OUTSIDE KIMBALL, Neb.— Gathering around a small patch of earth in western Nebraska, leadership and members from Air Force Global Strike Command, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, and Wyoming’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base celebrated a significant milestone June 24, 2026 on the Air Force’s LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program with a “golden shovel” groundbreaking ceremony to recognize the first in-field construction of weapon-system related equipment.
The groundbreaking event formally kicks off the program’s construction of utility corridors that will feature fiber optic cable networks connecting Sentinel’s overall infrastructure.
“This is the first groundbreaking event for what's considered the nontraditional side of the Sentinel program,” said Peter Sturdivant, Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center Director of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Infrastructure. “This summer we're going to prototype and do proof of concept for more than 20 miles of utility corridor installation. The intent here is to mitigate impacts to neighboring landowners, proving we can be good partners with them.”
The project will implement three methods to install the utility corridor infrastructure, directional boring, vibratory plowing and open trench which will provide critical data points to best determine the proper methods for construction. The pilot program aims to eliminate the need to impact or disturb surrounding farmland while precisely laying communication lines.
Together with Sturdivant, senior leaders in attendance for the event included Col. Richard Morrison, AFGSC’s A10 deputy director; Col. Christopher Lacoutre, 20th Air Force commander individual mobilization assistant; Col. Kevin Brown, 90th Mission Support Group commander; and Steve Kravitsky, Sentinel Task Force 10 director, alongside other program representatives.
“Today marks the beginning of a long journey out in the missile field,” said Kravitsky, former commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren AFB from 2015 to 2017. “It took a team of engineers and government folks to put pencil to paper, design it and work it through … it's been
a long time coming.”
The beginning of Sentinel utility corridor construction marks a pivotal point in the program’s modernization of the land-based component of America’s nuclear triad.