Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-24
AlertI And The

let will be standby force Of JET B-5z's and BATS.
fueed bombedup poised at the end Of runways, every
hour, every day. Crack crews. each with a priority
target stamped its BRAIN wait in nearby alert shacks.
Also, in the normal course Of practice and alert
missions, certain number Of B52s are always in the
air. In time Of crisis, SAC could keep constantly
airborne an even heavier complement Of planes
SAC's first wave Of standby bombcrs can be of the
ground in three to six minutes. Though stopping an
arbome ICBM may be Of the question: the threat Of
SAC retaliation can keep Red lCBMs on the ground.
For three days spent all my waking hours in The
Hole." When conceived in 1880 BY Gen. Curtis E.
LeMay il was designed to withstand atomic punish
ment The H-Bomb makes il more vulnerable, but it
can still sustain tremendous shock and blast and is safe
from radiation robot snifters' the roof detect
heavy blast, gases, or radiation, The Hole" auto
maticaIy seals itself of from the surface world. II has
It's diesel power system deep wells fuel stores. air
conditioning and filter system, austere living quarters.
and IS stocked with today supply of rations. Thirty
days IS enough for an about war;
Inside 1.-THE Hole
Key personnel can enter The Hole" through decon-
tamnation locks even after the blast doors have been
doeeed Shut Il through these locks that first went
underground like preparing to dive in submarine.
The first lock reached from outside kiosk IS tiny
square concrete room. In one wall IS rOunoeo mctdi
shield like banks night depository. Procedure (which
l didn't follow since wasn't cOntaminated) IS to UNI
dress swiftly open the shield and dump every item Of
clothing into the chute il conceals This laundry never
returns Don't forget to include wrist watch and glasses
Radioactive metal can kill you and harm others.
Through radiaton-proof door you enter the second
lock. There you receive chemical shower TO cleanse
skin and hair Of dangerous particles. When the shower
shuts of you step into a third room, where you are
examined by Air Surgeon and issued fresh clothing
Through the locks. and down a ramp. an Air Police
security guard examined my badge, checked my iden-
ty with the conducting officer - and then checked the
officer was signed into the most secret sanctuary Of
the American military establishment, with the possible
exception Of certain corridors in the Pentagon. On this
level are elobal weather central emergency bets and
food supply, and an amazing communications complex.
SAc's cIobal Voice
From small room, lis walls studded with knobs and
dals constant voice communication Is maintained with
every SAC base overseas Above ground, lyTe-shaped
antennas swing to beam on Guam Saudi Arabia,
Greenland II Soviet missile were detected winging
towards q target on this continent, armed bombers
would start taking of from our bases overseas.
Further along is the communications center, with
ranks Of cptography and teletype machines yamner-
ing messages the bases. Each machine transmits ct
the rate Of 600 words minute simultaneous fash
message can reach every base and headquarters, world
wide, in 30 seconds.
Down another ramp came face to face with some
what grimmer guard For few seconds stood before
his desk, half blinded BY fioodliehts Then noticed