Inside the new nerve center built to oversee the Sentinel missile program

CHEYENNE — The room has been mundanely named “Large Conference Room,” but its purpose is anything but mundane. It lives in the Site Activation Task Force headquarters on F.E. Warren Air Force Base, completed last week—the first of several new Sentinel missile facilities under construction at the base.

The $141 billion Sentinel system will replace the aging Minuteman III missiles that are part of America’s nuclear deterrence triad, along with everything associated with them. Military personnel have described it as the largest ongoing public works program since the Interstate Highway System.

“The folks here are going to write the playbook,” said Capt. Stephen Collier, a reservist who helps handle public affairs. Lessons learned in Cheyenne will be shared with Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota as their operations ramp up.

The Large Conference Room will operate around the clock, monitoring missile field conditions like weather patterns or emergencies. A flashing blue light can signal all military personnel to cease classified discussion when someone without proper clearance is present.

But this room is just the beginning of the secrecy protocols.

Higher levels of security include walls with aluminum foil layers and other materials to block all radio frequencies—preventing spying, jamming, spoofing or interference. Thick vault-like doors have copper and metal mesh seals eliminating any seam where radio frequencies could leak. Power is filtered before entering to ensure no entry point exists.

Access requires not just a security card but two other measures, including a frequently changed random code. If an access point remains open too long, an intrusion alert triggers security protocols.

Personnel are compartmentalized as well, with each person knowing specific subject areas they may discuss only with authorized individuals. If one information area is compromised, everything else remains secure.

Construction documentation includes hundreds of photographs and tests to meet security specifications. Microphones tested for sound slipping through door seams. “They certified the door, the manufacturer did, and they passed,” said engineer Bobby Redwood. “It’s mainly a sound thing. You don’t want sound leaving the room.”

The SATAF headquarters includes offices and conference rooms for various companies and military personnel working on Sentinel. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman has one of the largest suites, with two office areas and space for an internal secure server. Smaller soundproofed areas with secrecy safeguards lie behind vaulted doors with separate servers.

Marrying less secure work areas with ultra-secret spaces allows all necessary work and conversations to take place in one building, preventing delays from waiting to gather in secure enough areas.

Many rooms bear names from previous missile programs—Atlas, Thor, Matador—recognizing legacy in what Collier called “a pretty tight-knit fraternity.”