Post-Attack Command and Control System Facility, Hadley
{{Short description|Decommissioned nuclear bunker in Massachusetts, US}}
{{use mdy dates |date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox military structure
|name=Post-Attack Command and Control System Facility, Hadley
|partof=Strategic Air Command
|location=Hadley, Massachusetts
|coordinates={{Coord|42|18|15.13|N|72|32|6.37|W|type:landmark_region:US-MA|display=title,inline}}
|image= Command room computer area, Five Colleges Library Depository.jpg
|image_size= 250px
|caption= Old command room computer area
|type=Hardened underground facility
|code=
|built=1957–1958
|builder=U.S. Air Force
|materials=
|height=
|used=1958–1970
|demolished=
|condition=
|ownership=
|open_to_public=
|controlled by=
|garrison= Hadley, Massachusetts
|current_commander=
|commanders=
|occupants=8th Air Force
|battles=
|events=Cuban Missile Crisis
}}
Post-Attack Command and Control System Facility, Hadley is a defunct Post-Attack Command and Control System facility that operated from June 2, 1958 until 1970. It is located on and under Bare Mountain in Hadley, Massachusetts. The facility was known by many different names: 8th Air Force Combat Operations Center (COC), "The Notch", and "Westover Communications Annex" since it was related to nearby Westover Air Force Base, and nicknamed The Bunker.{{Cite news |last=Merwin |first=Laura |date=21 May 2013 |title=Bare Mountain: Go Inside Amherst College's Bunker (Photos) |url=https://www.masslive.com/living/2013/05/photo_tour_go_inside_amherst_colleges_bare_mountain_bunker.html |publisher=MassLive |access-date=9 July 2024}}
The facility has been described as having two underground stories amounting to {{convert|40,000|sqft}}. It was designed to house 135 people.{{cite book |last1=Graff |first1=Garrett M. |year=2017 |title=Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself—While the Rest of Us Die |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pGYNCgAAQBAJ |location=New York |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781476735405 |oclc=971248821}}
History
In 1957, Strategic Air Command began construction for a hardened bunker to contain the command post for the 8th Air Force, which was located at nearby Westover Air Force Base, Chicopee, Massachusetts. The facility was located inside Bare Mountain, off Route 116, and was nicknamed "The Notch", after the adjacent pass. The underground facility, built into the side of Bare Mountain, was hardened to protect it from the effects of a nearby nuclear blast and designed so that the senior military staff could facilitate further military operations.{{Cite web |url=http://www.westoveryesterday.com/TheNotch.html |title=The Notch and Grayson: Eighth Air Force's alternative command posts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115201511/http://www.westoveryesterday.com/TheNotch.html |archive-date=2017-11-15 |url-status=usurped |website=WestoverYesterday.com |access-date=2010-03-08}}
It was connected to ATT Blackstone, ATT Chesterfield, and ATT Peru via microwave transmissions during its operation.{{cite web|title=ATT Blackstone |url=http://coldwar-ct.com/ATT_Blackstone__MA.html|publisher=Coldwar-Ma.com|accessdate=13 October 2014}}{{cite web|title=ATT Chesterfield |url=http://coldwar-ma.com/ATT_Chesterfield.html|website=Coldwar-Ma.com|accessdate=13 October 2014}}{{cite web|title=ATT Peru |url=http://coldwar-ma.com/ATT_Peru.html |publisher=Coldwar-Ma.com|accessdate=13 October 2014}}
Reuse
The facility was shut down in 1970, when the 8th Air Force was relocated to Guam. After the U.S. Air Force abandoned the site in 1970, the Federal Reserve took over and used it as a secure storage facility for their records. Allegedly they stored large sums of money there as well, to be used to restart the economy after a nuclear war.[http://www.chronos-historical.org/mtholyoke/history3.html Mt. Holyoke Timeline 1950–1974], Mt. Holyoke Historical Timelines
Today, the bunker is used as a library storage facility for the Five Colleges.[http://www.smith.edu/news/2002/undergroundlibrary.html Smith College News and Events: "Library Holdings Moving Underground"]
The facility was used in the 2010 Mel Gibson movie Edge of Darkness. The front entrance of the facility stood in for the main entrance of the Northmoor Facility in the movie and the access road, Military Road, was used in the beginning of the pursuit scene where Gibson's character begins his chase of the facility director.
Units based there
- 8th Air Force (1958–1970)
- 814th Combat Defense Squadron (1958–1968)
- 99th Security Police Squadron (1968–1970)
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Five Colleges Library Depository}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090107155121/http://www1.shore.net/~mfoster/PACCS.htm "The Notch" PACCS installation, with photos of the facility when it was active]
- [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/westover.htm Westover Joint Air Reserve Base (JARB)], GlobalSecurity.org
- [http://coldwar-c4i.net/Notch/index.html "The Notch" - Westover Communications Annex - PACCS]
- [http://www.smith.edu/news/2002/undergroundlibrary.html "Library Holdings Moving Underground"], Smith College news
- [http://www.814thcds.com/814th-and-the-notch.htm 814th Combat Defense Squadron - Air Police squadron that guarded "The Notch"]
- [http://www.814thcds.com/entrance-to-the-notch.jpg A 1990s era photo of the entrance]
- [http://www.masslive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/05/photo_tour_go_inside_amherst_colleges_bare_mountain_bunker.html Bare Mountain: Go inside Amherst College's bunker (Photos)]
{{Amherst College}}
{{Strategic Air Command}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Post-Attack Command And Control System Facility, Hadley}}
Category:Amherst College buildings and structures
Category:Buildings and structures in Hadley, Massachusetts
Category:Installations of the United States Air Force in Massachusetts
Category:Continuity of government in the United States
Category:Nuclear bunkers in the United States
Category:United States nuclear command and control