scale.
Fearfully, then, they prepared the second question. The tubes glowed and the wires vibrated as the metal mind contemplated
the question. Then it unfurled a strip of paper from an orifice.
The scientists took the answer from their creation. Afraid to look yet afraid of not knowing, they unraveled the answer. As
if in jest, the machine had named a range of dates for the catastrophe. But the dates were for five years in the past. It
took a moment for the implication to soak in. The computer was telling them that they were living on borrowed time. The event
could take place at almost any moment unless something changed to avert it.
This information was rushed to the military officials who had ordered the study. For the first time in peacetime the military
command did not hesitate. They called in all the safety and security experts they could find and began the task of redesigning
the control of these weapons of mass destruction.
The basic rules they formulated for the protection of these most-destructive of weapons have survived for over thirty years.
It is a credit to the rules that the country that houses the weapons has survived also.
Those rules continue to guide the guardians of atomic weapons. The Strategic Air Command, the central figure of the nuclear
triad, is the guardian of most of the nuclear weapons on American soil.
If you have ever been on a SAC base, you will know that they take their control of these weapons seriously.
At a base like Grand Forks, the reminders start when you cross the boundary of the base. Or when you attempt to cross the
boundary. No one gets on the base without the express consent of the base commander. That consent comes in the form of documents,
orders and such. Everything must be in order.
After you enter the base, security doesn’t let up. In fact it gets tighter the nearer you get to the weapons. A Strategic
Air Command base has two distinct police forces. There’s the normal type that you would expect in any community. The law enforcement
group handles the routine police business of the base. They patrol the streets, handing out moving violations and parking
tickets where needed. They protect the businesses on base and make sure that everything runs smoothly and legally.
But there’s another police force that few know of. Its job is to guard the weapons of mass destruction. Its members apply
the rules that came from that early study. They enforce those rules strictly. They know that everyone is living on borrowed
time. The job must be done right or the sword of Damocles will fall as predicted. They are dead serious about their work.
As you get closer to the areas where the weapons rest, the control becomes ominous. You see the tall fences, not one but rows
of them. The area in between is sterile and swept. If you knew a little about the job, you would be chilled to learn that
these well-maintained spaces between the fences are called killing zones.
Look closer at the fences. They are topped not by normal barbed wire but by something unique. It looks like the concertina
wire used in Vietnam but it’s different. It’s flat and sharpened. It’s called razor wire by the troops and is so deadly that
we are restricted by wartime conventions from using it on foreign soil.
Move a little closer and you start to see the signs. If you can get close enough to read one, you will see phrases like “no
unauthorized entry,” and “express written permission of the command authority,” and “use of deadly force is authorized.“
But if you can get close enough to read the signs, it has already been determined that you have a legitimate reason to be
there. The security guards have methods of surveillance that even the people who work there have no knowledge of. They are
dead serious in their work.
Within the alert area, where the bombers sit poised and loaded for the final war, the security is intense. Even the crew members
who
Fearfully, then, they prepared the second question. The tubes glowed and the wires vibrated as the metal mind contemplated
the question. Then it unfurled a strip of paper from an orifice.
The scientists took the answer from their creation. Afraid to look yet afraid of not knowing, they unraveled the answer. As
if in jest, the machine had named a range of dates for the catastrophe. But the dates were for five years in the past. It
took a moment for the implication to soak in. The computer was telling them that they were living on borrowed time. The event
could take place at almost any moment unless something changed to avert it.
This information was rushed to the military officials who had ordered the study. For the first time in peacetime the military
command did not hesitate. They called in all the safety and security experts they could find and began the task of redesigning
the control of these weapons of mass destruction.
The basic rules they formulated for the protection of these most-destructive of weapons have survived for over thirty years.
It is a credit to the rules that the country that houses the weapons has survived also.
Those rules continue to guide the guardians of atomic weapons. The Strategic Air Command, the central figure of the nuclear
triad, is the guardian of most of the nuclear weapons on American soil.
If you have ever been on a SAC base, you will know that they take their control of these weapons seriously.
At a base like Grand Forks, the reminders start when you cross the boundary of the base. Or when you attempt to cross the
boundary. No one gets on the base without the express consent of the base commander. That consent comes in the form of documents,
orders and such. Everything must be in order.
After you enter the base, security doesn’t let up. In fact it gets tighter the nearer you get to the weapons. A Strategic
Air Command base has two distinct police forces. There’s the normal type that you would expect in any community. The law enforcement
group handles the routine police business of the base. They patrol the streets, handing out moving violations and parking
tickets where needed. They protect the businesses on base and make sure that everything runs smoothly and legally.
But there’s another police force that few know of. Its job is to guard the weapons of mass destruction. Its members apply
the rules that came from that early study. They enforce those rules strictly. They know that everyone is living on borrowed
time. The job must be done right or the sword of Damocles will fall as predicted. They are dead serious about their work.
As you get closer to the areas where the weapons rest, the control becomes ominous. You see the tall fences, not one but rows
of them. The area in between is sterile and swept. If you knew a little about the job, you would be chilled to learn that
these well-maintained spaces between the fences are called killing zones.
Look closer at the fences. They are topped not by normal barbed wire but by something unique. It looks like the concertina
wire used in Vietnam but it’s different. It’s flat and sharpened. It’s called razor wire by the troops and is so deadly that
we are restricted by wartime conventions from using it on foreign soil.
Move a little closer and you start to see the signs. If you can get close enough to read one, you will see phrases like “no
unauthorized entry,” and “express written permission of the command authority,” and “use of deadly force is authorized.“
But if you can get close enough to read the signs, it has already been determined that you have a legitimate reason to be
there. The security guards have methods of surveillance that even the people who work there have no knowledge of. They are
dead serious in their work.
Within the alert area, where the bombers sit poised and loaded for the final war, the security is intense. Even the crew members
who
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