tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post4741233690169628850..comments2023-11-03T09:36:22.100-04:00Comments on In From the Cold: Today's Reading AssignmentGeorge Smileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049707648660651119noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-31338176850633251322011-01-15T13:24:23.775-05:002011-01-15T13:24:23.775-05:00Since I'm older than you by some twenty years,...Since I'm older than you by some twenty years, my experience differs. First, I'm an aviator. For aviators who got missile assignments (for career broadening, they used to say) it was viewed as a kiss of death. Later in my career, in the SAC Airborne Command Post System, I discovered that most missileers came from support AFSCs such as supply and munitions. Those guys figured out that that their promotion potential was greatly enhanced if they got into an AFSC that involved a weapons system. ICBMs were the place to go.<br /><br />Back in the mid-70s, when some of the early disarmament treaties with the Soviets had been hammered out, there were some rather scary situations. One I recall very clearly was a late night klaxon that put everyone in "get ready to launch" posture. I was in the SAC ABNCP system at the time and was on alert. When we heard the message come down it was really a page right out of a war training session. A few minutes later we got a message to return to normal alert posture.<br /><br />Turned out that DSP had picked up a salvo launch out of an active Soviet missile field. First impact predictions were for Alaska and Canada. As the seconds ticked by it became clear that whatever was going on, it wasn't an attack. Finally, it became clear that several missiles were on their way to Kamchatka. The Soviets were complying with a segment of a disarmament treaty in the own special way: launching some missiles, sans nuke warheads of course, out of their operational silos. I heard later that the diplomats finally got them to stop doing that.TOFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14234091783167165660noreply@blogger.com