willie-pete Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 It was, but every once in a while, it got a bit more exciting. Crew duty was correctly described as " Hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror. " 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inthefrey Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 Who was the DMCCC? ***Sorry, that's still classified....*** 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie-pete Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 1 hour ago, inthefrey said: Who was the DMCCC? ***Sorry, that's still classified....*** Lt. Reimer - in the first paragraph. My crew also had a gunfire incident - though we didn't know it at the time. Our relief crew had arrived and we were doing the changeover so we could get on the road and head home. We had not taken our locks off the safe yet, so the site was still ours. Then we lost commercial power. The standby diesel came on line, but my crew had to go out and verify dampers had switched over correctly. It was an hour long job and dirty job to boot and the on-coming crew didn't want to have anything to do with it. I would be the same way if we were just coming on, so the new crew went upstairs and had some coffee for an hour. Once my crew finished verifying that everything was copacetic, we transferred the TS documents and headed home. One our next alert out there, we found out that the power company came out to see why we lost power and found a line down - with a bullet hole in it. 😲 Someone was either F'ing with the crew or some numb nuts tried to shoot a bird off the power line and missed. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 This is a good one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie-pete Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 43 minutes ago, Historian said: This is a good one. 4-7 was a site I had pulled alerts at before. Here is the aftermath. BTW there is a nuclear warhead in this picture. Can you find it ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbie18 Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 1 hour ago, willie-pete said: 4-7 was a site I had pulled alerts at before. Here is the aftermath. BTW there is a nuclear warhead in this picture. Can you find it ? Next to the front gate, and multiple people drove past it without realizing what it was.....20 years of hanging out on the same forums I've caught the story a time or three....STILL a good story though, amazing every time. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 1 hour ago, willie-pete said: 4-7 was a site I had pulled alerts at before. Here is the aftermath. BTW there is a nuclear warhead in this picture. Can you find it ? I think i learned about this from you and used it in a class on systems management. I think the warhead is by the front gate area if i remember. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railfancwb Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 5 minutes ago, kerbie18 said: Next to the front gate, and multiple people drove past it without realizing what it was.....20 years of hanging out on the same forums I've caught the story a time or three....STILL a good story though, amazing every time. At least it wasn’t next to the copperhead in the leaves. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbie18 Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 There is always a younger generation that needs to learn about what happened back then. Far be it from me to discourage younger people from learning of stuff that was posted in a discussion 20 years ago, exactly the opposite... I hope nothing I just said wasn't extremely insulting. But, Post on, old people.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 2 minutes ago, kerbie18 said: There is always a younger generation that needs to learn about what happened back then. Far be it from me to discourage younger people from learning of stuff that was posted in a discussion 20 years ago, exactly the opposite... I hope nothing I just said wasn't extremely insulting. But, Post on, old people.... I'm under 50...and happy to see this type of stuff. Makes me feel better about my failures and i learn something...like don't do that! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie-pete Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 1 hour ago, kerbie18 said: Next to the front gate, and multiple people drove past it without realizing what it was.....20 years of hanging out on the same forums I've caught the story a time or three....STILL a good story though, amazing every time. 26 minutes ago, Historian said: I'm under 50...and happy to see this type of stuff. Makes me feel better about my failures and i learn something...like don't do that! Yeah, nothing wrong with your memory; outlined in red - bottom left . That was the road into the site. People drove by it / walked by it not knowing what it was until someone that did know said , " Wait, WHAT ! " 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 10 hours ago, willie-pete said: That was the road into the site. People drove by it / walked by it not knowing what it was until someone that did know said , " Wait, WHAT ! " Those shorts...likely could never be cleaned. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie-pete Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 3 hours ago, Historian said: Those shorts...likely could never be cleaned. Back then, most crew members ( including me ) had only seen the completed RV either during an RV replacement or looking at in in the silo. The transition piece between the RV and the missile carried the decoys. Crew members and others were normally not told or not seen what the W-53 looked like . The guy that finally discovered it was probably from the RV shop. Those were the guys that mated the RV's with the warheads. For the journey it took; it was in remarkably good shape. It is thought that the bottom stage blew first sending the silo closure door ( 750 tons ) flying 200 feet away. The blast the sent the second stage along with the RV THROUGH the flying silo door. That journey stripped the outer shell of the RV off the W-53 warhead. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 45 minutes ago, willie-pete said: For the journey it took; it was in remarkably good shape. It is thought that the bottom stage blew first sending the silo closure door ( 750 tons ) flying 200 feet away. The blast the sent the second stage along with the RV THROUGH the flying silo door. That journey stripped the outer shell of the RV off the W-53 warhead. The amount of power...energy...you mention is beyond normal understanding. And yet...the sucker didn't leak! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 47 minutes ago, willie-pete said: Back then, most crew members ( including me ) had only seen the completed RV either during an RV replacement or looking at in in the silo. Do you happen to know what happened to the guy who dropped the wrench? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie-pete Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 2 hours ago, Historian said: Do you happen to know what happened to the guy who dropped the wrench? He got an Article 15. The guy that was the presumed hero of the incident, Sgt. Jeff Kennedy, also got an Article 15 and left the AF soon after. Kennedy is the guy that entered the control room through the escape tunnel alone ( things lived in the escape tunnel ) to get pressure readings on the fuel tanks. He got censured for violating the 2 man policy. He later entered the silo along with Sgt. Livingston to determine fuel levels in the silo area. As they were exiting, the explosion happened; likely due to an arcing exhaust fan they were told to start. Which, in retrospect, was the wrong move given the high levels of flammable vapors in the silo. Both were injured; Livingston died at the hospital- the only death, though numerous people were injured. If you ever see a made for TV movie, " Disaster at Silo 7 " , advertised, give it a look. It was based on this incident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 1 hour ago, willie-pete said: He got an Article 15. Not sure. Might be some braggin rights in this one. Lost a grade...yeah...I'm,,,"That guy." Just call me...Wrench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 5 hours ago, willie-pete said: Back then That journey stripped the outer shell of the RV off the W-53 warhead. The w-53 does not look that different than one of those WWII bombs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie-pete Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 2 hours ago, Historian said: Not sure. Might be some braggin rights in this one. Lost a grade...yeah...I'm,,,"That guy." Just call me...Wrench. Actually, just call me Socket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbie18 Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 It is amazing, and an engineering feat, that blowing the ever loving hell out of a nuclear warhead did not result in a nuclear yield. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT4494 Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 15 minutes ago, kerbie18 said: It is amazing, and an engineering feat, that blowing the ever loving hell out of a nuclear warhead did not result in a nuclear yield. Actually its very hard to get anything to sympathetically discharge a nuclear weapon. A charge could cause damage and a "dirty bomb" but not much else. Look at the damage from dropping one on a farm in NC. Even though it caused a rather large hole due to the non nuclear explosion , it didn't even breach the core causing a raddiation event. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbie18 Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 40 minutes ago, GT4494 said: Actually its very hard to get anything to sympathetically discharge a nuclear weapon. A charge could cause damage and a "dirty bomb" but not much else. Look at the damage from dropping one on a farm in NC. Even though it caused a rather large hole due to the non nuclear explosion , it didn't even breach the core causing a raddiation event. I'd still like to be a fly on the wall for THAT call to the homeowner's insurance agent. Hello? State Farm Insurance? The Air Force dropped a nuclear bomb on your property by accident? Let me locate the form for that... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 58 minutes ago, kerbie18 said: I'd still like to be a fly on the wall for THAT call to the homeowner's insurance agent. Hello? State Farm Insurance? The Air Force dropped a nuclear bomb on your property by accident? Let me locate the form for that... You mean like the time one hit North Carolina? https://taskandpurpose.com/history/nuclear-bomb-accident-north-carolina/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 2 hours ago, willie-pete said: Actually, just call me Socket. That's a type of wrench! Are you saying you dropped the socket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 Or the other Carolina. https://gizmodo.com/in-1958-america-accidentally-dropped-a-nuclear-weapon-5904633 In both incidents, complete catastrophe was avoided thanks to that ever-potent combination of foresight and unmitigated dumb luck. And in the former incident, the bomb fell square on some unsuspecting children's playhouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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