Secret Base at Barksdale Helped Safeguard U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

 In an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” titled “Keeper of the Flame,” Andy’s elementary school-aged son Opie comes to his dad’s workplace to share news with his dad, but remains tight-lipped on details of that news. “You know what I did? I joined a club,” Opie says. “What club was that,” Andy asks. “I can’t tell ya,” Opie replies. “Know where we meet,” Opie continues. “No, where,” Andy asks. “I can’t tell ya,” comes the answer. Each attempt from Andy to learn more about the club is met with the same reply from Opie, “I can’t tell ya.”

Barksdale Air Force Base was once home to a secret facility where, like Opie’s response about his club, mum was the word. Speaking of the facility could land one in serious trouble. And rightfully so, since the site was essential to national security at a time when the Cold War prevailed. Although given the simple name of Bossier Base, the facility was tasked with a mission that was anything but simple, and keeping that mission quiet was paramount.

Opening in November 1951 on 544 acres on the east side of the military reservation, Bossier Base was not unlike Barksdale AFB in its accommodations. An article in The Shreveport Times of August 11, 1957 describes the Bossier Base: “Single airmen live in modern dormitory-style barracks and eat in an attractive dining hall. A modern service club, officer’s club, swimming pool, baseball diamond, gymnasium and post exchange provide for off-duty relaxation.” But beyond similar amenities, comparisons between the two were few.

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Bossier Base was a unique entity. The Shreveport Times article of August 11 details that uniqueness. “Contrary to popular opinion, the base is not an adjunct to Barksdale … and in fact is not directly under the administration of the Air Force,” the newspaper states. The base was administered initially by the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), an organization jointly staffed by the Air Force, Army and Navy under the civilian-controlled Atomic Energy Commission, which had custody over the United States’ nuclear arsenal.

 

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While most personnel at Barksdale could talk about their jobs, the personnel working at Bossier Base could not. “Security looms behind every facet of Bossier Base life,” states The Shreveport Times article of August 11. “It is the one dominant factor that permeates the lives of the men and their families.” Even when airmen were enjoying time away from the base, secrecy and security were a top priority. According to the August 11 article, “special agents” patrolled areas of Shreveport and Bossier frequented by Bossier Base staff to help ensure there was no “loose talk” about base activities. “Woe unto the man caught blabbing some classified item to the man sitting beside him in the bar,” the article warns.

So why the intense emphasis on keeping hidden what was hidden? For the first six years of Bossier Base’s existence, its mission was a source of speculation and rumor. Outsiders who knew of its presence could only guess as to what took place there. But that changed in the first few days of August 1957 during a congressional hearing of the House Armed Services Committee about funding. Testimony given revealed the need for secrecy: Bossier Base was a stockpile site – one of six in the country - for components to make nuclear weapons. These weapons could then be carried by U.S. Air Force bombers and used if needed. The cat had been let out of the bag. The beans had been spilled. And some Bossier City residents panicked at the news.

The August 9, 1957 issue of the Bossier City Planter’s Press contains an interview with a nuclear scientist that the newspaper contacted to help calm the local populace. “Fear of a possible accidental blast from nuclear weapons reportedly stored at Bossier Base have been expressed by many residents of the parish,” the paper states. But that fear was not necessary said the scientist. The newspaper paraphrased him as saying, “as long as the material which makes the action of nuclear weapons possible is kept in smaller quantities in separate places, there is no danger of it being exploded accidently.”

As Cold War tensions eased through the late 1960s, the mission of Bossier Base became less critical and the facility ceased operations in February 1970. Barksdale Air Force Base took charge of the former top-secret site and repurposed some of the buildings, although most were eventually demolished. In October 2015, a historical marker was placed at the site by some of the veterans who served at the base. The Shreveport Times article of August 11, 1957 aptly characterizes their contribution to protecting our country. “This is a deadly serious game we are playing to maintain peace, and no group of people are more intimately involved in it than the silent warriors within the guarded fastness of Bossier Base.” Want to know how those warriors played that game so well? I can’t tell ya.

 

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Thanks to Eighth Air Force Historian Lane Callaway for providing information for this article.

If you have any information or items relating to the history of Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

  • Headline from The Shreveport Times, Aug. 11, 1957
  • Guarded entrance to Bossier Base/courtesy Langston McEachern, The Shreveport Times, Aug. 11, 1957
  • Signage marking former location of Bossier Base/courtesy Lane Callaway, Eighth Air Force Historian

Article by: Kevin Flowers