinforced concrete walls of the bunker are three to five feet thick and the doors weigh 25 tons. The doors, along with an air filtration system were developed to protect the facility versus a nuclear detonation as well as the radioactive fallout. The facility includes 18 dormitories, a 14-bed medical clinic, self contained power plant, water purification plant, a television studio with the backdrop of the US Capitol building, decontamination showers, and an crematorium. There is a cafeteria with ample seating for 400 people that even have wooden frames for false windows that depict country scenery. The medical clinic includes an x-ray machine, laboratory, intensive care area, nurses call station, examining rooms, operating room, a dental chair, and even a drugstore. Other rooms include telephone rooms, communications and cryptographic center, and areas for processing messages. Three levels of the bunker are occupied by the power plant. The water tanks are found on the lower levels. There are separate chambers for the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as a larger room for joint sessions. The Senate Majority Leader has a private bedroom along with private meeting rooms. There are four entrances, including separate vehicular and pedestrian access ways. The site was designed to accommodate 1,000 people for two months. The Greenbrier Valley Airport (LWB) is only 15 minutes from The Greenbrier.
Diagram of the bunkers first floor
Diagram of the bunkers second floor
Another set of diagrams
Mount Pony:
Located 70 miles southwest of Washington DC (just East of Culpeper, VA near the intersection of State Routes 658 and 3) this bunker was originally built in 1969 to house the members of the US Federal Reserve in order to rebuild the post apocalyptic economy. The 140,000 square foot radiation hardened facility is 400 feet long and constructed using one foot thick steel-reinforced concrete. Lead line shutters would be dropped to shield the windows of the semi-recessed facility. The partially buried facility is covered by two to four feet of dirt and the grounds of Mount Pony are surrounded by concertina wire and a guard post. Mount Pony was the central node for all American electronic funds transfer activities with seven computers operated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Up until 1988 the vaults of Mount Pony secured pallets of shrink wrapped $2 bills piled nine feet high estimated at several billion dollars. After the apocalypse this currency was intended to replenish the economy east of the Mississippi. Prior to July of 1992 Mount Pony was also a CoG facility with a peacetime staff of 100, the site was designed to support an emergency staff of 540 for 30 days. However, the men’s and women’s dormitories only contained 200 beds which would be shared between the day and night staff. 30 days worth freeze dried rations were stored on site; private wells would provide uncontaminated water following an attack. Other features include an incinerator, indoor pistol range, helicopter landing pad, and a cold storage area for maintaining bodies that were unable to be promptly buried. In November 1997, Congress authorized the transfer of the facility from the Federal Reserve to the Library of Congress which, using funds from a private foundation, will purchase the facility and transfer its extensive motion picture, television, and recorded sound files to the renovated site to house it's collections.
Mount Weather (High Point Special Facility (SF), Mount Weather Emergency Assistance Center [MWEAC], Western Virginia Office of Controlled Conflict Operations):
The Mount Weather site is an unacknowledged CoG site operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and located in Berryville, VA; 48 miles from Washington, D.C. The 200,000 square-foot facility, with an estimated floor space of three times that amount, is Located on a 434-acre mountain site. The surface complex includes about a dozen buildings staffed by more than 240 employees. The Bureau of Mines began construction in 1954 and was completed by the Army Corps of Engineers under the code name "Operation High Point” in 1958. The estimate construction costs, adjusted for inflation, may have exceeded $1 billion. The tunnel roofs are shored up with some 21,000 iron bolts driven eight to 10 feet into the overhead rock. Mount Weather’s entrance is protected by a guillotine gate and a 34-ton blast door that is 10 feet tall, 20 feet wide, and 5 feet thick and takes 10 to 15 minutes to open or close. The underground facility includes a hospital, crematorium, dining and recreation areas, office, sleeping quarters, reservoirs of drinking and cooling water, an emergency power plant, and a radio and television studio that is part of the Emergency Broadcasting System. Essentially it is an underground city complete with roads, sidewalks, and a battery-powered subway. There is a spring fed artificial lake that gleams in the fluorescent light. Large dormitories are furnished with bunks intended to be occupied in three eight-hour shifts. There are private apartments as well for the President, the Cabinet, and the Supreme Court. A "bubble-shaped pod" in the East Tunnel houses one of the most powerful computers in the world for directing emergency simulations and operations through the Contingency Impact Analysis System (CIAS) and the Resource Interruption Monitoring System (RIMS). A series of side tunnels accommodate twenty or so office buildings, some of which are three stories tall that include about a dozen buildings providing communications links to the White House Situation Room. An on-site sewage treatment plant can process 90,000 gallons a day and two 250,000 gallon above ground storage tanks. Mount Weather can support 200 people for up to 30 days, although it is designed to accommodate several thousand people (with sleeping cots for 2,000). From 1961 to 1970, the site was connected to the Bomb Alarm System, a network of sensors mounted on telephone poles adjacent to ninety-nine cities and military bases which would detect a nuclear detonation by its intense thermal flash and signal this event to Mount Weather and other military command posts, permitting both damage assessment and helping to confirm whether or not an attack had occurred. A large electronic map in a special room would indicate via tiny red light bulbs where explosions had occurred (this system was later replaced by more sophisticated space-based sensors). From the mid-1950s until 1970, the 2857th Test Squadron, a special group of helicopter pilots and rescue workers based at Olmstead Air Force Base in Pennsylvania, and known as the Outpost Mission, was trained to fly to the White House in the event of nuclear attack, retrieve the president and first family, and relocate them to Mount Weather or several other sites, including (from 1961 to 1970) the National Emergency Command Post Afloat. For continuity of government purposes, senior officials were divided into Alpha, Bravo and Charlie teams: one would remain in Washington, another relocate to Mount Weather, and the third disperse to other relocation sites. Officials at Mount Weather track the location of everyone designated to succeed the president twenty-four hours a day. The facility would have remained secret had it not been for the 1974 crash of a TWA plane into the mountain, killing ninety-two people, which brought the site to widespread public attention. Until May 1991, the site's underground weather station issued daily reports on potential fallout patterns. FEMA's National Emergency Coordinating Center, which operates twenty-four hours a day, tracks worldwide disasters, both natural and manmade. The Fiscal Year 1997 Appropriation Act authorized FEMA to establish a working capital fund for providing administrative services. A fund was established to support the centralized services provided by the Mount Weather Emergency Assistance Center (MWEAC). The Mount Weather Emergency Assistance Center has transitioned from a single mission to one that supports the all-hazards mission of FEMA and, simultaneously, it became a self-supporting cost center that derives its income from the Working Capital Fund authorized by Congress. The facility, over a two year period in 1997 and 1998, transitioned to a fully operational mode for the Working Capital Fund. It provides office, conference, training, and billeting accommodations at Mount Weather for use by FEMA organizations and other Federal agencies. While operations are being funded based on current appropriations, collections, and usage, FEMA is aggressively marketing the facility to attract new users. All organizations at Mount Weather, including FEMA components, were subject to the provisions of the Working Capital Fund beginning in FY 1998. Mount Weather is currently home to six major disaster operations facilities including the: National Processing Service Center–Virginia , Satellite Teleregistration Center, Disaster Finance Office, Disaster Information Systems Clearinghouse, Disaster Personnel Operations and Division Agency Logistics Center.
Raven Rock (Site R, Alternate Joint Communications Center [AJCC], Joint Support Staff Center [JSSC], Air Force Manpower Readiness Flight [AFMRF], Alternate National Military Command Center [ANMCC]):
Initially, the concept for the Alternate Joint Communications Center was conceived in 1948. In 1949 the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear weapon and a high priority was established for the Joint Command Post to be placed in a protected location with close proximity to Washington, D.C. for swift relocation of the National Command Authorities and the Joint Communications Service. Raven Rock Mountain, PA (as part of Camp Albert Ritchie, MD) was approved in 1950 by President Truman and named the Alternate Joint Communications Center (AJCC) Site R (R for Raven Rock). Construction of the hardened military communications facility began in 1951, and in 1953, the AJCC Site R became operational. It should be noted that one of the reasons for this site was due to the type of granite found in the area known as greenstone, said to be the fourth hardest rock on earth. Raven Rock is an underground complex, built by the Department of Defense, as an emergency shelter, CoG, and electronic control center. Site R is located 650' below the 1,529' summit of Raven Rock Mountain, just beyond thePennsylvania State Line near Waynesboro, PA ;fifty miles SW of Harrisburg, near Blue Ridge Summit. Raven Rock is but a mere six miles north of Camp David. The facility has 700,000 square feet of usable interior space, enough room for 3,000 people, and for much of the Cold War Raven Rock hosted a full-time staff of 350. Facilities included sophisticated computer and communications equipment, a reservior, medical and dental facilities, fitness facilities, dining hall, barber shop, and chapel. Power is supplied by six 1,000 kilowatt generators and 35 miles of cable on over 180 telephone poles. The storage facilities have ample supplies of preserved rations, chemical suits, and even cars. Representatives of all the military departments and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the federal government were reportedly located here as a contingency against the annihilation of the command structure in the event of a nuclear war (giving Site R the moniker of The Underground Pentagon). Site R was originally supported by nearby Fort Ritchie, MD. Ft. Ritchie was a 638 acre Army post, with over 2,000 employees and was officially shut down in 1998. After Ft. Ritchie closed Fort Detrick, MD took over the administrative duties of Site R. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Site-R Computer Operations staff provided computer services to the NCA, the Joint Staff, the OSD and other DoD agencies. The facility's Operations Center, DCS Technical Control Facility, the Northeast Dial Service Assistance Center and Information Center provided planning, installation, operation, and maintenance of over 38 communications systems (switching, transmission, data distribution, visual information, and power generation) that supported the various customers of the Alternate Joint Communications Center Site. Raven Rock was able to maintain a greater sense of secrecy as compared to other CoG sites. Presumably, the intent of Site R was to be the backup Pentagon and communications center in the event that Washington DC was obliterated.
NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex (NCMC) (NORAD Combat Operations Center [COC], Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center [CMOC], Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station [CMAFS]):
Originally, NORAD operated out of a converted hospital at Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Due to the vulnerability of the original facility it was deemed necessary to construct a suitably hardened structure to protect the sophisticated systems from Soviet nuclear warheads. Construction of the complex was performed by the US Army Corp of Engineers over a four year period (1961-1964). The complex was literally dug out of Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs. The complex itself encompasses square feet 196,020 feet of excavated chambers and tunnels within the mountain and is encased in over 1,750’ of granite. The primary excavation chamber consists of three chambers each 45’ wide, 60’ high, and 588’ long; these chambers are intersected by four other chambers measuring 32’ wide, 56’ high, and 335’ long. Within these chambers there are a total of 15 free standing windowless buildings, 12 of which are three stories tall with the remaining being one to two stories. The walls of the building are made of special steel plates and frames that attenuate electro-magnetic pulses (EMP). The buildings themselves are mounted on over 1,300 large springs designed to cushion the nearby shock of a nuclear blast as well as earthquakes. Ultimately, the complex was designed with the intent of withstanding a five megaton weapon at a range of 1½ miles with a 70% continued operations. The main entrance to the complex is via a tunnel leading to a pair of steel blast doors weighing 25 tons. The primary source of electrical power came from the city of Colorado Springs, but the back-up power system consisted of six 1,750 kilowatt diesel generators. The water supply is composed of four reservoirs with a capacity of 1.5 million gallons each. Only one reservoir is for domestic use, while the other three are for industrial needs. A sophisticated air filtration system removes harmful germs and or radioactive and chemical particles via a series of chemical/biological/radiological (CBR) filters. As a self sustaining facility NCMC contains a dining facility, medical and dental facility, pharmacy, 2 fitness centers, a small post exchange, chapel, and barber shop. Using advanced early warning radar, sophisticated electronics, and super-computers, NORAD monitored data from an array of tracking systems from regional threats to near Earth orbit in order to protect satellites and even the space shuttle. NORAD was a joint North American effort to provide early warning of any missile, airborne, or space threat to North America via a centralized collection and coordination facility using an intercontinental system of satellites, radars, and sensors. This data was intended to provide warning of a ballistic missile attack and assist with defense of the USA and Canada’s air sovereignty serving as the central controlling agency for air defense operations to counter enemy bombers or missiles. Additionally NORAD had the capability to provide theater ballistic missile warning for the USA and her allies.
National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC):
Officially dubbed “Night Watch”, the NAOC is more commonly referred to as the Doomsday Plane. Originally based on the Boeing 747-200, the NAOC first flew on 13 June 1973. The first E-4A went into service in December 1973, replacing the EC-135. By the time the fourth NOAC was delivered on 21 December 1979, it had already been upgraded to the E-4B standard. The E-4B offered improved accommodations, upgraded engines and new Super High Frequency (SHF) Multiplexer (MUX) upgraded communications array. The three remaining E-4As were subsequently upgraded to the E-4B standard. The E-4Bs flight crew is doubled for redundancy, and the aircraft has a special crew rest area. Aside from the crew, the aircraft can accommodate up to 94 crew members, including 30 battle staff members as well as the president performing duties as Commander-in-Chief. The main deck is partitioned into five operating compartments. The flight crew section, the National Command Authority (NCA) and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) area (a flying equivalent of the White House Situation Room), a conference room, battle staff area and a C3I (command, control, communications and intelligence) area. The second deck includes a rest area for mission personnel. The E-4B’s design incorporates nuclear thermal shielding and EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) protection. Onboard systems include SHF MUX, Audio Infrastructure Update (AIU) which replaced the old ‘60s era communications apparatus with a digital system, Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) II in conjunction with the Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management System (CNS/ATM-1), and Senior Leader Communication System (SLCS); which provided an 'office in the sky' capability for senior leaders that includes commercial Direct Broadcast Service (DBS), International Maritime Satellite (INMARSAT) access, and video teleconferencing capability, plus access to Defense Information System Network (DISN) and Public Switch Network (PSN) for secure/non-secure voice, video and data exchange on and off the airplane (external e-mail and Internet access). An advanced satellite communications system improves worldwide communications among strategic and tactical satellite systems and the airborne operations center. The distinctive blister on top of the fuselage held the vast antenna array. During a mission the aircraft can stay airborne for up to 72 hours (with in-flight refueling.) In case of war this can be extended to a full week. In the event of a national emergency or destruction of ground command control centers the primary role of the aircraft was to provide a modern, highly survivable, command, control and communications center to direct U.S. forces, execute emergency war orders (to include the transmittal of EAMs to launch a nuclear attack) and coordinate actions by civil authorities. The E-4 was also made available to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist during a natural emergency. Other roles included a worldwide, survivable enduring node of the National Military Command System (NMCS) for the purpose of exercising national security responsibilities throughout the full spectrum of conflict. Only four E-4Bs are known to have existed. Offutt AFB, NE served as the Air Combat Command (ACC) E-4B Main Operating Base (MOB) with numerous Forwarding Operating Bases (FOB) found throughout the United States. Plans initiated under President Jimmy Carter and strengthened during the Reagan administration foresaw a protracted nuclear war lasting days or weeks, NAOC, like all the other airborne command posts, could only remain aloft for 72 hours at most (assuming in-flight refueling from aerial refuel tankers were also kept on alert), at which point its engine oil would begin to break down and require replacement. Another growing concern following the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (whose ash drifted across much of the northern United States and forced the diversion of downwind commercial airline traffic) was that the large amounts of fallout generated by a nuclear attack on the USA might clog the intakes of jet engines, further jeopardizing the survival of airborne command posts.
Specs:
Primary Function: Airborne operations center
Builder: Boeing Aerospace Co.
Power Plant: Four General Electric CF6-50E2 turbofan engines
Thrust: 52,500 pounds (23,625 kilograms) each engine
Length: 231 feet, 4 inches (70.5 meters)
Speed: 926 km/h (500 kts)
Wingspan: 195 feet, 8 inches (59.7 meters)
Height: 63 feet, 5 inches (19.3 meters)
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 800,000 pounds (360,000 kilograms)
Endurance: 12 hours (unrefueled)
Ceiling: Above 30,000 feet (9,091 meters)
Unit Cost: $258 million
Crew: Up to 114
Date Deployed: January 1980
Inventory: Active force, 4; ANG, 0; Reserve, 0
US Navy "Rock Site":
The “Rock Site” was a US Navy concept formulated in the mid to late ‘60s to build permanent undersea installations. The idea was to construct the facilities upon the sea floor, beneath the sea floor, or inside of hollowed out seamounts. The intent was for the bases to be fully autonomous to forego logistical reliance on terra firma stations. The Rock Sites would act as Forward Operating Bases for the US Navy’s Submarine fleet. The Submarines would dock within the undersea base via giant locks. Running along the top of the seamount a long horizontal structure made of metal tubing would serve a variety of functions as a long wave (ELF) radio antenna for communications, as an oxygen provider (separating oxygen out of the sea water for an air supply for the base), and perhaps as a pure water desalinization unit.
Motley Collection of Purported Sites and Hearsay for the USA
Even large defense contractors, such as McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed (with the Groom Lake/Skunk Works/Area 51 facility), and AT&T, are said to have their own subterranean facilities.
Other purported government facilities include Wright Patterson Air Base and Dulce Base in New Mexico, both of which are said to be the actual locales of the United States secret UFO research facilities.
Another top secret CoG installation is reportedly under construction near the Oakville Grade in Napa County, CA. It has been speculated that this site will be for direct satellite communication, the Continuity of Government (COG) program, and secure communications for the USA.
A substantial 1971 bunker serving as an Alternate National Warning Center and a Satellite Teleregistration Facility Olney in Montgomery County MD was reportedly a former CoG site and lies beneath what used to be a cow pasture.
Project EASE (Experimental Army Signals Establishment) (Diefenbunker, Central Emergency Government Headquarters [CEGHQ]):
By the accident of geography and history we find ourselves squarely between the two greatest powers on earth. We have no fortresses facing either. We want to live at peace with our northern neighbors, as we have lived so long at peace with our southern neighbors.
- John George Diefenbaker September 26, 1960, speech to the United Nations
Located in the small Canadian community of Carp, roughly 25km west of Ottawa, Diefenbunker is the nickname of the former Cold War government command center of Canada. Originally dubbed Project EASE, the bunkers official name is Central Emergency Government Headquarters (CEGHQ). The construction of the bunkers was authorized by John Diefenbaker, the thirteenth Prime Minister of Canada. As early as 1948 the Canadian government knew it was vulnerable to attack from the Soviet Union. This was not due to any overt belligerence by Canada itself, but rather from extraneous circumstances. With the construction of American early warning radars on Canadian soil, Canada had become a tactical target. Coupled with the risk from radioactive clouds drifting northwards from Soviet industrial targets, and as well as that of the north eastern United States there was a call for strong passive defensive measures. Prime Minister John Diefenbunker, having risen in the House of Commons, formulated the development of a decentralized system of emergency government with central, regional, and zonal elements thus ensuring the Canadian Continuity of Government. The principles of this program set emplaced a framework for the evacuation and safeguarding of key government representatives, along with support personnel. Construction of the 100,000 square foot facility began in 1959. What is unique about Diefenbunker is that the facility was built above ground and then later buried. The construction of a four story monolithic and heavily reinforced high strength concrete box was built and then encased in a five foot thick padding of well drained gravel. The roof and the base of the compound are five feet thick. Thirty six specially reinforced flared columns, with a diameter of 4.5’, carry the blast loads from the roof through four levels to the base of the structure. The walls of the bunker vary from 2.5’ to over 4’ thick. The specifications called for a design that would protect the occupants from a 5 megaton ground detonation 1.1 miles from the point of impact. The entrance to the Diefenbunker leads into a long tunnel which has the main bunker doors to the side, thus allowing the blast wave from a nuclear detonation to dissipate through the open end of the tunnel. More than 32,000 tons of concrete and 5,000 tons of reinforced steel bars (some greater than 2” in diameter) were used in the building of this bunker, as well as the transmitter site in a similarly fashioned albeit smaller facility near Perth, Ontario (some 20 miles away). Capable of sustaining 535 personnel for up to thirty days, the facility included the Prime Minister’s suite, War Cabinet Room, CBC broadcasting studio, Bank of Canada Vault, medical facilities, power generators, and the Emergency Government Situation Center. Diefenbunker was surrounded by six more bunkers, called Regional Emergency Government Headquarters (REGHQ), and another fifty or so smaller Bridge Sites scattered across the nation. Only the CEGHQ was built to sustain the blast forces of a nuclear weapon, all of the other facilities only provided protection from the resulting fallout. The six REGHQ and 50 Bridge Sites provided shelter for 250-350 personnel.
Russian Strategic C3I Facilities (Chekov, Sharapovo, Chaadayevka, Penza, Voronovo, Kuntsevo, Ramenki, Lipetsk, Kosvinsky Mountain, & Yamantau Mountain):
A top secret sub-agency of the KGB known as Directorate 15 was tasked to build and maintain a network of underground command bunkers for the Soviet (and later the Russian) leadership. C3I was predicated upon the precept of Launch on Warning (LOW). The C3I program evolved and was unofficially dubbed ‘Dead Hand’. ‘Dead Hand’ is a nuclear retaliatory command & control system for strategic operations that is a semi-autonomous communications and retaliatory system configured to obtain launch authority within 10 minutes from the President, Defense Minister, or the Chief of the General Staff through their respective Cheget nuclear suitcases. A Doomsday apparatus, ‘Dead Hand’ features hard radio nodes near Moscow that remotely control the launch of communications rockets which in turn can launch virtually the entire Russian missile force without human intervention. The electronic command and control network is known as Kazbek, and the kavkaz is the system that consists of complex network of cables, radio signals, satellites and relays which binds ‘Dead Hand’ together as a solitary function. The Cheget nuclear suitcases are remotely interlinked with the Kaykaz Nuclear Command System and will automatically start a countdown to a launch decision when the remote system detects a potential threat to Russia. Another tenet of C3I is continuity of government, and this is accomplished through remote nuclear survivable strategic command posts to House senior Russian government leaders. The Kremlin and other buildings in Moscow are linked by a subterranean subway system, to include underground rail lines to the residences of the key leaders such as the President’s residence (13 miles west of the Kremlin). The original rail line is called the Mitino Line and runs from the deep lying Kievskaya Radialnaya station, and in 1967 the ‘Kremlin Line’ was commissioned in and linked the Central Committee building and the Kremlin with the underground facilities of Ramenki and the Vnukovo-2 airfield. The remote facilities consists of a substantial support infrastructure with highly redundant communications systems both on site and remote that permit the transmittal of orders through the Crisis management system enabling independent operations. These facilities are all offer effective protection against NBC attacks.
- Chekov is a leadership relocation site near Moscow that was constructed in the 1950s and saw modernization and expansion in the 1970s. Primarily meant for the General Staff, it was also an alternate launch control facility.
- Sharapovo is an underground bunker that has a special underground railway that runs directly to it from Moscow for the rapid evacuation of the Russian leadership. These individuals would then be flown to either Kosvinsky or Yamantau. Located 34 miles from Moscow, it was also constructed in the 1950s and saw modernization and expansion in the 1970s. This facility was meant primarily the wartime Defense Council.
- Chaadayevka is a leadership relocation site located a little over 400 miles southeast of Moscow.
- Penza is an alternate launch control facility.
- Voronovo is a bunker for Russian leaders located about 46 miles south of Moscow. An integral part of the underground strategic structure comprising several key points which permit control of vital state systems, including those located a considerable distance away from Moscow.
- Kuntsevo
- Ramenki is a facility linked to the Kremlin and other buildings in Moscow by a subterranean subway system and is located six miles outside the city. It is an underground city that was originally designed to house the Soviet’s leaders and their families. Purported to encompass 500 acres with several levels ranging from 230 to 395 feet. It has been estimated that the facility could support up to 120,000 people.
- Lipetsk is another remote Russian CoG facility and alternate command and control site.
- Kosvinsky Mountain is the crown jewel of the Russian wartime nuclear command system providing the Russians with the means to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike. It is an underground nuclear survivable, strategic command post located about 850 miles east of Moscow. Constructed deep in the Urals in the 1970’s, it is protected by over 1,000’ of granite. It is the Russian Strategic Rocket Force’s alternate Command & Control facility built to compensate for the vulnerability of the older posts in the Moscow region. This facility can communicate through the granite to far flung strategic forces using very low frequency transmissions (VLF) capable of penetrating the effects of a nuclear exchange. A critical link in the ‘Dead Hand’ semi-autonomous communications and retaliatory system.
- Yamantau Mountain means “Evil Mountain” in the regions native language and it is a Nuclear survivable, strategic command post located deep in the Urals about 850 miles east of Moscow. It is also located close to the Chelyabinsk-70 Nuclear Weapons Lab and the Zlatoust-36/Yuryuzan Nuclear Weapons Production & Storage Facilities. A massive underground facility, associated with the ‘Dead Hand’ nuclear retaliatory command and control system, it was built underneath the city of Mezhgorye. Designed to survive and shelter the Russian national leadership in case of a nuclear war, it is a sprawling underground complex purportedly covering 400 square miles. Estimated to provide millions of square feet which are available for underground complexes and it may be large enough to sustain 60,000 people with stores to sustain that population for months on end. There is a special air filtration system to protect against an NBC attack. There is much speculation that the facility was designed as a nuclear warhead storage site, missile base, secret nuclear weapons production facility, directed energy laboratory, Repository for Russian treasures and/or a buried command post. This is the largest Russian nuclear secure project, with very large train tracks running to and from it. Construction began in the Brezhnev period and it was built to withstand several direct nuclear hits, one after the other repeatedly. Located inside a rock quartz mountain about 3,000’ straight down from the summit and it’s primary function may have become more shelter than command post due to the quartz’s interference with the communications array. Therefore, necessitating the need for radio transmitters that broadcast from outside the center. It is Associated with the ‘Dead Hand’ nuclear retaliatory command and control system.
British CoG Facilities Including Machinery of Government in War, and Business Continuity
Prior to, and during WWII there were various CoG like sites built using both manmade and natural tunnels, as well as hardened structures that could withstand the conventional weapons of the day. Generally, these sites were abandoned shortly after the war only to be revived again in 1948 with the advent of the Cold War.
The Central Government War HQ (CGWHQ) was established and would consist of the War Cabinet, the National level leadership, and quasi government agencies such as the BBC, the General Post Office, British Railways, Bank of England, and other major companies. The primary role of the Cabinet Office would be to preserve Central Government. There was ‘consideration’ given to the monarchy and Parliament.
The first CGWHQ facility was presumably located at a site called ‘Hawthorn’ at the Spring Quarry in Corsham, Wiltshire County. The Spring Quarry was rich in bath stone and had been extensively mined since Roman times, being mined mainly underground left many expansive tunnels and immense chambers deep beneath the surface. Hawthorn was a pivotal piece of the CGWHQ facilities as it tied them all together with its rail way junction. The Hawthorn facility was eventually linked to the RAF Rudloe Manor in the Tunnel Quarry, and the RAF Secret Command in Spring Quarry. All three quarries are in close proximity to one another.
The second CGWHQ facility was located at Ryhdymwyn in North Wales and was known as ‘Valley Works’. Valley Works originally began as a lead mine, and later became an underground chemical weapons manufacturing plant during WWII. An underground portion of the river Alyn (a tributary of the River Dee) runs through the facility.
A third Central Government War Room was conceived in the early ‘50s and located outside of the city in the West Country, this CoG facility was located at the PADDOCK bunker. The PADDOCK facility was originally a WWII facility built beneath the Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill. It was a two level underground citadel, though for some reason an elevator at the upper level lists the first floor as being number 27, with the second floor being listed as number 28 (odd as there have never been 26 floors above the first floor. Purportedly the facility recently reopened with extensive subterranean renovation and expansion.
Then, the plan changed. It was deemed practical and moral, to maintain the seat of government in London. Bunkers were constructed at pre-existing holes underneath George Street Public Buildings, the Admiralty Citadel (partially built on St. James park), and the Rotundas (code named ANSON and built just off of Horseferry Road). The Rotundas were capable of sustaining 2,000 people under a 12’ concrete slab. If London was compromised, the War Cabinet would move to Hindlip House (near Worchester) and Parliament would move to Stratford-upon-Avon. Other facilities for sub levels of government would evacuate to steel reinforced buildings within London (as it was believed that steel reinforced buildings could withstand a nuclear blast). With the Soviet’s acquisition of the atomic bomb a decision was made in 1959 to move the CoG out of London
In the ‘50s, existing citadels, new tunnels, and improved communications were the first series of Britain’s new CoG program. This new program was complemented by the top secret ‘ROTOR’ system, an elaborate radar warning system with facilities up and down the English coast using 170 pre-existing RAF radar warning facilities. These facilities were later scaled back to sixty-six as advancements in technology were made. Later, these facilities would be hardened and extensively upgraded into nuclear bunkers. The facilities on the East Coast were buried deep underground while the facilities on the West Coast were only partially buried. To complement the ROTOR system, Anti-Aircraft Operations Rooms (AAOR) were established in 1951. The AAORs were satellite facilities reporting to their parent ROTOR system as well as control centers for anti-aircraft gunnery. In all it is estimated that there were between 1,500 to 1,600 AAOR facilities such as this one at Essex.
Eventually, it was determined that there was a need for a safe guarded, reserve seat of government to be located away from the capital. The Hawthorne facility was reopened and re-designated SUBTERFUGE. SUBTERFUGE would take over if London ceased to exist. Eventually the SUBTERFUGE facility would become the primary CoG facility as the Soviet’s nuclear weapons capabilities strengthened.
With the arrival of the jet engine and high altitude bomber the AAOR became obsolete and were abandoned. The ROTOR system went through many phases and culminated with the Master Radar Stations (MRS). When the Soviets developed supersonic aircraft, the British again had to go through extensive upgrades of their early warning system which allowed for a number of sites to be scaled down once again. A large number of prior ROTOR, AAOR, and MRS sites were later turned over to 11 separate Regional Government HQs (RGHQ) with a Regional Commissioner in command of each to administer the civilian government.
Each RGHQ was different; some were substantial structures with multiple underground levels. The RGHQ facilities were well protected for the most part, but they were primarily designed to protect against fallout. Each RGHQ was mandated to have a 30 day supply of rations, a diesel power plant, dormitories, decontamination showers, BBC station, emergency manual switching system, and air filtration system. Some of the RGHQ were clandestine in nature and appeared as nothing more than simple cottages.
The 11 regions were broken down as follows:
1. Scotland (a former ROTOR site)
2. North East
3. North Midland (a former ROTOR site)
4. East Cambridge (a former ROTOR site)
5. London (a former ROTOR site)
6. Southern
7. South West (a former ROTOR site)
8. Wales
9. West Midland
10. North West
11. North Ireland
The RGHQ would report to and take orders directly from the Cabinet War Office and the Prime Minister. The primary purpose of the RGHQ was to save as many lives as possible and make life as acceptable as possible until Central Government services could react.
From the ‘60s on, the RGHQ program made the Regional Commissioners ‘Government Ministers’, and they would have full governing powers over the region from their hardened RGHQ with a staff of about 430. A sub-regional HQ (SRHQ) was later established to act between the RGHQ and local county authorities. SUBTERFUGE was renamed BURLINGTON and maintained the operational role as the nucleus, or core seat of government. The role of BURLINGTON was to act as an alternate nuclear launch authority with the War Cabinet, Chief of Staff, and various senior level advisors. If BURLINGTON was somehow destroyed, then the senior RSG would take national command. Under the BURLINGTON environment, there was no provision for Parliament. In the event that London would be destroyed, Parliament was to meet for one last session in which it would give full legislation powers to the War Cabinet and Regional Commissioners and Parliament would then be dispersed.
In 1962 it was determined that a nuclear war could escalate faster than previously believed and the British CoG plans were once again reevaluated. BURLINGTON was re-designated as the Emergency Central Government War HQ and code named TURNSTILE. In addition to TURNSTILE, groups of personnel called a PYTHON GROUP were established and whose role was to disperse throughout the country to link up with Regional Commissioners; gathering at pre-arranged “Accretion Points” in order to establish regional capitals. The RSGs were eventually abandoned as it was determined they would be annihilated. Sub-regional HQ were established and dubbed Sub-Regional Controls (SRC). The PYTHON GROUP would theoretically form their regional capital and then link up with TURNSTILE to begin restructuring the National Government. Eventually this plan was scaled back even further to include only the Regional Commissioner, the PYTHON GROUP, and TURNSTILE with the replenishment of government left to the regional level.
In the ‘80s a ‘Transition to War and Conventional War’ plan was devised. A Regional Emergency Committee (REC) was implemented and would have a war role at the regional level tasked with coordinating wartime government activity. Regional departmental control points would be overseen by the Central Government Control Points. In the ‘80s the PINDAR communications facility was built in under Whitehall and would be the primary emergency facility. In addition to PINDAR there were three CGWHQ facilities; TURNSTILE, Valley Works, and RAF Sandwich Bunker.
After the Cold War all plans for Regional control and local authorities were scrapped. In 1993 TURNSTILE was closed down. Some years later it reopened under the guise of the Corsham Computer Center. In order to maintain CoG for the Central Government another program was instituted. First, the construction of a top secret state of the art nuclear war survivable bunker known as the UK Combined HQ was constructed to safeguard the Prime Minister and the Joint Chiefs. Secondly, a state of the art UK Flying Command Center was made available.
The location of the UK Combined HQ is a highly guarded secret; it may be located at one of many locations. As mentioned earlier, the WWII era bunker PADDOCK has purportedly been reopened with extensive expansion and renovation. Another possible site is the Corsham Computer Center, formerly TURNSTILE.
The location of the UK Flying Command Center is most likely at ‘Magic Mountain’. A semi-subterranean two story bunker located at the former NATO & RAF Alconbury Base in Cambridgeshire. One of the largest and most sophisticated bunkers in Britain, its original role was to process information collected from TR1 reconnaissance aircraft.
Alternate facilities may exist but details are sketchy at best and what follows are based on conjecture and presumptions. Once such facility was the RAF Sandwich Bunker and it may very well be an alternate CoG facility.
What is known about the RAF Sandwich bunker is that originally it was a 60,000 square foot facility designed to withstand a direct impact from a nuclear weapon and still retain the ability to maintain RAF operations. The walls are made of 6½’ thick reinforced concrete and lined with rubber expansion sheets. Entrance and exits are through 5 ton gas tight blast doors and high pressure airlocks. The bunker was capable of sustaining a self sufficient community with underground tanks for diesel and water, each having the capacity for roughly 80,000 gallons. A self contained sewage treatment plant is also on the premises. After the Cold War the facility became a Business Continuity site, storing the hard drives for private corporations in order to protect their interests from terrorist attack or other disaster. Recently however, the government has retaken custodianship of the facility and it is once again closed to the public.
Pine Gap Australia
Officially known as the Joint Defense Space Research Facility, and located near Alice Springs. Originally this facility was code named MERINO and its primary roles are to assist in controlling and relaying data for the expansive US Spy Satellite System & US Defense Satellite Communications System; as well as intercepting telephone, radio, data links, and other communiqué from around the world. Dozens of radomes, radar dishes, and antenna arrays are located throughout the facilities grounds. All of the data is processed through the installations 60,000 square foot computer operations room. Rumored to be the sister facility to Groom Lake (Area 51) in the USA, and purportedly this facility has an extensive and deep underground labyrinth hardened for nuclear war.
Switzerland
Switzerland has the highest ratio of fallout shelters and bunkers to population of any country in the world. This was accomplished by building an extensive network of fallout shelters and the hardening of government buildings. The scope is such that the Swiss have made exhausitve efforts to provide for the protection and sustainment of the entire Swiss population for two years after a nuclear attack.
And no, Vault-Tech doesn't count.