US nuclear launch code? 00000000

[Matt Collins]

You can't make this up:

http://gizmodo.com/for-20-years-the-...-si-1473483587

[Matt Collins]

Reminds me of this:

[osan]

You can't make this up:

http://gizmodo.com/for-20-years-the-...-si-1473483587

Biased and not quite accurate. Not only do you need launch codes, but targeting information as well. You don't just put on your Mr. Scott official Star Trek Engineer's uniform and speak into the computer to tell it where to send the warheads.

As I recall, there are also arming codes for the warheads as well, which must be entered into what I recall seeing as a watch-like device, and you get exactly ONE shot at it. The device is designed such that if you enter a wrong code the mechanical device self-destructs, rendering the warhead inert. So yes, they may have been able to laungh the missiles willy-nilly, but that does not mean they had the same means to target and arm the devices. I am the first to take shots at the paranoid dummies in DoD when the deserve it, but this $#@! is worthless.

The author strikes me as an ignorant douche... or one with an ax to grind. To wit:

So to recap, for around 20 years, the Strategic Air Command went out of there way to make launching a nuclear missile as easy, and quick, as possible. To be fair, they had their reasons, such as the fact that the soldiers in the silos in the case of a real nuclear war may have needed to be able to launch the missiles without being able to contact anyone on the outside.

The explicit qualifier this apparently dishonest putz leaves out is "legitimate". Legitimate reasons. His attempt to feign fairness fails. So noted.

That said,

Read, "I will ignore the truth and render my false conclusions anyway becaue I am a douchebag with a keyboard and an agenda."

their actions were in direct violation of the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, the President of the United States, during a time of extreme nuclear tension.

Perhaps because the CIC had no $#@!ing clue what he was doing? Just imagine the crazy $#@! Bammy might have vomited forth into the laps of his pals at the Pentagon had he not likely been read the riot act, basically saying, "Yeah, yeah OK, you got to be president. Now shut the the ignorant $#@! up and do as you're told, boy, or you won't be prezzy for long. Understand, $#@!?".

Further, not activating this safeguard and lax security ensured that with very little planning, someone with three friends who had a mind to, could have started World War III.

I doubt this strongly. I would have to see proof. I have two friends who were Positive Control Officers and they would dispute these claims with vigor and first-hand experience.

I would add that the Pentagon was FAR more concerned with people NOT launching on a valid order. That is why the launch control officers are armed. If one refuses to turn his key, the other is instructed by protocol to shoot his ass stone dead on the spot and get someone to take his place. THAT was the greater fear at DoD - refusal to destroy the world when called upon.

On top of all that, silos were monitored. Nobody in their right minds trusts ANYONE with that much destructive power. The single exception to this was the ballistic missile sub captain, who prior to some date had full discretionary power to launch his birds. I believe that has since been corrected... maybe in the 1980s? I don't quite recall.

Before a missile can be launched a list of preparations must be completed. Liquid fueled missiles must be fueled up. Do you think this is not monitored? The silo must be opened. Do you think that is not monitored? If someone begins fueling a missile, someone else is going to see indication and start asking questions. If the answers do not satisfy, there are unequivocal remedies. In addition, it takes more than just the key officers to get that job done. Basically, the entire crew would have to be in on it. How likely is that to happen? I believe crews were rotated, too, so that nobody got too chummy, but I may be mistaken on that point.


Open a silo in unscheduled fashion and remedies may then, too, come into play and the protocol is unequivocal and utterly devoid of mercy. For example, no PCO can approach a weapon unless accompanied by at least one other PCO. I have a friend who was a guard at a nuke base and his instructions were if a PCO approaches a weapon solo, shoot to kill without warning. If he passes along an open bomb bay and his hands do not remain visible at all times, shoot to kill without warning. These guys don't screw around and it has been this way since the 1950s because contrary to popular opinion, those people were not stupid, were not crazy yahoos, and fully appreciated the dangers.

Horridly slanted bit of hatchetry, it appears.

[Matt Collins]

fascinating insight Osan, thanks for the post.

[eduardo89]

Liquid fueled missiles must be fueled up. Do you think this is not monitored?

Don't Minutemen missiles use solid propellent so that fuelling up wouldn't be an issue?

[Danke]

Don't Minutemen missiles use solid propellent so that fuelling up wouldn't be an issue?

Yes, today, missiles can be launch in seconds.

[oyarde]

Yes, today, missiles can be launch in seconds.

Do you still need an authentication code in addition ?

[CPUd]

[osan]

Don't Minutemen missiles use solid propellent so that fuelling up wouldn't be an issue?

Yes, of course, which is why I specified the type.

But even solid fueled missiles have to be prepped. They have to be targeted, warheads released into active readiness, and so forth. That takes time and during that interval the said remedies may be put into play. The protocols for handling nuclear weapons is clear, concise, complete, correct, and very well thought out. Becaue of their nature and what is essentially zero-tolerance for certain categories of error in procedure, the missile crews are VERY careful with every action they take. As with pilots, all procedures are carried out in accord with step by step instructions read from hard copy, in hand. Do this. Check. Do that. Check. That is because they are likely not eager to be remedied into the next life as the result of someone in Cheyenne Mountain (or wherever) blowing his anal glands because someone in the silo pushed a wrong button.

What protocols are like these days I cannot say, but as of 10 or fewer years ago things were as they had been since the 50s, essentially. Then we had that incident with those B1s that were discovered in Missouri (???) with LIVE weapons in their bomb bays when they were supposed to be training weapons. The whole story surrounding that incident stinks to high heaven, BTW, because it basically asserts that there was a MASSIVE cascade failure in the positive control protocol, and I simply do not believe that this is possible. For one thing, training duds are marked WILDLY differently from the real deal, and for reasons I would assume should be very obvious. Air crews, especially the skipper, is fully and personally liable for EVERYTHING that happens to and with the aircraft once he comes on duty.

A friend's father was a B-36 pilot, later into B52s for SAC. He was personally responsible for the preflight checks, which took hours to perform under non-scrambled operations. If you view old DoD training films you will see, for example, that the preflight prep time for a captain of a B-29 was about 5 hours. He scoured every aspect of the aircraft including the weapons load. This is no different in post-war jet bombers. The captain doesn't just park his ass in the left seat, fire the bitch up and fly. The very thought that those B1 captains were unaware they were carrying live weapons is not credible to me in the least measure.

And more recently there are rumors floating about that nukes are currently changing hands with NO SIGNATURES. This is a fundamental breach of positive control, the dangers it represents being the potential annihilation of one of more American cities in an instant. I was alerted to this by a well connected friend, but the rumors do not speculate on why this is happening or whence the orders source to abandon positive control in the cases under consideration. If this is true, all I can say is hang on to your testicles and hope you don't live in a place "of interest". I put NOTHING past these globalist pricks and even less past that Kenyan bastard who daily profanes and pollutes the Oval Office. Were one day before much longer the City of Detroit to go up in a thermonuclear ball, I would not be in the least surprised. Shocked to my knees perhaps, but not surprised. You have to ask yourself this: if the rumors are true, what possible legitimate reason would there be for turning away from the most basic safety protocol in place to assure 100% positive control of every last nuclear weapon in the US arsenal? I see not a one, but can speculate almost endlessly on the illegitimate possibilities.

But I digress.