Although it occurred more than forty years ago, many of us remember the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962. The movie “Thirteen Days” and other documentaries tell the story. The Defcon level had risen to a position just short of war. US military forces spread all over the world were poised to strike. The Soviet and American governments came face to face in a test of wills. The potential for the use of nuclear weapons was ominously present.

Television provided the American public, as well as the rest of the world, the ability to watch the confrontation of immense proportions play out in their living rooms. There was an intensity to viewing these unfolding events that is hard to describe. President Kennedy showing photographs displaying the buildup of the missile sites in Cuba. Adlai Stevenson, our Ambassador to the United Nations, producing graphic photos of the sites confirming the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles. President Kennedy drew an imaginary line on the ocean well short of the shores of Cuba. He explained that Soviet ships containing missiles that passed this line would be sunk. We watched as they approached the line. paused, turned and returned home. The crisis began and ended before our eyes.

Few know the role of the 567th Strategic Missile Squadron stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. Critical to the president’s stand was the availability of credible weapons systems, ready and capa-ble of immediate response. In addition to the Navy’s submarines, B-47s all over the world, B-52s on ground and airborne alert ready to deliver a nuclear response, the 567th SMS was an important but little recognized player. Their Atlas nuclear missiles could strike Cuba in a matter of minutes; faster than any other major weapon. The unique feature of the 567th was that they were the only squadron that could retarget the long-range Atlas missiles to Cuba. All other Atlas squadrons were geographically too close to Cuba to hit it. The squadron fulfilled its role with nine Atlas E missiles fully ready for response if called upon. There were, and still are, few area citizens aware of the missile silos’ in the immediate area of Spokane, Washington and fewer still that know their role in the Cuban Crisis.

The squadron had established an enviable record of maintenance and performance. It was ready to perform its mission with all missiles just short of the launch mode. Some squadron members spent the entire thirteen days in the silos, hearing only briefings about the events occurring between the United States and the Soviet Union. Their only contact during this period was a monitored telephone they could use to call their families. While it was a time of great anxiety and tension, the members of the 567th SMS stood ready to perform their assigned duties. Peace was kept, in part. because of the capability of this unique squadron and its members.

The history of the 567th SMS, significant as it is to the area and the nation, is a part of the overall historical picture which will be displayed in the Armed Forces & Aerospace Museum.