NORAD's alternate command center illustrated

NORAD's alternate command center, at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, near Colorado Springs, Colo. While NORAD's main operations recently moved to the nearby Peterson Air Force Base, it still maintains the ACC at Cheyenne Mountain.

(Credit: U.S. Air Force)

During my recently completed Road Trip 2009 project, one of the biggest highlights was my visit inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. Recognizable from the movie, "War Games," and the "Stargate" TV series, the complex was long popularly known as NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Photos: Inside Cheyenne Mountain, America's Fortress

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But in 2008, NORAD officially moved to the nearby Peterson Air Force Base. Still, even to this day, it maintains an alternate command center at Cheyenne Mountain that it shares with U.S. Northern Command, or USNORTHCOM.

When I visited, I was allowed the rare privilege of bringing a camera with me, and I took a lot of pictures. But the pictures were mainly of the infrastructure of Cheyenne Mountain, and I wasn't able to see the alternate command center (ACC).

Now, the Air Force has provided me with this photo, of the ACC, which, since my very first step when planning Road Trip 2009 was to see about arranging a visit to Cheyenne Mountain, is a fitting way to formally close the book on the project.

The ACC, as seen in this photo, has certainly been "scrubbed," meaning that personnel in the room were very careful to ensure that nothing sensitive was visible in the shot. Still, you can get a sense for what goes on in the room today. To be sure, it looks very little like the giant command center that was made so famous in "War Games." Yet in today's world, where everything is smaller, more compact, and more efficient than back in the early 1980s, it's no wonder that a facility like this would have the feel of an office full of cubicles.

Either way, you can tell that the ACC is a place that has the ability to run serious exercises, and, in the case of a real emergency, is capable of being used as NORAD's main nerve center. Let's hope that's never necessary.

[powerlloyd]

Nice to see old Robert Strange McNamara & Fox news on the monitors.
I feel safer already.

[ricardobanffy]

I wonder who is singing in the top, leftmost screen

[JigenIII]

I think having both NORAD and USNORTHCOM is redundant. NORAD should just be absorbed into NORTHCOM.

I've also had the pleasure of being able to take a tour inside NORAD at Cheyenne Mountain, a year or two after we moved in next door to NORAD. It was very cool to see it in person, but they do make sure you don't see anything super secret. Living with NORAD literally in my backyard is also very cool - I could hit Norad Road with a rock from my back porch, and the mountain view as the sun sets every night over Cheyenne Mountain is beautiful. As someone once told me when they saw a picture of our house with the mountain behind it, "Those are some mighty big moles you have there", and we are very proud of our big moles.

[ThisSiteSucks2]

Nice pictures. Did you take them with your Digital Camera from 1996? You know, the one that only takes little tiny sub VGA resolution images?

Why Cnet insists on using photos with laughable resolution boggles the mind. A $40 digital camera takes images at 10 megapixels. You know, 3648x2736. Yet your photos of the coolest place in North America are LOWER RESOLUTION THAN MOST CELLPHONE CAMERAS @ 640x480.

Come on guys. Seriously? It sure would be nice to have some cool high-res photos of the inside of NORAD, Cnet to the rescue! Er....wait.

[montex66]

@ ThisSiteSucks2

Haven't you ever heard of downsampleing? The pictures were likely taken at a much higher resolution, but to make them "web-friendly" they have to be downsampled. The vast majority of web surfers simply don't have a 30" screen needed to view a 3648x2736 pixel image. And what about browsing on a cell phone? Let's see your little Nokia chug through a 10 Megapixel image.

Sheesh. Try leaving your Mom's basement once in a while.

[willdryden]

Read the article. He was not allowed in. The photo was provided by the Air Force. How much do you want to bet it is not even close to the real ACC?

[EvanSei]

they had to hide the xbox and ps3 for the shot and darn it they had to stop playing guitar hero for the shot to and the nerve of the government to make them get into officials. oh well just one picture I am sure they are back to rocking out...err....protecting the homeland against missile attacks.
really though they are doing there job well.

[knowles2]

yeah but someone forgot to tell them turn the television off.