Ever wonder why the Air Force has a facility in Sublette County?

The modest structures, located six miles east of Boulder, boast no planes, control towers or runways.

There are no sounds of supersonic jets, afterburners or long-range bombers.

Instead, the buildings sit peacefully in the enduring quiet of the East Fork River Valley – and that’s the way the Air Force likes it.

“The Pinedale site is the quietest location in the United States for seismic activity,” Master Sgt. Patrick Murphy wrote in an email explaining the research site’s purpose. “The site conducts research and development on hardware in support of the U.S. Atomic Energy Detection

System (AEDS).”

That global system is operated and maintained by the Air Force Technical

Applications Center (AFTA) stationed at Patrick Air Force Base (where NASA launches its space shuttles), according to its Web site.

Activated in 1973, the AEDS listens for nuclear events to enforce a variety of nuclear test ban treaties.

It also monitors rogue nations. In 2006, AFTAC AEDS detected a nuclear event in North Korea.

Five thousand miles away, two people work at the “Pinedale site,” which is subcontracted out to the company Chugash McKinley, Inc., based out of Anchorage, Alaska.

In his email, Sgt. Murphy described the pair’s work as “support(ing) our efforts to develop advanced nuclear treaty monitoring technologies to preserve our nation’s security.”



For the complete article see the 09-29-2009 issue.

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