Nuclear convoy training demonstrates next generation of military technology

CHEYENNE — Along a dirt road in the high plains of Platte County, a convoy of tan military vehicles accompanies a massive trailer, simulating a nuclear convoy crossing through cow country.

Shots are fired through a Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System to simulate battle, and service members charged with protecting military assets are forced to put their skills to the test.

Last week, members of the Wyoming Air Guard and U.S. Air Force completed nuclear convoy training at Camp Guernsey.

The training was meant to prepare the 20th Air Force’s three Convoy Response Force teams for convoy transportation activities. The training also has implications for the upcoming Sentinel Project, which will update older Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, managed by F.E. Warren Air Force Base, with newer Sentinel ICBMs.

One of the greatest benefits of the training at Camp Guernsey is the vast amount of space available, which allows the guard to connect multiple trainings in full mission exercises, according to Maj. Jeff Karr, USAF commander of the 90th Ground Combat Training Squadron.

“They’re training piece by piece back at their bases, but they can’t put it all together as effectively until they get out here and train with us,” Karr said. “So it allows them to truly build out what it would look like if they were attacked by an enemy.”

Though there has never been an attack on a U.S. Air Force nuclear convoy in recorded history, the training serves to demonstrate force and prepare airmen for the worst-case scenario.

“U.S. Air Force Security Forces basically is the greatest security element in the nation,” 90th Ground Combat Training Squadron Plans and Program Director Master Sgt. Johnny Nunnes said. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be in charge of actually doing this mission. … Because of that, nobody’s ever been brazen enough to try (and attack).”

For the sake of learning, the simulated scenarios in the training are constantly changing, forcing trainees to consider multiple possibilities, whether it be an internal or external threat.

One training group faced an internal threat, which halted the convoy while trainees were fired on by “the bad guys,” portrayed by Fort Campbell’s 101st Airborne Division. Within the hour-long exercise, several trainees were determined “fatally shot,” protecting the asset held in the trailer, or Payload Transporter III.

The number of trainees to come out of the exercise without having to simulate being killed is not a metric of success, according to Nunnes. Rather, the training is more focused on challenging service members and forcing them to learn new tactics.

“One of the measures of success that I always tell all the students, if you’re better today than you were yesterday, it’s a success to me,” Nunnes said.

“We want them to come here and be able to make mistakes so that they can learn from them in a controlled environment,” Karr said. “Because we’re completely controlling everything here, so that if and when something were to happen in a real-world situation, they’re going to be truly successful.”

Trainees also have to get familiar with the next generation of military weaponry.

The Air Force’s newest utility helicopter, the MH-139A Grey Wolf, worth $39.37 million each, and Joint Light Tactical Vehicle vehicles worth over $1 million apiece are among the next generation of weaponry that students were learning to use.

Students also are now learning to work with the PT III, which will be key in the Sentinel Project that will impact landowners across eastern Wyoming and in a handful of neighboring states. The trailer provides a controlled environment, which will help in replacing the Minuteman weapon system and providing safe transport of the missiles.

Nunnes noted that the military is well aware of its impact on local communities and tries its best to clearly communicate all the information it is able to share with the public. Specifically, it posts announcements so that the community is aware of major movements.

The public is typically aware, especially when a massive convoy is making its way down the interstate, Karr said. All the service members can ask is for the public to give them the space to do their work and hope they know the purpose of these operations is for safety.

“We’re out there for their security and for the safety of both our nation and our partner nations overseas,” Karr said. “That’s the whole point of the nuclear umbrella, so that we don’t have to use them. It’s a deterrence, and there could be a day that we would have to use it, but the whole point is to use it to prevent our adversaries from doing bad things. We’re out there to protect those assets and keep our nation safe.”

This story was published on April 19, 2025.