Air Force Vet Rick Pickern Safeguarded Codes To Nuclear Silos

By Carla Davis

From Rick Pickern’s description of his experiences in the Air Force, one might think he was stationed in the frigid wilds of Antarctica. But Pickern actually served on U.S. soil, providing security for the country’s remote nuclear missile sites in North Dakota.

Pickern, who had never traveled farther north than Tennessee until he joined the military in 1979, said the zero-degree temperatures each winter were a shock to his system. After completing his security and weapons training in San Antonio, Pickern was dispatched to Grand Forks Strategic Air Command Base in North Dakota, where he remained until his tour ended in 1984.“We got sent up there in the middle of January,” said Pickern, Plant Barry Security team leader for Alabama Power. “The first time I had to change a combination code at a missile site, my hands were so cold that I couldn’t get it right, even though I was wearing mitts. And when I got back in my truck, I looked in the mirror and saw icicles hanging from my eyebrows.”

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