Cold War chuckle

[smutz]

Actually the curtains were in place on take off. The crew had an eye patch over one eye and looked out the window through a small peep hole in the flash curtain. If the bomb went off near the take off base the crew would be blind in the one eye they were using to fly with. They were supposed to continue the mission with the eye that was protected by the patch.

Some of the nuc war stuff is really creepy.

Hi, RAF V bomber crews were told to do the same & keep one eye closed, same for the Canberra crews even GR1 crews still trained should it be neccesery.

away from the military my old man when he served at the west midlands police HQ in the 80's as a DI was told not to worry if it goes off this place is ground zero for a strike on Birmingham....nice.

Andy.

[Wayne S]

Also, how about those 50's civil defense videos of all the kids in the school just jumping under their desks for protection from the 10 megatonners heading for Kansas City (or whatever city you want to put here)...

Did not do that just in the 50s, at least on AFB bases and schools in other countries I went to anyway. Jumping under a deck is to get as low as you can get in the specific time frame one had. Getting under a desk is using that desk for protection of falling debris.

[Bonehammer73]

I'm sure you're all familiar with this...

[11bee]

Really digging those PLZT goggles. I think that they were also issued to B-52 crews. They also may be been the model for the Star Wars Imperial Storm Trooper's headgear.

[Kevan Vogler]

My girlfriend tells stories about ducking under desks in drills when she was in school in the old Czechoslovakia. She went to school in the 80s!

[Les / Creative Edge Photo]

As to the duck & cover, was there, did that as a kid. Only reason I did it was because the teacher was going to give me an "F" in citizenship if I didn't. Things weren't helped when I told her how stupid it was as we were only a few miles from Homestead AFB, Florida and this was during the Cuban missile crisis. I was in 5th or 6th grade at the time. Dad was in the AF for 20, working on Huns, Deuces, Sabres & Shooting Stars. During this time, TAC had him gone for 90 days TDY at a wack, home for 30, then off again for anotehr 90 days. Wikepedia has a list of WW 3 books, the earliest I ever read was Alas Babylon and that was written several years BEFORE the Cuban missile crisis happened.

You were smart enough to see through stupidity of DUCK AND COVER. By the mid/late 60's both sides had so many warheads that each ran out of targets. Odds are every military installation on both sides, every city of value were going to be hit not just once but many times. Imagine 6-8-10-12 warheads falling in a series succession on these targets?

Cold War times and history have fascinated me from my childhood. I never lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis, arguably the closest we came to nuclear war. But I never really feared one anyways. My only time of any odds of fear were during the early 80's from and only to make my point NOT POLITICS the cowboy like rhetoric of Reagan to the succession of Soviet old crony leaders so quickly each after each when Brezhnev died, until Gorbachev. But even at that I as a then young teen never feared that even the most brazen of political and military leaders would be so damn stupid and arrogant to launch an all out nuke war. Sure it could have happened and still could today the US, Russians, Chinese, Brits, French alone have more than enough nukes to wipe us all out. But even now the leaders know it's a NO WIN for any side.

[11bee]

Cold War times and history have fascinated me from my childhood. I never lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis, arguably the closest we came to nuclear war. But I never really feared one anyways. My only time of any odds of fear were during the early 80's from and only to make my point NOT POLITICS the cowboy like rhetoric of Reagan to the succession of Soviet old crony leaders so quickly each after each when Brezhnev died, until Gorbachev. But even at that I as a then young teen never feared that even the most brazen of political and military leaders would be so damn stupid and arrogant to launch an all out nuke war. Sure it could have happened and still could today the US, Russians, Chinese, Brits, French alone have more than enough nukes to wipe us all out. But even now the leaders know it's a NO WIN for any side.

If you want to see how close we came to all-out war during the early 80's, Google "Able Archer 83".

In some ways, I miss those days. You knew who the bad guys were and the world was pretty much black and white. Things are bit more complicated nowadays.

[Les / Creative Edge Photo]

If you want to see how close we came to all-out war during the early 80's, Google "Able Archer 83".

In some ways, I miss those days. You knew who the bad guys were and the world was pretty much black and white. Things are bit more complicated nowadays.

I agree about the perception and clarity of good guys and bad guys during the Cold War. It mattered on which side of the fence one was on though. Like I said the Cold War era was very interesting to me as a kid growing up. This was especially so with military aviation for me.

[Jennings]

When I was with the 380th BW(M) back in 1982, they had just gotten anti-flash visors for their helmets. Brand new technology at the time. It essentially turned the visor opaque in a millisecond after a burst. It supposedly did away with the need for the curtains. I remember being impressed. Same technology is being used today (in a more controlled way) for the cabin windows on the 787 Dreamliner.

[Mumbles]

I downloaded a copy of T.O. 1B-52E-1 (1 Nov 62), the B-52E/F pilot's manual. In the section that covers use of the thermal curtains for the windows it says the following:

NOTE: Crew hoods must be replaced after each flight in which they are exposed to radiation.

So, you go on your mission, drop your nukes on the bad guys, using the conveniently provided thermal curtains, then be-bop on home for dinner. Make sure the crew chief knows that those curtains need to be replaced, since they were exposed to radiation. Wouldn't want to expose the crew to needless rays, now would we? That way, next mission, when you get to bad guy land and drop some more nukes, the curtains will be all nice and fresh.

It's amazing how people thought (or didn't think, in this case) back then.

J

Just going back a year to the OP, on reading this again I don't think it that daft or amazing that such an instruction was in the T.O.. I work in cGMP manufacturing, and SOP's are a big part of my day to day. When writing a document like that, especially for equipment, part of the brief is to try and anticipate any related particular need or situation, so there is a defined process for it. In addition, while you don't write them for people to walk in off the street and be able to use them, you do write them so trained personnel have to do as little figuring out as possible when using it. So in this instance, while an unlikely scenario, it was nevertheless one that needed documenting. It has nothing to do with "how people thought (or didn't think)".

[Moose135]

In the 80's there was a little cartoon with a B-52 shown in flight head on, with a very large mushroom cloud in the background. the caption read "It's Miller time!"

One of the "old head" tanker pilots I flew with had the same cartoon on a shirt with the caption "Not Without A Tanker"

When I was with the 380th BW(M) back in 1982, they had just gotten anti-flash visors for their helmets.

I remember those as well - we had them back in the mid-to-late '80s in the KC-135.

[11bee]

Just going back a year to the OP, on reading this again I don't think it that daft or amazing that such an instruction was in the T.O.. I work in cGMP manufacturing, and SOP's are a big part of my day to day. When writing a document like that, especially for equipment, part of the brief is to try and anticipate any related particular need or situation, so there is a defined process for it. In addition, while you don't write them for people to walk in off the street and be able to use them, you do write them so trained personnel have to do as little figuring out as possible when using it. So in this instance, while an unlikely scenario, it was nevertheless one that needed documenting. It has nothing to do with "how people thought (or didn't think)".

The military is funny like that. Not to digress to far but when we were first issued Kevlar helmets to replace those ancient WW2 vintage steel pots, each K-pot came with a card from the manufacturer. If you took a round in your helmet, you were supposed to fill out the card and provide helpful feedback. I guess something like - did the enemy round go through both sides of your head after penetrating the kevlar or did the helmet keep the bullet contained? Did the helmet spall, disintegrate or otherwise fail to live up to specification, etc, etc. I always felt that card was pretty thoughtful and hoped that if we went into combat and someone was unlucky enough to take a slug to the head, our leadership would make sure that we could take a few minutes to fill out this card before returning to the heat of battle (assuming we lived through the experience). I also felt that this might be a tad meaningless since, like most all military equipment, my helmet was made by the lowest bidder and as such, maybe they really didn't care about PVT John's near death experience.

At the time, I actually thought about keeping the card as a souvenir or sending it back to the factory with some horrible made-up story about how my k-pot failed miserably (complete with fake blood on the card) but as a young 18-year old PVT, I had much more important things to attend to.

John

Edited September 8, 2011 by 11bee

[Alvis 3.1]

If you want to see how close we came to all-out war during the early 80's, Google "Able Archer 83".

:o

Holy cow, I had no idea...

I actually kept my vehicle fully fuelled for a few years on the 80s, until I realised I wouldn't likely get out of town once the sirens went off anyhow..which one did at 3 AM one night. There were no panicked reports on any radio station, and eventually it stopped...but yikes, kind of ruined sleep that night!

Alvis 3.1

[Slartibartfast]

Try reading Clancy's Hunt for the Red October. The Cold War rhetoric makes it a very difficult read.

Having lived during the Cold War, reading this again would only evoke memories. But I understand your point -- I can't read Shakespeare because the language is so stilted.

I remember our air raid drills in third, fourth and fifth grades (1965-1967). The amusung thing was Terre Haute, Indiana was nearest large town and I can't think of ANYTHING of strategic importance that would have warranted a nuke except an ANG squadron. Moved near Houston and JSC in 1968 and there was never a mention of air raids. I guess our proximity to the refining capital of the U.S. meant our goose was cooked many times over.

[Litvyak]

Having lived during the Cold War, reading this again would only evoke memories. But I understand your point -- I can't read Shakespeare because the language is so stilted.

Not stilted... actually very flowing - for the English of the period! But I take the point - Red October (and Red Storm Rising) both read a bit oddly nowadays, though both oddly take me back to a more "safe/comfortable"-feeling time...

Now for a bit of a chuckle from the other side of the Iron Curtain: in the 1960s sometime, there was a radio announcement in Hungary that caused the entire country to bust up laughing: "The Soviet Armies temporarily stationed in Hungary have been given the eternal keys to the city of Budapest"... :lol: