On the Right Path

The Air Force intends to shell out many more millions over the next six years to improve the roads that it uses in northcentral Montana to move airmen and Minuteman III missiles around the widespread ICBM fields of Malmstrom Air Force Base. The Great Falls Tribune reported Dec. 23 that the service will spend up to $7 million annually during that span—up from usual $2.5 spent per year for normal maintenance—to overhaul these arteries and keep them in top condition, based on agreements signed the previous day with local officials. Plans are to rebuild roads with new culverts and ditches, in addition to laying new gravel, which is normally done every few years anyway, according to the newspaper. In July 2008, a vehicle transporting an unarmed Minuteman overturned in North Dakota due in part to veering off of the road onto an unreinforced shoulder.