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World War II left in its wake a conflict in
ideology between the United States and the Soviet Union that quickly
escalated into what became known as the “Cold War.”
Toward deterring aggression, the U. S. built a vast nuclear
arsenal, most of it under the control of the Strategic Air Command.
The Soviet premier banged his shoe on the United Nation’s
podium and screamed wildly at the American ambassador, “We will bury
you.” SAC had over a
thousand jet bombers that dared them to try.
Tensions peaked in October, 1963 when the Soviets placed nuclear
tipped missiles in Cuba and aimed them at the United States.
Leaders of the two nations pushed “brinkmanship” to the limit
and brought the world perilously close to nuclear holocaust.
Years later, scientists discovered that a greenhouse effect would
have resulted from such a confrontation.
A carpet of ash and debris would have orbited the globe and
blocked out sunlight. All
plants would have died and this cataclysmic disruption of the food chain
would have eventually destroyed all life on earth.
Throughout this chaos, America’s nuclear armada was on a hair trigger.
SAC represented that its complex command and control technology
precluded the possibility of an accidental nuclear war.
SAC said it was Fail Safe. That
just wasn’t true. There
was always the threat of an electronic or mechanical malfunction and the
ever-present risk that the unrelenting pressure would cause someone to
panic and “push the button.”
During the 1970’s, tensions eased and both sides began a process of
gradual disarmament. The
next decade saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold
War. SAC dismantled many of
it’s missiles. Almost all
of it’s bombers were placed in storage or scrapped for their metal.
One-by-one, it’s bases were closed.
In 1992, the Strategic Air Command was officially disbanded.
It was the end of an era. Today the SAC museum maintains, “The Cold War didn’t just end … it
was won.” For forty years
SAC’s motto proclaimed, “Peace is Our Profession.”
It had fulfilled that mission
Our planet survived the most trying moments of it’s nuclear age
and without question it was the single greatest threat that mankind has
ever experienced.
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SAC was established
on the concept of having a "force in being", one ready to go
at a moment's notice. It's mission was unique: not to fight a war,
but to deter one. Toward that end, it's primary mission was
nuclear retaliation. It's missiles could only be used once and
few of it's bombers were expected to return from a strike against the
Soviet Union. SAC's war, if it ever came, would last less than a
day. No other military organization has ever had such
awesome power. Coupled with that, none ever exerted such tight
control over it, nor demonstrated such restraint in using it.
These are accomplishments without equal in human history and they need
to be documented so that future generations will benefit from the
lessons learned. Our mission is to provide a comprehensive
overview of SAC and provide a meeting place for it's veterans..
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