In today's world, it is difficult to fully grasp and appreciate the cultural and geopolitical climate that existed after the Allied victory in World War II. The rise of the Soviet Union, the lack of insight into actual military capabilities held by the Soviets, and the threat of nuclear annihilation were existential concerns for the United States leadership. Ensuring the nation's survival in this environment--particularly in the face of the war-weary mindset of the people--required tremendous wisdom and technical foresight. Developing a credible means to deliver a nuclear weapon to intercontinental distances on very short notice provided a powerful deterrent against aggression toward the United States. The men and women who eventually built these intercontinental-range rockets, as well as the ones who transformed nuclear weapons to be capable of launching on these rockets, deserve a key place in our nation's history. This book describes their struggles, both on the technical front and on the political front, as they pursued game-changing capabilities. From the early Atlas and Titan missiles to the Minuteman and Peacekeeper families of missiles, the prowess of our engineers and scientists was evident.Chapter 1 - The Air Force Enters the Missile Age, 1945-1955 * The Air Force Shuns Ballistic Missiles * Ballistic Missiles Receive New Life * Eisenhower Faces the Threat of Surprise Attack * Trevor Gardner Energizes the Missile Program * Chapter 2 - Creating the Operational Atlas and Titan I First Generation ICBM Force, 1955-1965 * Establishing Force Levels * Developing and Testing the Atlas and Titan * The Development of Vandenberg (Cooke) Air Force Base * Atlas Operational Deployment: F. E. Warren Air Force Base Leads the Way * Titan I Operational Deployment: Lowry Air Force Base Leads the Way * Building the Missile Bases * Training the Operational Force * The Operational Force and the Reliability Issue * Phase-out of the Atlas and Titan I ICBMs * The Balance Sheet: Loo