Submitted Photo A joint team of Air Force Global Strike Command airmen supported by Space Force Guardians launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with one re-entry vehicle Tuesday at 12:56 a.m. Pacific Time from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Photo from U.S. Space Force.

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. – A joint team of Air Force Global Strike Command airmen supported by Space Force Guardians launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with one re-entry vehicle Tuesday at 12:56 a.m. Pacific Time from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

The test launch is part of routine and periodic activities intended to demonstrate that the United States’ nuclear deterrent is safe, secure, reliable and effective to deter 21st century threats and reassure U.S. allies. Such tests have occurred more than 300 times before, and this test is not the result of current world events.

The test launch is a culmination of months of preparation that involve multiple government partners.

Airmen from all three missile wings – Minot Air Force Base, Malmstrom AFB, Montana, and F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming – were selected for the task force to support the test launch, and maintainers from the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren AFB provided maintenance support.

The ICBM’s reentry vehicle traveled about 4,200 miles to the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on the U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

“Our Strikers and our nuclear mission are the bedrock of our nation’s defense and international security,” said Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. “As part of that mission, our ICBM force provides 24/7 strategic deterrence and stand ready to respond at a moment’s notice as the most responsive leg of the nuclear triad, and our test launches demonstrate and confirm our readiness to deliver a safe, secure, effective and credible global combat capability.”

The ICBM community, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and U.S. Strategic Command, uses data collected from test launches for continuing force development evaluation.

Air Force Global Strike Command, marking its 15th anniversary this year, is a major command with headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, in the Shreveport-Bossier City community. The command oversees the nation’s three ICBM wings, the Air Force’s entire bomber force, to include B-52, B-1 and B-2 wings, the Long Range Strike Bomber program, Air Force Nuclear Command, Control and Communications systems and operational and maintenance support to organizations within the nuclear enterprise.