OT: Who's a veteran?

[anon_ivydyf0amkzay]

Thanks for posting. I had seen the ad for this show, but had not seen it. It was very interesting on several levels. I noticed some minor changes to the crew uniform and to the briefing room where 18 crews met at 6:00 AM on the days they had alerts. I also noticed an in security when entering the site. I had a password to give in order for the other crew to let me and my crew in. I didn't have a piece of paper with codes on it that had to be burned as soon as I gave the codes to the commander whose crew was at the site.

Since I had been in the same squadron when I was at Little Rock, it's likely that during the 3 1/2 years that I was on a crew, I had pulled some alerts at 4-7 where the accident took place. Most of my alerts were at 4-9 where I was the senior crew commander.

At the time I was in, we never worried about the warhead exploding because we knew that it didn't arm itself until it was separated from the missile and well on its way to the target. Of course, we didn't know that in the right circumstances after an accident, there was a possibility that I day could have been ruined bigtime.

Most of the show was hard to watch because there were so many mistakes made. The biggest of course, was the airman being too lazy to go back to the truck to get the appropriate tool. Had he done that, the whole episode never would have happened. He compounded the problem by waiting a half hour before telling the crew commander what had happened. Once the accident happened and it was obvious that they couldn't stop the fuel leak, I don't understand why they weren't instructed by the powers that be to do an emergency off-load of the oxidizer. I'm not sure if they could have flooded the silo with the 10's of thousands of gallons of water that the silo held for sound attenuation during launch. If they could have done that, it would have diluted the fuel and probably prevented an explosion.

The really surprising thing to me was that neither Mondale nor Clinton knew that the Titans had a nuclear warhead. WTF did they think the missile was doing there? It would make no sense for a missile that could travel 9,000 miles and hit within feet of the target would have only a conventional weapon equal to a 1,000 lb. or larger bomb.

The rest of the show was not much of a surprise. A CYA policy was in effect in the military as it is in many other jobs.

Thanks again for posting.

Definitely not the Air Force' finest hour!

 

[oldtimer67]

Late to the dance but USAF 67-71. Father was Navy in WW2 and Korea.

 

[srru86]

Have you seen this? Great American Experience Doc

Check out the book it was based on by Eric Schlosser a good read. Also The Dead Hand by David Hoffman.

Closer to home a BOMARC nuclear tipped anti aircraft missile burned in its shelter at Fort Dix/MaguireAFB in 1960. Though it was not has bad as initially reported. An AF sergeant had reported to the State Police the warhead had exploded. The troopers had already begun rolling out the doomsday plans before clarification came through that it was just the fuel burning.But they never found a chunk of the plutonium warhead that apparently melted.

When I was with the Guard late 80s early 90s and doing weekend drill at Fort Dix the guys in our Scout platoon would shack up in the abandoned, and very off limits, buildings on the site to get out of the cold. They once offered to let me tag along. I declined sticking with my cold, and likely not irradiated, tent.

 

[RUNVA]

Army. 79-99 - Life Member 82nd Airborne Association.

 

[RUsince52]

U.S. Army 1969-1971 Military Police, 5th Army, Ft. Carson, Colorado
1970 transported nerve gas from WWI from Alabama to NC. The Navy buried it in concrete vaults somewhere in the Atlantic. Somewhat scary.

 

[corps50750903]

Marine Corps 88-93

 

[KevH]

Today is a day for thanking our vets. Would love to know all of our board buddies who are vets!

Roll call!

Army 85-89 Left Germany (West Germany then) months before the wall came down. Would love to have been there for that.

Thank you for acknowledging vets in general, but others in this thread have already mentioned the men and women Memorial Day is meant to honor so I won't belabor the point. It's really a solemn day, and I'm always conflicted when people wish me a "Happy Memorial Day" (not that you did).

It's cool to see a roll call of board members who are veterans, though. Much respect to you all, and to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice... we salute you and honor your memory.

 

[m1ipabrams]

Today is a day for thanking our vets. Would love to know all of our board buddies who are vets!

Roll call!

Rutgers Army ROTC 87-91
Served 91-99

 

[mikershoein]

I paid off my Uncle Sam footing the RU tuition by serving in the NJ Army National Guard

Same here, except I was NJ air national guard out of McGuire afb

 

[Njcanesfan]

Hacksaw ridge was a very good movie. Based on a true story too. I suggest u all check it out.

 

[rufamily]

Two RU alums in my family that were vets. My Dad, RC '55, Capt. 10th Special Forces Group, Ft. Devins, MA, left the service in March, 1964. My Great-Uncle Robert Collett, RC '36?, (RU LAX scholarship in his name), Colonel, U.S. Army, helped run the "Red Ball Express" in Europe during WW II.

Thanks to all that served. We are forever in your debt.

Please read if you get a chance (from 2012). Will never forget the cartoon with the kid asking "How much did all this cost?"

https://motleynews.net/2012/05/26/memorial-day-just-in-case-you-thought-it-was-national-bbq-day/

I actually won the Collett award in 1994. I am an Air Force vet and a Dester Storm vet.

 

[BUDMAN4RU]

Marine Corps 82-86

 

[29PAS]

Check out the book it was based on by Eric Schlosser a good read. Also The Dead Hand by David Hoffman.

Closer to home a BOMARC nuclear tipped anti aircraft missile burned in its shelter at Fort Dix/MaguireAFB in 1960. Though it was not has bad as initially reported. An AF sergeant had reported to the State Police the warhead had exploded. The troopers had already begun rolling out the doomsday plans before clarification came through that it was just the fuel burning.But they never found a chunk of the plutonium warhead that apparently melted.

When I was with the Guard late 80s early 90s and doing weekend drill at Fort Dix the guys in our Scout platoon would shack up in the abandoned, and very off limits, buildings on the site to get out of the cold. They once offered to let me tag along. I declined sticking with my cold, and likely not irradiated, tent.

The Schlosser book is very good.

I went to BOMARC school as a Weapons Controller at Keesler AFB in the summer of '70 - never saw one in person, however.

 

[scarletfanatic]

US ARMY August1995- October
2016

 

[RUMED]

Army paid for me to attend Rutgers Medical School. On active duty 1981 - 1986

 

[NickyNewark51]

T


Thirteen years in the Marine Corps.

Semper Fi...do or die...me too..."68" -"71".....joined the Corps before my 17th birthday after gettIng out of Jamesburg at 16 yrs old and violating parole it saved my life....my parole officer recommended it and it was the best move I ever made...I ended up in teletype operations going to school at MCRD-SD....right next to Naval Training Center SD and the airport on the other side......came out a Cpl... and the discipline I picked up carried me throughout my life...never had a problem since and graduated HS before my class of "69" did....congrats and thank you for 13 active years of service to our nation......Btw....I scored high enough to go aviation guarantee but being young and stupid decided I didn't want to invest the time to go Aviation which today I regret...too soon old...too late schmart...old Deutsche saying though I'm Scots Irish...

 

[NickKnight 1]

Semper Fi...do or die...me too..."68" -"71".....joined the Corps before my 17th birthday after gettIng out of Jamesburg at 16 yrs old and violating parole it saved my life....my parole officer recommended it and it was the best move I ever made...I ended up in teletype operations going to school at MCRD-SD....right next to Naval Training Center SD and the airport on the other side......came out a Cpl... and the discipline I picked up carried me throughout my life...never had a problem since and graduated HS before my class of "69" did....congrats and thank you for 13 active years of service to our nation..

Like I mentioned to you before I was known as NickyNewark
also when in high school. I was sitting under a clock at home,
and my father said what WTF are you doing, and I said
watch the clock, So I turned 18 at the turn of the clock at
Midnight, and said see ya. I had joined the Air Force a friend
took me to the Air Port and a new life began, guest what
I went into teletype communications too. My first assignment
was Ent AFB in Colorado springs, a year later I was helping
with the moving of Norad into the new headquarters under
Cheyenne mountain. A year later I started a 2 year stint
in Japan. No Playstation, internet and the like for you and
me but what a life. You might have been like me, you
had to fight to get home from school. But we made out OK.

 

[NickyNewark51]

Like I mentioned to you before I was known as NickyNewark
also when in high school. I was sitting under a clock at home,
and my father said what WTF are you doing, and I said
watch the clock, So I turned 18 at the turn of the clock at
Midnight, and said see ya. I had joined the Air Force a friend
took me to the Air Port and a new life began, guest what
I went into teletype communications too. My first assignment
was Ent AFB in Colorado springs, a year later I was helping
with the moving of Norad into the new headquarters under
Cheyenne mountain. A year later I started a 2 year stint
in Japan. No Playstation, internet and the like for you and
me but what a life. You might have been like me, you
had to fight to get home from school. But we made out OK.

You do realize...NickyNork is still available?? That's what I would do but Knight is cool too...lol...some actually spell it just the way it sounds !!! Yes before "pocket computers" it seems today's kids are missing something....I loved that we lived in interesting times that kids today will never experience...i did have the option of Aviation guarantee but as a youth lacked the foresight to see that it would have been the wiser decision and I didn't want to invest the extra time it would've required...2 extra years sounded like a lifetime at 16...lol..decisions..decisions...

 

[NickKnight 1]

You do realize...NickyNork is still available?? That's what I would do but Knight is cool too...lol...some actually spell it just the way it sounds !!! Yes before "pocket computers" it seems today's kids are missing something....I loved that we lived in interesting times that kids today will never experience...i did have the option of Aviation guarantee but as a youth lacked the foresight to see that it would have been the wiser decision and I didn't want to invest the extra time it would've required...2 extra years sounded like a lifetime at 16...lol..decisions..decisions...

I could go with NickyNewark46 also but I also like the sound of NickKnight. so I'll ponder this for awhile. Maybe I could
do like one guy. he does AKA JohnnyRingoes. If I can figure out how to do it.