“The government is believed to have about 40 underground shelters at various places in the US, many built into mountainsides within about 100 miles of Washington,” reported The Guardian right after the 9-11 attacks. Civilians are stepping up survival development in response to the same threats.
A more recent article, “Top 10 Secret United States Government Bunkers,” reminds us that the public will never know the true extent of America’s underground military fortresses, owing to the very nature of what “top secret” means: “The United States of America contains many classified bunkers, particularly in relation to continuity of government (COG). In the event of a terrorist attack, nuclear strike, or other catastrophic occurrence, US government leaders congregate in top secret facilities, all of which are strong enough to withstand severe blasts and provide survival necessities for extended periods of time. These exclusive fortified shelters are some of America’s best-kept secrets and strongest lines of protection.”
Most people along the Rocky Mountain’s Front Range already know about the military’s Cheyenne Mountain Complex just west of Colorado Springs, but only a few know that the WWII Igloo Black Hills Ordnance Deport near Edgemont, South Dakota, has 575 large bunkers built by the Army Corps of Engineers, that are being repurposed as future shelters for civilians.
The survival logic of Robert Vicino’s Vivos Group at Fort Igloo is the same as for the construction of military bunkers, including the less urban location and defensibility of the Black Hills, which also happens to be the geographic center of the US, near Belle Fourche.
On January 21st this year, an online home design site noted the practicality of the Vivos xPoint development at Fort Igloo: “Not everyone has put thought into how they’d survive if society as we know it changed drastically, but one company has invested time and significant skill into creating purchasable structures that will have you covered in the event of certain disaster!” Our whole concept of insurance is based on possible future catastrophes. We can almost say that the antonym of “prepper” today is the word “socialist.”
The urge to seek shelter underground has always been a part of animal and human life on earth argues Will Hunt in his book Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet. It remains central to warfare itself, not just in our nuclear age. Ask those who fought on Iwo Jima or in the tunnels of Vietnam. Our federal government knows this—and so do the developers at Fort Igloo. South Dakota’s geography will be its greatest asset.
Good article…but the geographical center of America is FAITH, SD..very close to Bell Fourche, but I like FAITH being center better
Thanks, Lora. Guess I’ll stick with the plaque “20 miles north of Belle Fourche,” but you’re right about the appropriateness of Faith as a more fitting and symbolic name. Perfect in fact. Not that far away is also the spirituality associated with Bear Butte.
“Among Igloo’s residents was a young Tom Brokaw, who spent a few years living on the base as a boy,” as Wikipedia reminds us of what he said in the preface to the The Greatest Generation.