
Missile alerts direct Fort Greely residents and workers to take shelter - rolph
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/military/2019/08/09/missile-alerts-direct-fort-greely-residents-and-workers-to-take-shelter/
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spraak
I had no idea that the interceptor missiles are so toxic. Can anyone explain
further why that is, and why no safer alternatives are available?

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sdenton4
"Command and Control" had an excellent discussion of the wide variety of ways
that icbm fuel and oxidizer will kill you. (It's a truly great piece of
journalistic writing, with excellent systems thinking. highly recommend if you
haven't read it.)

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roywiggins
The missile (a Titan II) discussed in Command and Control is liquid fueled.
The interceptors are solid fueled, so it won't directly apply.

Good book though for anyone interested in nuclear policy and ICBMs.

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elliekelly
> And he, like most people who live around Greely, has for years heard
> announcements over the post’s loud PA system that’s called the Giant Voice.

"The Giant Voice" is a pretty creepy/disturbing name.

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techntoke
After the second or third, I wouldn't take the alerts seriously anymore. At
least they are running their psychological and behavioral analysis operations
there, instead of someplace like Hawaii:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Hawaii_false_missile_aler...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Hawaii_false_missile_alert)

Also, if they are worried about North Korea missiles being an actual threat,
then they should take up their concerns with the President.

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gtirloni
I have no idea why you're being downvoted because that's perfectly fine
argument. Alert fatigue is a thing. And if a missile really was headed towards
there, well, all hell would break loose.

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icegreentea2
Alert fatigue is a thing true. But these are people living within a mile a
launch site that's designed and sited to protect not just Alaska, but a good
chunk of the lower 48. Missiles wouldn't necessarily be targeted at the fort.

The chain of logic is straight forward if you accept the premise that it makes
sense for the site to be in an alert state for all North Korean missile
launches.

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gtirloni
Good point about the other states served by this launch site.

