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sebster wrote:

But if you want to talk about nuclear horror stories, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device). It's a nuclear weapons, albeit a small one, mounted on a recoiless rifle fixed on a jeep. If the Russians came over the border this was the first point of delay. Basically, these things would have been handed out to, what, 2nd Lieutenants? 2nd Lieutenants driving around Eastern Europe with nukes with no fire control placed on them...

You mean Western Europe, specifically Germany (sorry! Klaus)
Tactical nuclear weapons were a definite part of the strategy, the correct theory being that the US couldn't stop a quick invasion of Western Europe via Warsaw Pact mechanized forces. It was effectively part of the MAD strategy. Soviets invade with or without nuke strikes of their own. We pop tacticals to stop them or respend to their nukes. It expands and expands until BOOM, South America is now the world power for the next several generations.

I was in AFROTC back in my college days. On one of our base visits, we got inside a B-52, which was pretty fascinating. It was incredibly cramped, which is surprising until you realize that 1) the airframe is decades old and they never conceived of all the electronics it'd have 40 years later, and 2) the plane is *supposed* to be all fuel and bombs.

Anyway, so another cadet and I are sitting with an officer at one of the stations inside. I'm looking over the panel, and there's a switch marked "NUCLEAR." I did a major "whoa." And I'll always remember this...the officer got quiet for a moment, and said "yeah...well, that's a reminder of what you may be called upon to do."

I know we're all a bunch of hardcore MOFOs here, but I can tell you it's incredibly sobering to have that switch right there in your face, even in a bomber with no payload that's sitting on the ground. I don't believe there's any way you *don't* think about it if you were called upon to flip that switch for real. Depending on your target, you could potentially be incinerating a cityful of men and women and children and babies.

I've never been in either situation, but my gut tells me I'd have an easier time pulling the trigger of an M-16 aimed at an enemy combatant actively trying to kill me than flipping a switch that would kill thousands or millions in a nuclear hell. And even if I flipped the switch, I dunno how I'd ever live it down, no matter what the circumstances were.

...buy a shotgun with my little brothers around. GREEEEEAAAT.

I understand what you mean though.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Whoops, sorry. That entire post was aimed @ Ahtman.

I know it's different on subs, but if you're in a Silo and ordered to press the button, you better like the person you're down there with, because they're the last person you'll ever see.

reds8n wrote:.

UK Submarine Capts are indeed sterling fellows.

When we elect a new Govt. in the UK amongst the first jobs the new Prime Minister has to do is write a sealed letter for our submarine commanders with orders and instructions on what to do in a war scenario if contact is lost etc. IT's always hand written and is destroyed unopened when we get a new PM.

article here

I'm quite intrigued as the letter may infact tell them NOT to fire....

in the above article Dennis Healey goes on record to state that if, as was possible, he'd be left in charge he wouldn't have ordered the firing of any missiles.

Hey that's what I said!

sA


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Frazzled wrote:

sebster wrote:

But if you want to talk about nuclear horror stories, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device). It's a nuclear weapons, albeit a small one, mounted on a recoiless rifle fixed on a jeep. If the Russians came over the border this was the first point of delay. Basically, these things would have been handed out to, what, 2nd Lieutenants? 2nd Lieutenants driving around Eastern Europe with nukes with no fire control placed on them...

You mean Western Europe, specifically Germany (sorry! Klaus)
Tactical nuclear weapons were a definite part of the strategy, the correct theory being that the US couldn't stop a quick invasion of Western Europe via Warsaw Pact mechanized forces. It was effectively part of the MAD strategy. Soviets invade with or without nuke strikes of their own. We pop tacticals to stop them or respend to their nukes. It expands and expands until BOOM, South America is now the world power for the next several generations.

The British were prototyping Nuclear Landmines to place outside of the border from East/West Germany. The theory was that if the rolling thunder came, they could blast them to feth and gain a bit of time.

sA

A whole new meaning to the phrase tapdancing in a mind field there.

Hey that's what I said!

sA

Well, you tried to anyway.