Logbook

On September 11, 2001, Brande Walton was a captain in the United States Air Force (“USAF”) and an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (“ICBM”) Nuclear Launch Officer stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana.

On 9/11, Walton was in a pre-departure briefing when reports of the first strike on the World Trade Center reached her. The colonel leading the briefing seemed perplexed by the news. While relaying it to those in the room, he surmised that the crash must have been an unusual accident, and continued with his meeting agenda. The strike on the South Tower 17 minutes later made it clear the United States was under attack.  

Walton recalled that operations from this point forward went into “Threat Condition Delta,” indicating that another attack could be imminent. All missile combat crew members were ordered to report to the missile alert facilities, state-wide. Walton, her crew partner, and the base chief/facility manager were dispatched to the nearest facility. En route, their car radio reported more late-breaking news of the terrorist attacks. Upon reaching the missile alert facility, they were briefed by security forces before Walton and her crew partner entered the secure underground capsule to relieve the pair of Missileers who had been covering the previous 24-hour-long shift. Under normal circumstances, the relieved Missileers would have proceeded to their respective homes, or back to base for rest. However, under these exceptional circumstances, they remained on “topside” duty for 24 hours and would switch off with Walton’s team in this capacity for five full days. The grueling nature of their schedule, under continual revision as new updates arrived about the attacks, is demonstrated in the notes that Walton jotted down in her Missile Alert Logbook.