Due to aircraft being parked at the "Christmas Tree" being on constant alert duty, the Strategic Air Command realized that they needed specialized buildings to house crews who rotated on alert duty. In 1958, Leo A Daly, an architect from Omaha, Nebraska, was hired to design buildings that would respectively hold 70, 100, and 150 men. These standardized structures would eventually be nicknamed "mole holes" due to the fact that the men would run out onto the "Christmas Tree" through corrugated steel tunnels attached to the lower level of the building when the alert Klaxon sounded. The buildings would house readiness crews and contained thick concrete exteriors, bathrooms, a briefing room for crew members, dormitories, several classrooms, a kitchen and a dining facility. Since crews were typically assigned on alert for seven-day periods, some installations would later incorporate outdoor athletic facilities on site, such as baseball fields or swimming pools, as well as picnic facilities where families could visit crewmembers on duty. Crews on alert duty would typically be on alert for seven days out of a 21-day period, while being on rotational alert duty. During their alert duty, they would fly no training missions, as they were to be kept always ready for an operational launch in the event of a nuclear strike. During an alert scramble, flight crews and ground crews would run out to the "Christmas Tree", where they would travel on foot and/or by waiting alert vehicles to the alert bomber and tanker aircraft that were waiting to launch, typically between four and nine in number. Once all engines were started, the aircraft would perform an elephant walk to the runway, where a Minimum Interval Takeoff might be performed. Over the course of their construction, eleven facilities to house 150 people were built. These were supplemented by an additional ten facilities for housing 100 men, and 45 facilities for housing 70 men at a total of 65 SAC bases, other USAF bases where a SAC wing was a tenant command, and Royal Canadian Air Force bases where an SAC wing was present. The facilities replaced various facilities that housed crew members earlier, including house trailers, which sat next to the aircraft.
Locations
Readiness Crew Buildings designed to accommodate 150 Airmen were located at the following Air Force Bases:
in Missouri. Notice the corrugated steel tunnels that appear on the front and the side of the building, allowing for rapid egress in the event of an alert. Lockbourne AFB
In addition to the United States Air Force bases listed above, Readiness Crew Buildings designed to accommodate 70 Airmen were also operated at the following Royal Canadian Air Force bases:
