Nuclear Weapons

Raven Rock and Continuity of Government

02.01.12 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

A newly revised U.S. Air Force directive on continuity of operations under emergency circumstances refers matter-of-factly to Raven Rock Mountain Complex, a largely restricted U.S. government facility in Pennsylvania.  See Air Force Continuity of Operations (COOP) Program, Air Force Instruction 10-208, 15 December 2011.

Raven Rock, also known as Site R, has been operational since 1953 for purposes of emergency communications, disaster relocation and recovery.  But most operations at the facility have been classified, and the facility itself was rarely mentioned in official publications during most of the past half century.  A previous edition of the new Air Force Instruction that was issued in 2005 made no reference to Raven Rock.

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