# Deep Underground Support Center

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Deep_Underground_Support_Center
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Deep_Underground_Support_Center.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Underground_Support_Center
> Source revision: 1337343999
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Not to be confused with [the Deep Underground Command Center (DUCC) proposed near Washington and "closely patterned" on the SAC DUSC proposal](/source/National_Deep_Underground_Command_Post).

The **Deep Underground Support Center** (DUSC) was a [Strategic Air Command](/source/Strategic_Air_Command) nuclear bunker proposal in 1962 for "a hardened command post...to withstand a 100-megaton weapon with a 0.5 n.m. CEP".[1] Favored for a mine near [Cripple Creek, Colorado](/source/Cripple_Creek,_Colorado) (west of the [Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker](/source/Cheyenne_Mountain_nuclear_bunker) started in 1961), the DUSC was to be 3,500 ft (1,100 m) deep and be "able to accommodate some 200 people for [30 days] to handle the large volume of data processing and analysis required for strike assessment, as well as follow-on strike and other decisions."[2]: 325 Cost estimates for the [SAC Control System](/source/SAC_Control_System) facility increased to $200 million, and when the operational year slipped from 1965 to 1969, SAC decided in 1963 "for a [long-endurance, all airborne concept](/source/Operation_Looking_Glass) instead" (Wainstein), and the JCS and OSD concurred with the DUSC project cancellation.[3]

A 1964 geologic assessment by the [MITRE Corporation](/source/Mitre_Corporation), prepared for the US Air Force, identified and detailed thirteen potential sites that were suitable for a DUSC located under at least 5000 ft (1,500 m) of cover. The studied locations included [Mount Washington](/source/Mount_Washington), New Hampshire; [Whiteface Mountain](/source/Whiteface_Mountain) near Lake Placid, New York; the [Santa Catalina Mountains](/source/Santa_Catalina_Mountains) near Tucson, Arizona; Cleveland Mountain near Skykomish, Washington; a mountain along [Icicle Creek](/source/Icicle_Creek) near Leavenworth, Washington; the [Chugach Mountains](/source/Chugach_Mountains) near Chickaloon, Alaska; and [Granite Mountain](/source/Granite_Mountains_(Alaska)) near Big Delta, Alaska.[4]

## References

1. Wainstein cites: Historical and Research Division, Strategic Air Command, History of the Strategic...1962

1. Wainstein, L. (Part 1, Part 4, Project Leader); Cremeans, C.D. (Part 4); Moriarty, J. K. (Part 2); Ponturo, J. (Part 3) (June 1975). *The Evoluition of U.S. Strategic Command and Control and Warning, 1945-1972*. Vol. Study S-467. Institute for Defense Analyses.

1. ["THE EVOLUTION OF U.S. STRATEGIC COMMAND AND CONTROL AND WARNING, 1945-1972"](https://www.si.edu/media/NASM/NASM-Doc2-strategiccommandandcontrol---evolutionofocr.pdf). INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES INTERNATIONAL AND SOCIAL STUDIES DIVISION. June 1975. p. 326.

1. ["A PRELIMINARY GEOLOGIC ASSESSMENT OF SELECTED SITES IN THE UNITED STATES THAT MAY BE SUITABLE FOR DEEP UNDERGROUND COMMAND AND CONTROL CENTERS"](https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0603158.pdf). *apps.dtic.mil*. MITRE Corporation. June 1964. [Archived](http://web.archive.org/web/20250202082133/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0603158.pdf) 2025-02-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-02-08.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Deep Underground Support Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Underground_Support_Center) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Underground_Support_Center?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.