{"id":319,"date":"2007-05-23T11:22:21","date_gmt":"2007-05-23T16:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/index.php\/2007\/05\/23\/no-lone-zone\/"},"modified":"2007-05-23T11:24:07","modified_gmt":"2007-05-23T16:24:07","slug":"no-lone-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/05\/no-lone-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"No Lone Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"

We visited family over the weekend, driving almost six hours to Warrensburg-Knob Noster, Mo. A half-dozen or so in-laws were there, for the retirement ceremony of a 25-year airman, a stepbrother-in-law. His last deployment was to Whiteman Air Force Base<\/a>. The career began in fuels and ended in the branch’s financing branch, ensuring personnel and bills got paid. His work in accounting for discrepancies then closing them earned him commendations for stretching taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n

Monday morning he led us — yes, Brick<\/strong> passed the background security check — to Oscar 1<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

From 1964 to 1993, Whiteman AFB’s Oscar-01 served as command center for 10 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. … Oscar stood out, however, as it was the only such operational site actually located on a base.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It is the fulltime job of one officer to give tours of it, and he lives in its quarters with his family. You say Air Force, and you think pilots and crew, and ground support. Just as important are fuel loaders and testers, accountants, and tour leaders (“Right this way, Congressman.” “Look, nyet nukes, Mr. Ambassador”). My dad served in World War II and Korea in the Army Quartermaster Corps — issuing and maintaining uniforms and linens — in India, Afghanistan and the Pentagon. Khakis and sheets.<\/p>\n

The tour guide’s apartment was not part of the tour. A front room held perhaps 20 theater seats (they were armless, because the Cold War is over). Down a short hall was the security area with views of the gate, straight out of the 1960s. From there a freight elevator took us down 45 feet to the command center.<\/p>\n

No missiles, no silos anywhere anymore. All are dismantled and destroyed, and filled, imploded or flooded, respectively, due to Soviet-U.S. treaties. Oscar is left, for tours. Details are available on the World Wide Web.<\/p>\n

When the tour was offered to we guests of the master sergeant, I jumped for it. This is Cold War history. Having completed my Air Force tour of about two hours — including the PX — I can tell you that this underground capsule — with one half mechanical and the other half holding all those buttons and dials, plus a toilet — I can say it did not feel claustrophobic, just sad.<\/p>\n

The mutually assured destruction gambit worked. If it hadn’t, the fellows stationed here would have been buried alive. They were deep enough to survive a direct hit, theoretically, with a few weeks of air, water and food to wait out the worst of the toxic atmosphere, we were told. But likely there would have been too much gravel and rubble, fused into a glassy mass by the heat, to have let them scrape their way to the doors and past them.<\/p>\n

The curator had my father-in-law and me sit in the two commander chairs and directed us in how to retrieve our orders then mock-launch nuclear warheads from buried silos throughout central Missouri. The two commanders had keys to turn simultaneously, to get the bomb codes then to electronically fire them. The operation was designed to not be done alone. Evidently, government for decades was more worried about a maniac than a conspiracy. All this as seen in Fail-Safe, Dr. Strangelove<\/em> and so I’m told WarGames<\/em>. Thus at the many-ton door leading into the command half of the capsule was a merry painting of the Muppet Oscar the Grouch and in serious stenciled block letters:<\/p>\n

\n

No Lone Zone
\nTwo Man Concept Mandatory”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

-30-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We visited family over the weekend, driving almost six hours to Warrensburg-Knob Noster, Mo. A half-dozen or so in-laws were there, for the retirement ceremony of a 25-year airman, a stepbrother-in-law. His last deployment was to Whiteman Air Force Base. The career began in fuels and ended in the branch’s financing branch, ensuring personnel and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brick-bats-reportage"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5680,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2017\/05\/created-bill-88-met-him-99\/","url_meta":{"origin":319,"position":0},"title":"Created Bill in ’88, Met Him in ’99","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"May 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a funny thing about these B.Y.O.E. events, that is, Bring Your Own Eulogy: So much of the time those anecdotes are maybe a bit more about the speakers than the, er, guest of honor. If you're in a down mood today -- and a memorial generally is NOT a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Body, Home, Street"","block_context":{"text":"Body, Home, Street","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/body-home-street\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Illustration by Vic Harville of \"End Time Finally Comes for Mister Hapgood,\" a Mirthology column by Ben Pollock, published Sept. 21, 1988, in Mid Week Magazine, a publication of the Arkansas Democrat.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Oscar-Hapgood-BenP-092188-1000x891-300x267.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":939,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2009\/02\/two-for-the-show\/","url_meta":{"origin":319,"position":1},"title":"Two for the Show","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"What a thoughtful movie. It's about this middle-aged man who's in a real interesting career, been at it his whole adult life. But the guy is on its far side, losing it. What he's doing -- or selling, depending on the degree of jaundice in your opinion of work --\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mr. Boo Klist"","block_context":{"text":"Mr. Boo Klist","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/mr-boo-klist\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":286,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/02\/my-575-worth-matinee-price\/","url_meta":{"origin":319,"position":2},"title":"My $5.75 worth (matinee price)","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"It was disappointing tonight to see The Departed and Martin Scorsese win Best Picture and Best Director. I know that's against the grain; these were universally predicted. Then again, Phil in Little Rock and other critics were taken with the German movie The Lives of Others, which did take its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":264,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/01\/peak-experience-at-pinnacle\/","url_meta":{"origin":319,"position":3},"title":"Peek at Peak, Pique Experiences","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"January 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Pinnacle Hills Promenade, the new shopping center in Rogers inspired by The Truman Show, is wonderful to mock. It features Muzak-like music via outdoor Bose speakers. It markets itself as upscale while including tenants like Payless Shoes and Dairy Queen. Sunday marked my fourth visit -- and the first time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Brick Bats Reportage"","block_context":{"text":"Brick Bats Reportage","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/brick-bats-reportage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2765,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2011\/03\/hail-to-the-chieftains\/","url_meta":{"origin":319,"position":4},"title":"Hail to The Chieftains","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"March 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Before The Chieftains review -- which it's not, because I lost my Lamy Al-Star pen following a disaster of a restaurant meal so I couldn't take notes -- a roundabout. I try to be a jack of all journalism tricks. I even covered a lecture and poetry reading by ex-NBA\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Brick Bats Reportage"","block_context":{"text":"Brick Bats Reportage","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/brick-bats-reportage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1729,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/01\/wild-things-in-the-air\/","url_meta":{"origin":319,"position":5},"title":"Wild Things in the Air","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"January 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Brick doesn\u2019t usually have movie reviews. But it\u2019s the turn of the year \u2014 not the decade as it actually ends Dec. 31, 2010 \u2014 and a couple are worth a shout. It\u2019s far from a complete assessment, as I often wait to see movies on DVD. Also, this comes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}