Reading this thread, I had a nagging sense that I had seen other reports of use by the United States of its old missile hardware for its space program. A quick perusal of google seemed to back this up. It seems the 'dual use' is not such an original issue.
See this link:

Recycled Missiles Tapped to Launch Satellites The United States is tapping an arsenal of decommissioned nuclear missiles to put science satellites into orbit.

http://news.discovery.com/space/rockets-missiles-scienc
e.html

I like this quote in particular -
"What is neat is that what was once a military weapons system is now a peaceful use of government assets. It's the whole idea of turning 'swords into plowshares,'"
said Barron Beneski, spokesman with Orbital Sciences Corp., which holds an Air Force contract to transform retired nuclear missiles into Minotaur space launch vehicles.


Also that the old missile type in question were called 'Peacekeeper'.
Philip Shetler-Jones