Recording the Cold War: Identifying and Collecting Cold War Resource Data on Military Installations

Summary

Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), with Legacy Resource Management Program funding, conducted a pilot project to determine the cost and effort to create a systematic approach for identifying, compiling, and analyzing Cold War data on four Air Force bases. SRI documented the existence, availability, and locale of Cold War resources, including facility data, and established data-collection processes. The bases had from 2 to 22 inventory and evaluation reports, with 45 percent digitally formatted; 355–1,123 facilities, with 3–100 percent evaluated for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (27–100 percent had State Historic Preservation Office concurrence); and GIS layers with 63.7 percent of the facilities present. SRI also collected information on Cold War documentary resources, such as photographs and maps, but these data were too extensive for this project. Project results indicated data collection at other Department of Defense (DoD) installations would cost from $8,000 to $19,000 depending on size and number of resources, and DoD could spend as much as $37 M to complete data collection on all installations. This pilot study provided an opportunity to define clear methods, identify potential pitfalls, and create cost and time metrics. With these data, DoD can plan for additional data collection, permanent data storage, and data access.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) Cultural Resource Archive - Documents, Images, and other Data

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Air Force Civil Engineer Center

Record Identifiers

Legacy Resource Management Program(s): 07-285

Contract No.(s): W912DY-017-2-0010

File Information