![]() ![]() In 2013, during my first year on crew, 11 ICBM officers were implicated in a drug scandal. The threat simply didn’t feel real to new generations like it did to those who grew up huddling under their desks during nuclear attack drills in elementary school.Īnd the young crews who steward this nuclear arsenal today aren’t immune from the post-cold war malaise. Similarly, I think that after the end of the cold war, the general public allowed the threat of nuclear warfare to recede into the background. That warning was very much on my mind as I began my first “alert” down in the claustrophobic underground missile silo that housed the launch control center.īut somewhere along my way to nearly 300 nuclear “alerts” – 24-hour shifts in command of a launch crew – I began to brush the story off as a scare tactic for rookies. Stories like these were a way of impressing upon young officers the integrity required to be a good steward of these weapons and a warning of how quickly things can go wrong. ![]() It’s a famous story within the missile community. When I was training as a nuclear missile operator, my instructor told me the story of what happened in Arkansas that night in 1980. That’s how I knew the nuke didn’t detonate.” Although the nuclear warhead didn’t explode, the accident still claimed the life of one airman and injured 21 others, including Devlin. “I was stunned and in pain but I knew the nuke hadn’t gone off,” Devlin told me, “because I remembered those stories from Hiroshima where people had been turned into little charcoal briquettes. When the missile exploded, the warhead was thrown into the woods, disappearing into the night. The ICBM had a nine-megaton warhead – the most powerful single nuclear weapon in American history – on top. Devlin was thrown 60ft down an asphalt road and watched as a massive fireball rose overhead. ![]() A young airman working in an ICBM launch tube had accidentally dropped a socket from his toolkit the socket fell down the silo, ricocheted, and pierced a hole in the stage-one fuel tank. One night he responded to a leak in the missile’s fuel tank. Greg Devlin was an airman assigned to an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) team in Arkansas in 1980. There have been more near-misses than the world knows. I’m glad that people are finally discussing the existential dangers of nuclear weapons. My Boss ordered a Caesar salad which was so over dressed and a very small portion.Since Russia invaded Ukraine, I’ve heard more discussions of nuclear war than I did in the entire nine years that I wore an air force uniform. Another coworker ordered the pork cutlet sandwich, umm. Same thing charged my Boss for her greasy, slimy rings. She also substituted her fries for the onion rings. Another coworkers burger was over cooked and dry. Coworker tossed the pizza after he ate the toppings. My co-workers were equally disappointed in their entrees. The onion rings were pretty inedible half the batter had oozed off the rings, they were a thick, gloppy, greasy mess! No crunchy, battered rings here. Well, I got an entire order of fries plus, they charged my Boss extra for the onions rings. The sandwich was drowning in onions and to top it off: NO horseradish sauce. OMG! What a mistake! I ordered the hand carved steak sandwich, which is basically like a Philly. This time we decided to order individually off their menu. We had ordered their regular sized pizzas in the past and had not been disappointed. It is our busy season right now and our Boss decided to treat us by ordering carryout lunch from the Silo. Our office is located close to the Silo restaurant. American Restaurants for Lunch in Lake Bluff.American Restaurants for Families in Lake Bluff.Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort - Port Douglas.Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach.Hotels near (MKE) General Mitchell Airport.Hotels near Artists on the Bluff Station Gallery. ![]()
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