Command and Control (93 page)

During the late 1960s, Stevens had begun to worry
:
Stevens interview.

Nozzles on the walls
:
The system was called the “sticky foam personnel barrier.” In addition to sticky foam, other “active barriers” were considered as a means of protecting nuclear weapons, including cold smoke, aqueous foam, and rigid foam. For a comparison of these active barriers and their merits, see “An Activated Barrier for Protection of Special Nuclear Materials in Vital Areas,” Ronald E. Timm, James E. Miranda, Donald L. Reigle, and Anthony D. Valente, Argonne National Laboratory, 1984.

Stan Spray found that one of the bomb's internal cables
:
Peurifoy and Stevens interviews.

“base escape”
:
How long a B-52's engines took to start was one of the most important determinants of whether the plane would get into the air before Soviet missiles arrived—or get destroyed on the ground. For some of the other factors, see “Nuclear Hardness and Base Escape,” Rayford P. Patrick, Engineering Report No. S-112, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Directorate of Aircraft Maintenance, March 31, 1981.

“our B-52s are planned for one-way missions”
:
See “Minutes, National Security Council Meeting, Subject, SALT (and Angola), December 22, 1975” (
TOP
SECRET
/
SENSITIVE
/declassified), NSA, p. 5.

A study of all the nuclear weapons in the American arsenal
:
A portion of the study has been declassified, and I've filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the rest of it: “An Examination of the U.S. Nuclear Weapon Inventory,” R. N. Brodie, November 30, 1977 (
SECRET
/
RESTRICTED DATA
).

The Mark 28 bomb was at the top of the list
:
Ibid.

a “retrofit for Enhanced Electrical Safety
:
Ibid.

it planned to spend at least $10 billion to equip B-52s
:
Cited in “Pentagon Says Even Vast Effort by Soviet Can't Stop New Missile,”
New York Times
, November 15, 1978.

Jeffrey A. Zink was pulling an alert
:
My account of the Grand Forks accident is based on an interview with Jeffrey A. Zink and on “USAF Mishap Report, Parking Spot A-10, Grand Forks Air Force Base,” Headquarters, Fifteenth Air Force, September 29, 1980.

“What have I gotten myself into?”
:
Zink interview.

“I'll throw up later”
:
Ibid.

“we're going to die”
:
Ibid.

“Oh my God, it's the real thing”
:
Ibid.

“I can't do this”
:
Quoted in ibid.

“Alpha, Charlie, Delta . . .”
:
Quoted in ibid.

“Terminate, terminate, terminate”
: Quoted in ibid.

“Get in”
:
Quoted in ibid.

gusts of up to thirty-five miles an hour
:
The mishap report cited gusts of up to thirty knots, and a knot is about 1.15 miles per hour. “USAF Mishap Report,” p. 1.

Tim Griffis was at home with his family
:
Interview with Tim Griffis.

“What do you think?”
:
Quoted in Griffis interview.

“Yeah, let me try it”
:
Ibid.

“Gene, you want to go with me?”
:
Ibid.

“Yeah”
:
Ibid.

“Chief, that engine is getting pretty hot”
:
Quoted in “USAF Mishap Report,” p. N-6.

“Yeah, go”
:
Quoted in ibid., p. N-6.

“Here, somebody wants to talk to you”
:
Quoted in Griffis interview.

“Mr. Griffis, I want to thank you”
:
Quoted in ibid.

During a closed Senate hearing, Dr. Roger Batzel
:
See Reed Karaim, “Nearly a Nuclear Disaster—Wind Shifted Fire on B-52 Away from Bomb, Experts Say,”
Seattle Times
, August 13, 1991. A map showed the potential contamination area.

the cause of the fire in engine number five
:
In addition to nearly contaminating Grand Forks with plutonium and/or causing a nuclear detonation nearby, the missing nut caused $442,696 worth of damage to the plane. See “B52H S/N 60-0059 Mishap Engine Investigation” and “Certificate of Damage,” in “USAF Mishap Report.”

Senator David Pryor once again introduced an amendment
:
See Congressional Record—Senate, September 16, 1980, pp. 25468–25470.

at least nine accidents or propellant leaks
:
Cited in ibid., p. 25469. See also Tom Hamburger and Elizabeth Fair, “9 Accidents Recorded in State Since January 1978,”
Arkansas Gazette
, September 28.

At a launch complex near Heber Springs
:
See Hamburger and Fair, “9 Accidents Recorded” and Pincus, “Aging Titan II Was Time Bomb.”

More than one third of the entire Titan II force
:
Cited in “Aging Titan II Was Time Bomb.”

“We have a responsibility to protect the civilians”
:
Congressional Record,
p. 25468.

“Accidents have occurred in the past”
:
Ibid.

The Air Force had recently submitted a lengthy report
:
“Assessment Report: Titan II LGM 25 C, Weapon Condition and Safety,” Prepared for the Senate Armed Services Committee and House Armed Services Committee, May 1980.

the accident rate at Titan II sites
:
Cited in ibid., p. 1.

“provide a high level of safety”
:
Ibid., p.3.

“considered by many to be better now than when it was new”
:
Ibid., pp. 2–3.

The safety record of the W-53 warhead was “commendable”
:
Ibid., Appendix C, p. 38.

“Airframe rupture”
:
Ibid., p. 9.

They were being sued by Airman Carl Malinger
:
The lawsuits filed by Malinger and the widows of Erby Hepstall and Robert J. Thomas were later settled out of court. According to one news account, the defense contractors agreed to pay Malinger and the other plaintiffs about $500,000 each. See “Lawsuits from '78 Titan Accident Settled Out of Court by Air Force,”
Lawrence
(Kansas)
Journal-World,
January 8, 1981.

Skip Rutherford and his wife were at home
:
Rutherford interview.

“This is serious”
:
Ibid.

“Well, how serious?”
:
Quoted in ibid.

“They tell me it's going to explode”
:
Ibid.

“You're kidding me”
:
Quoted in ibid.

“Bob, listen to me”
: Ibid.

“What?”
:
Quoted in ibid.

“Tell Frank to get the hell out”
:
Ibid.

“How do you know?”
:
Quoted in ibid.

“You have your sources”
:
Ibid.

Like Hell

Greg Devlin and Rex Hukle took turns
:
Greg Devlin interview.

Jeff Kennedy thought the whole plan was idiotic
:
Kennedy interview.

For the next eight minutes, the command post did not hear a word
:
“Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Statement of Jimmy D. Wiley, Staff Sergeant, Tab U-100, p. 3.

Moser thought the warhead had detonated
:
Moser interview.

“Get out of here, get out of here”
:
King interview.

“We just left a bunch of dead people back there”
:
Ibid.

“Hop in here”
:
Hutto interview.

“Evacuate, evacuate”
:
“Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Statement of Thomas A. Brocksmith, Technical Sergeant , Tab U-9, p. 4.

“I need to get the hell out of here”
:
Holder interview.

“Screw you”
:
Sandaker interview.

I just want everything to stop falling
:
“Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Statement of Archie G. James, Staff Sergeant , Tab U-42, p. 2.

“Oh shit, you ain't gonna live through this”
:
Devlin interview.

“Run, run!”
:
Ibid.

“Oh, my God”
:
Ibid.

“Please help, I can't move”
:
“Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Statement of John G. Devlin, Senior Airman, Tab U-18, p. 4.

“I have to put you down”
:
Quoted in Devlin interview.

“Get away from there”
:
Childers interview.

“Let's go, let's get out of here”
:
Ibid., and “Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Statement of Gene M. Schneider, Airman First Class, Tab U-87, p. 3.

“Well, at least I've still got the hair on my arms”
:
Quoted in ibid., Statement of Allan D. Childers, First Lieutenant, Tab U-13, p. 6.

“Man, ain't that pretty”
:
Ibid., Testimony of Jimmy E. Roberts, Technical Sergeant, p. 2.

“I'm not going to leave”
:
Quoted in Green interview.

“Help! Help me. Help me! Can anybody read me?”
:
Don Green obtained a recording of the radio communications at Launch Complex 374-7 after the accident. The recording was made by a civilian and then given anonymously to KATV-TV in Little Rock. Partial transcripts were also published in the newspaper: “Radio Conversations Detail Rescue Effort by Air Force,”
Arkansas Gazette,
September 20, 1980. I'm grateful to Green for making a copy of the tape for me. Kennedy's plea for help can be heard on it.

“Yes, we can hear you”
:
Transcript, Air Force Radio Traffic, September 19, 1980.

“Help me!”
:
Ibid.

“Where are you?”
:
Ibid.

“Where are you, Jeff?”
:
Ibid.

“Colonel Morris, I'm down here”
:
Ibid.

“Where are you?”
:
Ibid.

“I'm down here in your truck!”
:
Ibid.

“I am not going to die on this complex”
:
Kennedy interview.

“Oh, my God, help me”
:
Quoted in Kennedy interview.

“Livy, I'm going for help”
:
Ibid., and “Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Statement of Jeffrey K. Kennedy, Sergeant, Tab U-46, p. 14.

“Oh, my God, help me”
:
Kennedy interview.

“Please, somebody help me”
:
Ibid.

“Help”
:
Quoted in “Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Testimony of George H. Short, Captain, Tab U-90, p. 3.

“Captain”
:
Quoted in ibid.

“Okay, keep on yelling”
:
Ibid., Roberts statement, Tab U-77, p. 4.

“Look, we're going to make it out of here”
:
Ibid., Roberts statement, Tab U-77, p. 5.

“Please don't leave me”
:
Quoted in ibid., Roberts statement, Tab U-77, p. 5.

“Great”
:
Ibid., Roberts statement, Tab U-77, p. 5.

“Please don't tell my mother”
:
Sandaker interview.

Confirm or Deny

Matthew Arnold was taught how to deactivate
:
Interview with Matthew Arnold.

“Chlorine is your friend”
:
Quoted in ibid.

About one third of the students typically flunked out
:
My description of the course work at Redstone and Indian Head is based not only on my interview with Arnold but also on interviews with other EOD technicians who studied at both places during roughly the same period. I also learned a few things about bomb disposal from Peurifoy and Stevens.

SAC headquarters wouldn't even tell Frank Wilson
:
See “Local Officials Couldn't Get Information from Military,”
Arkansas Gazette,
September 20, 1980.

the whereabouts of “the warhead”
:
Transcript, Air Force Radio Traffic.

“Hey, I need one of them masks”
:
Anglin interview.

“Oh, you don't need a mask”
:
Quoted in ibid.

“dry land drowning”
:
See “Fact Sheet, Phosgene Carbonyl Chloride, Military Designations: CG,” U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (n.d.).