The Region - News from May 21, 1985

One of 57 military radio towers designed to survive a nuclear attack is planned for the Bakersfield area, the Air Force said. The Defense Department is preparing a Ground Wave Emergency Network to assure that communications would be available if needed to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike. Kern County officials said they have not been informed of the proposal, but a spokesman for the Air Force’s Electronic Systems Division confirmed that one is planned for the Bakersfield area. It would be built on a 12-acre site with a 300-foot antenna and a hardened equipment room with a self-contained power source. Plans for an identical station at Amherst, Mass., resulted in protests earlier this year.