SAC Command Post

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Air Force Special Film Project 1236, "SAC Command Post" by U.S. Air Force
From U.S. Air Force index card: "Film describes the physical characteristics of the SAC Command Post, communications network, warning and alert systems, a senior controller demonstrating how positive control is assured and a simulated alert situation."
Source of original: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Motion Pictures Unit, Record Group 342

[@gwilbur1]

I was a Minuteman III Electronics Technician back in the late 70's, early 80's. Stationed in North Dakota, we braved the cold to keep the missiles on alert...I remember the calls from Job Control when we were on call. "If we have to work, you have to work" was their mantra...no sympathy, no empathy, just get to work, regardless of the day, the hour, and weather. Thankfully, we lived just minutes from the missile wing and could be there within minutes. It was a tough job, but a necessary one to keep our country's defense ready.

[@NancyBabbs]

My Dad was a B-47 pilot in SAC. I never realized what he did for a living. I do remember our house rule about limiting the use of our house telephone, even when he wasn’t on alert. This video makes me so proud of my Dad and SAC.

[@michaelgrey7854]

Thats so special. Your Dad was helping to keep us all safe. :)

[@zelmoziggy]

That’s because this video is propaganda.

[@UAL012]

@@zelmoziggy No dummy it's not. This explains how it really worked in those days.

[@zelmoziggy]

@@UAL012 Suuure, it does. 😂 You swallowed the propaganda hook, line, and sinker.

[@UAL012]

@@zelmoziggy figure out what GFY stands for, then go do it.

[@terryhill545]

I spent 8 yrs in SAC.Was a no bs command.I was in SAC during the Cubin crisis and the tragic loss of Pres Kennedy.Those were tense times.

[@humansvd3269]

@@theultimatejoost As was the Soviets, and China.

[@caroll.higginson4195]

Thank u for your devotion to our country

[@robbrown3519]

Part of my AF time was at Vandeberg, working comm at Atlas gantrys and silo. The same time period of Cuba and President Kennedy's death. S A. C. Was no joke! Everyone knew their job and did it well! ! just have one question - Where Is SAC TODAY?

[@HughAskew2]

@@robbrown3519 It is now called SratCom. Still headquartered at Offutt AFB outside of Omaha. No longer a strictly Air Force command, it rotates Admirals in to represent the Navy's nuke force on subs. They built a fancy new headquarters building down the hill from the old one. www.google.com/maps/@41.1157595,-95.9263183,3a,60y,89.79h,86.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s442aQ-l--lKGhDZOPgZOGQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

[@woodwaker1]

This video brings back a lot of memories. I was stationed in the SAC HQ underground 1970 - 1973 as a coding equipment repairman. (CRYPTO). I was part of a dedicated crew that supported the equipment used for secure teletype messages - all over the world. We also maintained the ground and airborne secure communications on the flying command post (Looking Glass). This is one reason Offutt had so many General Officers. Each plane required at least a one Star General be on board, and these were in the air continuously for more than 29 years. I felt as though my contribution helped avert a nuclear war

[@cockula776]

That it did, and thank you your service. Must have been pretty cool to see the technical advancement while you were serving. I'm a huge cold war history buff, especially the command and control, computer and communications end. I'd say you definitely had a hand in keeping the cold war cool instead of red hot!

[@woodwaker1]

@@cockula776 Thanks for the kind words. I learned a lot and felt that I contributed to the country. I feel too many young people are missing the training and pride in being a part of the service.

[@telesniper2]

You can relax, there was never any threat of "nuclear war". Fast fission events can only occur at certain points of the earth and certain precise times. This is due to the neutrino flux field from the sun which effects nuclear weak force. Most of the time such reactions are totally impossible. Bruce Cathie laid this out in great detail.

[@Silverline2572]

@@telesniper2absolute nonsense. Ask any physicist & they'll tell you you're full of BS! Please 😂

[@telesniper2]

@@Silverline2572 LOL physicist sure buddy. "Take their word for it" . Yeah that's not how science works. It's because of people like you we brought the global economy to its knees over china sniffles! All because hey I'm taking self appointed experts word for it with no proof because "I heckin wuv sigh-unz!!!1!11!!"

[@Forensource]

I was an Air Force cop at Beale and Fairchild in 1980. The command posts looked a lot like the ones in this film. The military ran on 1000s of 300 baud modems for communications. When the posts were updated, about 80 percent more space was opened up.

[@stevenwiederholt7000]

@Forensource "I was an Air Force cop at Beale and Fairchild in 1980." Green Side Or Blue?

[@cosmicraysshotsintothelight]

I think the most sophisticated thing I saw was the giant weather map plotter. Wow. And we went to the Moon with similar gear in the control rooms.

[@goldgeologist5320]

I was a Minuteman Launch Officer from 1984-1988. SAC was a dead serious command. Those darn 6 ring alert days. Wish I had a cell phone then like now. Life would have been better!

[@tiffanyshanley1419]

I am amazed by the job you had. Thank you for your service.

[@alexandriaoccasional-corte1346]

Did you have some UFO protocol? In case the shut down the silos again?

[@areskoumis9147]

"I was a Minuteman Launch Officer" Ditto, Whiteman 1977-1982. HQ SAC staff officer 1982-85 and again 1988-1992.

[@sski]

My Dad did 20 years with SAC in electronics/avionics repair and eventually teaching new Airmen before he left in the late 70s. He did 5 more years with the NJANG. I can see why he was always a 'by the book' kind of guy, very meticulous. It even showed in his appearance. It was cool growing up an Air Force brat. And I learned a lot from Dad and his friends. Good Men.

[@ChatGPT1111]

Not many "by the book" guys anymore, such a shame.

[@sski]

@@ChatGPT1111 Be a lot less grief in life, that's for sure. Doing things the right way has its advantages and makes humanity progress forward. Maybe that's why certain groups these days promote things that tear at 'normalcy' and things they consider 'White male colonial tendencies' and such blather. There is a distinct line you can see between when this country was a homogeneous society that worked together for the common good by following 'rules' set forth by previous generations, and that were improved upon but only by passing rigorous checks and balances set forth, again by 'rules' set forth by previous generations. Then came the communists (hippies, media, Hollywood, politicians, etc.) who started to push an agenda foreign to our way of life, using Alinsky's book 'Rules for Radicals', which you are seeing the results of now more and more each day. There were people who tried to warn us like McCarthy and Commander Rockwell, but nobody listened. And now, here we are.

[@ChatGPT1111]

@@sski well said. And we still have almost 3 years of this nonsense to go. Hard to believe. It's almost like they're doing almost everything they can to avoid going to jail.

[@johnkern7075]

I thought this was located at Cheyenne mountain in Colorado.

[@journeystarr]

That would be NORAD. SAC is in Omaha, Nebraska.

[@mcsedvet]

I joined the USAF in 1977 & was assigned to SAC in Blytheville Ark. This brings back some memories. It's amazing how far we've come in such a short time!!! But yet, when I retired in 97 we were still flying the B52s & KC135s!!

[@woodwaker1]

I think they still are flying them

[@garypounder3592]

I grew up 25 miles from Blytheville, in the Missouri Bootheel. Flash forward a few years and I was a brand new USAF 2Lt, going through Intel school at Lowry AFB in Denver. One morning, during a break from class, I came across another Lt in the break room. She was a couple of months ahead of me in the program and she was crying. The reason? Orders for her class had just come down land she was headed to-you guessed it-Blytheville. Quite a let down for a young woman whose dad was a big shot on Wall Street and lived her life (before the Air Force) on the upper West Side of Manhattan Since Blytheville was practically home, I offered to swap assignments with her. And the personnel center seemed willing to go along,’despite the fact my class was about two months behind here. However, SAC vetoed the idea; the Intel shop at Blytheville (97th Bomb Wing) was short of Intel officers and they wanted help sooner, rather than later. I wound up at Moody; can only imagine what life in Blytheville was like for a girl from Manhattan

[@ak_downrange_threat7251]

Thank you for helping me understand just a little bit more of what my father did for 22 years and retired as SAC closed.

[@lilblackduc7312]

Those guys were the "Greatest Generation".

[@sidv4615]

he didn’t talk to his own children bout this?

[@michaellovatt3944]

@@sidv4615 He said understand it better, not that his father didnt speak to him on the subject. Also how do you know his pops didnt pass while they were young? What a stupid thing to say.

[@jasonm949]

@@lilblackduc7312 Yeah, they gave us social security to pay for their retirement. Greatest for sure.🙄

[@rl64rl]

Bravo! Dad served in the SAC CP in the late-60s. I was a SAC ICBM Crewmember at FE Warren '88-'92!

[@garyhilson7220]

So you were down in the silo looking over your shoulder through the mirror waiting for your partner to freak out and stop him from doing something crazy?

[@alexanderking5395]

My dad worked on SDI in the 1980's. :)

[@HercNav]

400th SMS Alumnus 80-83 then on to UNT ... Frank E.'s Rocket Ranch was a blast ... did GT-91GM two months prior to departing for Mather.

[@Hutch400]

I was there to

[@sidv4615]

@@alexanderking5395 sad that it never materialised.

[@non-human3072]

16:46 it's the Kodak test lady.... that's awesome 👍 I thought I'd seen her before.

[@anotherdave5107]

TAC must have edited the footage.

[@poopytowncat]

As a kid, I was a USAF weather observer. In the mid 1960's spent a year at Fairchild AFB with about 45 B-52's fully armed then a year and a half at SAC Headquarters in the Global Weather Central. My main job was plotting world weather maps with a fountain pen. We would take a line of text data and convert it to wind arrows showing direction and speed, a cloud cover amount by filling in a circle on the map and writing the other data in a certain places around the location circle. (Evaluation of computer map plotting was going on. The plotter shown in the video at 3:47 was making contrail maps when I was there.) There was about 4 or 5 map plotters sitting at a row of large plotting tables covered with brown paper. A very large high-quality blank world weather map would be cut up into about 4 or 5 sections. We would each get one of the sections. During our shift we would be fed with weather data from the teletype room. There was a box in the wall between the secret teletype center and weather center where the the teletype paper would be placed. There was an airman whose job was to constantly take the teletype paper from the box and tear it into pieces for each section of the world and give it to the map plotters. A fun job! When there was pause in the plotting we would make doodles and crazy art on the paper covering the plotting table. When the map sections were all complete, they would be taped together and copies made by a huge blue-print machine that smelled like ammonia. Note the vacuum tube communication system at 5:09. Do you realize you can hold an ashtray under one of those and it will clean it for you? I even saw a banana peel sucked up one time. (Many people smoked on the job at that time. The computer rooms were glassed-off and no-smoking. It was hard to get people to work as computer operators in those.) You could make a video about Beavis and Butthead work at SAC Headquarters during the Cold War! Anyone else remember when they were 18 to 20 in the military? It's amazing the world is still here.

[@rickdamico7146]

Loved watching this, proud to see my old base on the 8th Air Force Alert Panel. I was in SAC for 4 years, always on alert. We never flinched and never backed down.

[@rickdamico7146]

@choossuck Turner AFB, Albany, Georgia.

[@vgbondarev]

My dad was a Soviet Typhoon captain. Neat to see what was going on on the other side. Nothing but respect for SAC lads. Don't know how we didn't start a war.

[@PuzzleKitten_0000]

I don't either. We came waaaaay too close too many times as it was! 🤷🏻‍♂️ 🙃❤️‍🩹💯❣️

[@deansacca781]

Wow sir we are all humans and bleed red blood. War sucks. Lets all just trade, visit each other, respect each others boundaries and be friends! How simple....but there is a "tribe" of people who own the money that dont want that....

[@ronaldlavender1137]

We talked about the USSR in the pejorative for many years but we are having this conversation because two Soviet officers had the humanity and integrity to read the situation correctly and not launch their nuclear weapons. The first situation was in the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 when a Soviet submarines was trapped by surface vessels of the USN and the sub's captain was going to use a nuclear tipped torpedo to take out these ships and the sub's political officer would not give consent to launch. Had he given consent JFK would likely have unleashed a total nuclear response on the Soviet Union who would have responded in kind. The other event occurred when a Russian computer program of a War game simulation showed Russia under nuclear attack and President Yeltsin was given the launch codes and urged to release the weapons. This one officer put himself on the line and convinced Mr. Yeltsin not to launch that it was an error. Regardless, the entire world owes a tremendous debt to these two officers. Every country in the world should mint a stamp honoring them. I also recommend several videos produced by former American SECDEF William Perry on nuclear war.They are on youtube.

[@richardroma536]

@@deansacca781 I'm curious. What might that tribe be? The Apaches? The Sioux? The Comanche, perhaps?

[@deansacca781]

@@richardroma536 I think you know the answer.

[@JayKayKay7]

I was an Air Force brat but never was stationed at a SAC base. I was told by kids who had that it was no fun because they were so tight ass about everything. General Curtis LeMay set the early tone for SAC and it was old school "IronPants".

[@PawelK198604]

I'm Polish but that documentary isn't from 60 but from the late '40s from 1947 to be exact its encrypted in roman numbers MCMXLVII :-)

[@NikovK]

@@PawelK198604 The opening has the Seal of the United States Air Force, which was created in 1947. If still doubt its the sixties, there is a single frame at 8:29 to prove it. You won't mind finding the evidence.

[@PawelK198604]

@@NikovK So it's the '50s?

[@andytothesky]

@@PawelK198604 this movie was made in response to the film Dr. Strangelove. The purpose of this film was to show why the events of Kubrick’s movie couldn’t happen. It’s at least from 1964.

[@PawelK198604]

@@andytothesky I watched Dr Strangelove it was really a good movie, so its like a response to "fake news" in Strangelove :-) BTW I once watched dr Strangelove with my mum I think it was banned under communism in Poland but people who wanted to watch "western propaganda" find the way nevertheless, but I'm from 1986 and watched it when Poland was already free. I said that I wish Poland some nukes, but my mom said she could not sleep well that Poland under Kaczyński or Tusk have nukes, that it would be really cool if Russia and America destroyed their nukes stockpile but she does not believe in miracles :-)

[@dennissvitak6453]

I was the lead US Air Force meteorologist for the Alaskan Forecast Unit, in Anchorage. My primary responsibility was to provide direct operational weather support to Alaskan NORAD Region HQ., right across the street. As a practical matter, this was grabbing the latest weather satellite photo, and hot-footing it over there with my restricted entry badge. Nothing like Bear bombers inbound to get your blood pumping. This was decades ago, back in the old Soviet Union days. SMH..dunno how the fuck we managed to not blow each other up..as our boys were READY.

[@cockula776]

Just the sheer amount of info required is mind boggling, but USAF had it all covered!

[@floridacoder]

I was a military brat on Ellsworth AFB in the late 80s and early 90s. Got a tour of the silo when a kid. Remember being told not to touch anything. If you lived there you know about the snow drifts. When we were snowed in they had us dug out of the snow so he could go to work one time.

[@justinhaase8825]

Wild to think a fair number of these 52s and 135s shown in this film are probably still being used today..

[@marioragucci1009]

Its easy to time travel with 4K resolution on movies like this. Thank you oh so very much.

[@remeyrune6009]

Ah, back in the old days of circuits and transistors. "You want a career, be an electrician in the Service!" my dad always said

[@howardburakof4364]

I was at Loring AF base (SAC) in the late 50's. We were on alert more times that I want to remember

[@agy234]

Loring is so empty now!

[@janineboitard6492]

Interesting how the number of Vold war nuke-related posts has increased in the past 2 weeks. Stayed tuned for air raid siren drills...

[@sandman4876]

You notice that too 🤣🤣🙈🙈

[@d-sx560]

The Vold war was scary

[@scottdunkirk8198]

We should have never stopped

[@tanks1945]

Watch out for a comeback in fallout shelters for the home. Already there is a boom in prepare foods for 30 days or more.

[@Militaria_Collector]

Duck and cover...

[@bobmiddleton6169]

I was an Alert Force controller at Castle AFB in 1982 when it was the primary SAC training base for B-52 and KC-135’s. We had an alert Christmas tree for KC-135’s of which we had crews on alert. As said in other comments, there was no funny business allowed, and rightly so since SAC dealt with Nuclear weapons. This was one of the most dangerous times in US History as there several near mishaps with both US and Soviet nuclear forces. I was scared nearly every day going to the Alert facility.

[@johnlshilling1446]

Proud to have been a part of the USAF SAC, early 70s. Though, at 17 years of age... I didn't have a clue. Thankfully, others did.

[@towdjumper5]

My Dad was a B52 Jet engine mechanic at Columbus A.F.B which was a training-base for pilots in the T37 and T38 planes. /SAC base. I remember alerts and the siren lights at our street corner on Aberdeen St. near the training runways by the baseball fields.Great Stuff. SAC guys are crazy..

[@andrewmiller3834]

I was only admin at FE Warren back in 87-88 but it made no difference. Once you were assigned to a SAC base you were theirs. I eventually became a bomb shelter Assistant Manager. Thank God I wasn't the junior member... That poor bastard would've been forced to take off his gas mask outside to see if it was still lethal out there while we waited. I wore the iron fist patch of SAC with pride! Got sent to Turkey after that assignment. Ah well, that was a lifetime ago.

[@MScotty90]

The video quality on this is stunning. It doesn’t have any of the graininess or other defects that most vintage stuff like this does.

[@CEOkiller]

Curtis LeMay did not tolerate graininess or “other defects”…

[@Ammo08]

I was a nuclear weapons specialist in SAC in the early 70s. I remember seeing this film a number of times during my 4 years in SAC. SAC had it together...

[@charlesbukowski9836]

yup... I lived next to Norton for a few years... they were always doing shit

[@anderspersen3260]

Must have been interesting and fascinating working with these incredible weapons.

[@Ammo08]

@@anderspersen3260 I have to say it never got mundane. We were always on point about safety and security as well as correct procedures.

[@anderspersen3260]

@@Ammo08 Great to know. And in those days the stockpile was much larger than in these days. I liked the Peacekeeper ICBM which came in the 80s but unfortunately were taken out of service after a while.

[@Ammo08]

@@anderspersen3260 I was Minuteman III. Lots of my friends worked on the PK...looked like a neat system.

[@bigbearmerriott9056]

My dad, uncle and grandfather was all in SAC

[@garyhilson7220]

SAC was the craziest, strictest and most paranoid branch of the Air Force. The saying "Peace is Our Profession" should really say "Wee's Got The Bomb And Wee's Crazy as Hell"

[@davidfaas58777]

SAC Motto "PEACE IS OUR PROFESSION"

[@oceanhome2023]

MAD works !

[@TheDoctor1225]

It WAS their profession - to maintain peace, and do it through strength. (As stated right in the beginning of the video, actually) The fact that we're all still here shows that it worked. Many of the policies that so many "intellectuals" sneered (and still sneer) at have been vindicated by history in that they did exactly what they were supposed to - they kept either side from using the most horrible weapons we'd ever devised.

[@anotherdave5107]

@kimchiraven - annihilation's our recreation!

[@vidfan1701]

No one can convince me that the mere presence of SAC scared the USSR into not attacking.

[@sjp35productions6]

And “WAR IS JUST A HOBBY”. Sure do miss my days as a SAC trained kill’er in the ol’ Simulated Air Circus.

[@tomtk7]

Enjoyed watching this, was in SAC and stationed at FE Warren AFB Cheyenne Wyoming back in 69-70, Minuteman 1 back then

[@jamesbarnard9710]

Targeting team chief (maintenance) and then field supervisor at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, 341st Strategic Missiles Wing, 1965-1969. You said, "How far?" on your way out the gate in a blue truck!

[@ScotMorrisonKA3DRR]

Officially, hooked on the reels! Right on.

[@johnsciara9418]

I was at SAC Headquarters at Offutt in the communication field where we made sure that communications from Headquarters to the other bases were maintained. We could see the encrypted messages and also the clear text messages.

[@ScotMorrisonKA3DRR]

Really enjoyed this reel. I appreciated hearing, "[R]igid compliance to technical data." Technical data is a general order, meaning, severe consequences if one deviates from the general order. The T.O. kit, where all technical orders are stored, was a two-person lift and mandatory for all maintenance teams whether field or organizational. Leaving with this quote, "To error is to be human, to forgive is not SAC's policy."

[@jtfoog5220]

Isn’t it “to err” 😉

[@scotty3114]

Was stationed at Walker AFB during 60's. We 3 B-52 squadrons, 2 KC-135 squadrons and 1 Atlas ICBM squadron. I was still in training in the Cuban Missile Crisis and on permanent duty when President Kennedy was killed. Tense moments. Thing were too serious for much bs. But it wasn't a bad gig, you could be proud of what you did.

[@ronaldhowland4655]

My father was a crew chief on a KC-97 tanker in the early days of SAC. Was in SAC for 13 years till the KC-135 was brought out. Then transferred to radar maintenance working with T2 maintenance.

[@Legend813a]

That full bird had epic eyebrows.

[@walcoman]

Government issued caterpillars, baby! 😂

[@cosmicraysshotsintothelight]

Look at the list of flics. He was in many. They liked him for their instructionals (presumably). Epically stoic and stern face.

[@murrygandy6546]

Could have been Sean Connery's 007 double.

[@JoeMuc2008]

Lots of enthusiasm and pride, still I wish they would ever express anyone's hopes that all of this is never actually needed.

[@johnmcclain2848]

By Dawn's Early Light was a so-so movie, but I liked that this video gave a bit more color to the jargon they threw around.

[@telesniper2]

4:04 Ah yes I had an old friend who was a phreaker/hacker from this period (late 60s and beyond) who gained access to that old circuit switched telex network. 4:12 that was the key, actually, LOL. He said you'd be surprised how much of it was sent in plaintext (he showed me some samples). Good times, I learned alot from that old man. He went on to play with the x25 networks that came in later, and really weren't much better secured as far as he was concerned.

[@Guitcad1]

I love how the thumbnail for this video just happened to catch the single frame with a speck of dirt on the film and it looks like he's clenching a cigar or something.

[@owensweetland342]

My brother-in-law Kent was on a B-52 as a EWO. Then employed by JPL. Super great guy!

[@DaleSheltonsPage]

Well, that brings back a lot of memories.

[@1977Yakko]

I live just a few miles from Offutt. Did the tour of the bunker as a kid back in the late 80's or maybe early 90's. Saw the Cray supercomputers and the big command center with all the big screens. As a kid, my first thought was, oh, it looks like that movie War Games. LOL! Though young, I knew well enough that if the Cold War went hot even in those waning days of the Cold War, that the Omaha area would be pretty well blasted. No amount of food storage we had in the pantry or taking cover in the basement like for a tornado was going to save us. But maybe it's like the saying goes, "the lucky ones died first".

[@jeffk4]

thankyou! for your service goldgeologist

[@zenoslayer9618]

Dad was in sac and tac retired in 65 as missiles system analyst at mountain home after 3 years at Offutt afb

[@care2think611]

1957? How timely. Duck and cover everyone. I hope the good old days are not back. Sadly, current events take me back to those times. Satisfying to hear 'nuclear' pronounced correctly.

[@anthonylowder6687]

No…I would say sometime around 1964 or 65 from the cars shown.

[@rkelsey3341]

There were 2 or 3 Chief Master Sergeants in this video, a rank which was not approved until 1958. I think a Master Sergeant had to be first promoted to Senior Master Sgt before making it to Chief. Also remember that this insignia for Chief was 2 stripes over the top of the Master Sergeant chevrons at that time.

[@mwbright]

With the B-52, and a dedicated corps of German Shepherds, we will achieve peace and security AND crush our enemies.

[@ibtaba]

I worked in the SAC HQ building at Offutt AFB. In the early 90’s. A lot of the corridors were the same as this video.

[@SiliconBong]

These were days when the size of a man's eyebrows reflected his authority.

[@anotherdave5107]

Wow that was old even for SAC; B-58s. I worked FB-111s out of Plattsburgh in the 70s & 80s. we had ORIs we took VERY seriously. Every nut, bolt and screw on our bombers and tankers were treated as a nuke and we took pride in it. When upgrading from analog to digital systems the poop hit the fan once during an ORI. The teletype at the base phone exchange where war orders came in had the HI (bit 8)on the paper tape punch broken and no one had ever bothered to repair it because up until then all orders came down on paper text which only used the low 7 bits. The 8th bit was only for data which had never been used so they ignored it in maintenance tests. I got a call about 11:30 PM that there was a classified paper tape for immediate pickup. I was enlisted and didn't have a car or the ability to request one in the middle of the night. What I did have was about a foot and a half of snow. I made a direct bee line from the maintenance complex to the phone exchange building. I picked it up and ran back and ran it thru our shiny new machine we had been trained repeated on. The display read decoding error. So I called the phone exchange and they punched me another and I ran over and got it. Still no go. Other parts of the base were getting info from some place and the LEs looking for unusual behavior grabbed me cutting across a field with a package on the third attempt. After the phone exchange confirmed they gave it to me they gave me a ride back to work. Still a failure. An officer came by after the LEs reported it and he was fuming that our part of the work was holding up the war. He read out the instructions in the manual, pushed the buttons on the machine and verified that communication had failed. He got permission to send me home and to report back for day shift. When I got in they told me I wasn't under disciplinary review but someone certainly was, whoever was signing off a broken teletype as functional for quite some time. When I came in at 4PM They were patting each other on the back that we had discovered a flaw that had never been observed before and now would be checked worldwide and the war was rescheduled around us for a short time and the clock for our part was then restarted. We won the war; of course.

[@aperson7754]

tldr

[@anotherdave5107]

@@aperson7754 - I agree!

[@NikovK]

I hope that guy's disciplinary review involved shoveling all the snow he made you walk through. I also hope the officer learned that if a machine fails what, four times in a row? It isn't operator error. I had a relatable problem in IT for a bank. At one branch office, computers would fail to reconnect to the company network about 50/50 after restarting. IT in the central office told them to restart the computer again and it fixed it, 50/50. All of IT presumed the branch office was stupid. Then I got hired. One day I got tired of doing what they've told me to do to 'fix it' and just took a half hour to dig into root causes. They had a rogue device on the network. When a computer started it asked 'what network am I on' and half the time the rogue device said 'my network'. So I drove an hour down there to get rid of the offending ten-year-old device that had literally fallen behind the desk. All the bank tellers who dealt with this headache for years were showering me with bank lollipops. Which I felt too old for, but it is hard to say no to blondes offering to pick out a dozen of your favorite flavor. Get back to the office and not even a word from my supervisor. Seems I mortally embarrassed the whole team. No justice for finding everyone else's systemic mistake that was wasting a hundred hours a year, and they even let me go by Christmas. And that's where this relates; what irked me was how they joked about the tellers being too dumb to use the machine, but the truth was they kept insisting their broken machine couldn't be the problem. I hope the officer got himself square with you. It doesn't seem right they'd all pat themselves on the back without recognizing you slogging through the snow is how they found it.

[@ChatGPT1111]

@@NikovK great story, thanks!

[@ChatGPT1111]

This is fascinating, thanks for sharing!

[@paulrichardson9391]

I was a Command Control Technician 1982-1987. McConnell AFB consolidated Command Post (Aircraft and Titan ll missiles)

[@Chilly_Billy]

17:33 "Hey, what about Maj. Kong?"

[@garyhilson7220]

He's still there with the other Maggot for Brains Lifers. Its a AF thing.

[@crankshaft383]

I was a sac commander in all 27 of my lives...those were the days!

[@zhechen7691]

These are very hardcore tutorials. I can feel the confidence of the U.S back in 50s, the enlisted and officers of SAC were professional, composed and organized. The U.S not only had advanced technique to deter the former Soviet, but also had counter-measure if struck.

[@jackshittle]

Most people don't realize that all of this technology & hardware is now run on a single iPhone 13.

[@georgephillips1185]

🤙. Thank you

[@NoSTs123]

13:06 that device looks preety nifty. I wonder how its display worked. I suspect it being similar to an etch and sketch. I googled it, it is called an iconorama!

[@lukewise1227]

Been a long time since I have seen a teletype machine. Clatter, clatter day and night. Deepest of sins if you let the paper run out. Long periods on shift with a pile of masonite backed clip boards, working out which message went on which board. Senior Officers who would get irate if they got the wrong one on their clip board. Ah, the things you forget, seemed so important then, so humorous with the technology available now.

[@spacemanski]

Brasshat this is Crystal Palace...

[@blondknight99]

Flush the bombers. Get the ICBMs in the bullpen warmed up and ready to fly.

[@josephtaylor3857]

Greetings Professor Falken... would you like to play a game?

[@uthrandir2353]

"Ah, Mr. McKitrick? Sir, after careful consideration I have come to the conclusion that your new defense system SUCKS."

[@cosmicraysshotsintothelight]

"We had a launch detection that was supposed to land in your area. Can you confirm?"

[@highvoltageswitcher6256]

The US military still had the metaphorical scars of the Pearl Harbour Attack at this time. Super organised, no glib assumptions and nothing left to chance.

[@Firebolt193]

What I like to call 'hyper-competence'. Take into account EVERYTHING and train on EVERYTHING

[@PrincessZoey]

I love the b52 crazy airplane

[@Finallybianca]

From 1994 to 1999 my Uncle who is an engineer for Motorola was in charge of creating a secure cellphone relay system and installing it in the bunker as it was called. I got clearance when I turned 18 in 98 to assist under his contract. Ironically I was also technically a member of the press as I was already shooting photos and writing articles for the Omaha World Herald as seen at 2:05. I had one of the teletypes for years that was being used in the teletype relay room as we were also removing them at that time.

[@tysonas1]

Been underneath SAC, my dad took me down there on bring your son to work day; child had to be ten and under, wonder why. (Deleted stuff because I figured it might still be classified, oopsie)

[@johnmoran3754]

My father served in SAC during Korea earned DFC. Rests in Arlington with his brothers.

[@Tana21120]

Minot AFB 1979 to 1981. That base was tight. No matter the weather, people were on the flight line and in the missle field.. IG inspections were the worst. Commanders went crazy, and man us enlisted got hammered if everything wasn’t perfect !!!

[@murrygandy6546]

Minot 1973-77 flying B-52s.

[@GLC-1979]

@2:58 Those guys delivery pizzas got through without any security clearance lol

[@cosmicraysshotsintothelight]

Those were air filters. Juat as he was discussing the air handling. There were no pizza delivery joints around yet back then.

[@bamafaninar9292]

My first job in the Air Force was Teletype Maintenance...great job, loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, the PC revolution killed it. Then I was moved to telephone maintenance...back in the good 'ole days of copper wires and tip and ring. Now Voice Over IP has all but killed it. Guess I'm just getting old.

[@cosmicraysshotsintothelight]

Just think... the computer or cell phone you typed that comment in on would not have even been possible were it not for NASA and our military. At one time I was loading 300 Pac Man a week onto tractor trailers. The PC revolution killed that too. But I did skip right past tape and got LaserDisc quality video then DVD then HD-DVD, then Blu Ray DVD. Now, I just download files and play it on my PC or put it on a thumb drive and pop that into my smart TV at 4k resolution. Ain't technology great?! Thank you for your service!

[@danielmarshall4587]

Splendid film 4:52 DON'T BOTHER YOUR ARSE TO ENSURE THE DOOR CLOSES BEHIND YOU, oh yes nothing changes.

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

My Father was in the Army so I'm not entirely clear but I don't think he was In SAC. But as an NCO Curtis LeMay lived next door. BBq all the time. He was a freak on the dance floor . Unbelievable!

[@ccrider00]

MY GREAT WAS AIR FORCE PILOT FOR 30 YEARS, flew b17,fire boomed Japan ww2 in b29,flu b36 sac, b52 sac and kc135 air Tanker,retiring out of March afb In riverside,ca.

[@thomasparisi5333]

Great scan! Hard to believe that one of those BUFF's could still be flying :)

[@garyhilson7220]

Those D models were retired after Vietnam.

[@thomasparisi5333]

@@garyhilson7220 Good point ......

[@ronaldrobertson2332]

There were a few still flying when I got stationed at Offutt AFB in 1980.They didn't fly out of there, just passed through in transient. We had Looking Glass at Offutt and I was one of the refuelers there.

[@Dbear39]

Been at NORAD. Wish I worked in SAC.

[@BeechSportBill]

I spent 7 years on the other end of those phones and teletypes….

[@charlesbukowski9836]

When the world actually RESPECTED us....

[@beatrute2677]

I was the duty janitor at SAC in the 60’s.

[@HoneyGlzedHam]

Madness.

[@highvoltageswitcher6256]

08:29. Nice!

[@justinberdell7517]

That's some advanced looking grey instrument!

[@LOLHAMMER45678]

I didn't know gigachad was a USAF Colonel

[@petefroehling8704]

Rock Hudson loved sac command

[@cosmicraysshotsintothelight]

You spelled Cummand wrong. These are the times that try mens' holes.

[@Viddub]

Watching this thinking it would be perfect for mystery science theatre 3000

[@david25876]

I hope it’s all still working cuz we are gonna need it. The threat has never been greater.

[@anthonylowder6687]

An interesting film indeed. However I’m more interested in the cutie that made two appearances in the film….looked like someone had used a home made film and decided to use this roll to make this movie, still I wonder who she was….I'll bet she caused a little stir when this film was first shown to our flyboys!!😁😁

[@fantom5894]

Yes I saw her at 8:30 and she’s got early 60s clothes and hairdo

[@joelobryan1212]

SAC Com holding Omaha newspaper dates this USAF movie reel to June 1965.

[@nigelgarcia2432]

SAC TRAINED killer. KC135A crewchief. Alert time and lots of horns to respond to.

[@stevenwiederholt7000]

SAC, Peace Is Our Profession.....War Is Just A Hobby.

[@tomusmc1993]

Grew up in Cincinnati, we knew then that it was a target. Funny to see it as one of the few cities marked on the map. Ahhh simpler days...

[@Mark-yy2py]

We used to say, when you are in SAC, you remain in SAC- “Sacimisized”, if you will.

[@TheGreatWent1]

wow, huge effort for all a charade

[@TheTalmanator]

So in reality we all die. Only an idiot or clown would think of pressing the button in the first place.

[@baronedipiemonte3990]

It's called MAD = Mutually Assured Destruction. The living will envy the dead. That's why all of NATO is worried about Putin. His predecessors were evil asshats, but they weren't deranged, and they had advisors who for the most part weren't afraid to say something. All of them knew that if they fired, we'd fire. And if we fired, they'd fire. I'm wondering if Putin doesn't have some incurable condition because he's acting like he doesn't give a flying #&@* about anything.

[@av8tore71]

My grandfather flew P-47'S during WWII and the F-86 in Korea, he eventually flew the F-101 Voodoo and the A model F-4 before retiring 1963 then my dad ended up flying the RF-4 (he shot them with a camera) and ended his career in the F-15. Since I was always the "black sheep" of the family I ended my US Army career as a JAG lawyer

[@robertjones8598]

What does any of that have to do with SAC?

[@Walter_E_Kurtz]

Those rooms smell like pomade, brut, and old spice. With a splash of canoe.

[@5kylord]

The people who did the movie Wargames really did their research. They used the callsigns "Dropkick" and "Starbird" in the movie. I'm guessing this video is where they got those callsigns when writing the script for the movie.

[@zacharyhughes3696]

Sky Bird for missile crews and Skyking for Bomber crews

[@pennise]

General LeMay says, "You're welcome."

[@dennissvitak6453]

At 2:25 is Building 500, SAC HQ., at Offutt AFB, just south of Omaha. Prior to ... say 1962, Soviet missiles weren't accurate enough to effectively destroy this target. I laugh when I see this...a 100 foot bunker isn't shit when a one megaton missile lands, as a ground burst. This is why they built NORAD HQ., at Cheyenne Mountain, near Colorado Springs. THAT baby will likely survive the first hit...but not the second one two minutes later.

[@ronaldrobertson2332]

I used to work behind Bldg 500 in the POL bulk storage yard. Stationed there from 1980-1983.

[@LOLHAMMER45678]

Soviets moved to 25 megaton warheads on SS-18 mod 1 for a reason

[@dennissvitak6453]

@@LOLHAMMER45678 - bullshit. there are no 25 MT warheads in operational weapons systems.

[@johnned4848]

Very interesting film never seen this before. Was this made when Thomas Power was CINCSAC?

[@woodwaker1]

It looked more like Ryan. take a look at this en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commanders-in-chief_of_the_Strategic_Air_Command I served under Holloway and Meyer

[@carlosvictoriafalcon637]

I served as a Titan II crew commander and experienced a DEFCON and posture upgrade during a false alarm. I’m proud of my service but I do wish we would all decide that there is no place for these terrible weapons. I would have done my duty if required to do so though.

[@aumarigan]

It would help if you include in the title or caption, the year this was filmed or released.

[@gregoryjclark81]

I love the woman who briefly appears at 8:29 sitting in front of the color test strip. Attractive woman with this season's new hairdo. Her flower pattern dress is pretty cool too. I can only imagine the military officers and that ilk spotting her while screening this little flick. "A woo, woo, wooommmaaannn?!?!? This film is no place for such a thing as a woman!!! Don't you see we're plotting genocidal megadeath here??? Real man's work. And flowers?!? Pinko Soviet peacenik provocateur!!!" screeched Lt. Gen. Doug Doomsday upon his discovery of the flower-patterned, peace-loving female accidently cut into the film.