[lug] Backup

[Bear Giles]

As a total aside, Scientific American had an interesting article on the 
C^3I for the land-based nukes.  As I recall:....

Each set of silos was controlled by four pods, each with two duty 
officers.  The pods were physically separated to increase survivability 
of a voting quorum.

Each pod "voted" by having the officers turn the keys simultaneously. 
The switches had both a "launch" and a "no launch" position.

One launch vote would not be enough to launch a missile.

Two launch votes (within a specified time window) would launch all 
missiles.  But see below....

Two launch votes and one no-launch votes WOULD NOT launch any missiles.

Three launch votes and one no-launch vote WOULD launch all missiles.

To take control of the silos you would need at least 6 officers present 
in three different pods within th same complex.  A single dissenting pod 
could be overruled, but there would be no launch in the case of a tie.

Where it gets really interesting is that a "launch command" did not 
necessarily mean to launch.  The code could be to launch immediately, to 
wait minutes, hours or even days... or even to wait indefinitely.  In 
the latter case a single pod (with new launch codes) could cause an 
immediate launch.

On a darker note this - 
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/22/141837/13 - discusses how 
close we came to a nuclear war in 1983 due to a computer malfunction. 
Fortunately there was a human involved, even though it cost him his 
career.  Ditto the Cuban missile crisis -- I recently read of an account 
where an officer at the scene - violating orders - refrained from using 
a nuke.  In that case it would have been a nuke torpedo off the coast of 
Florida.

That's something to remember as the current administration attempts to 
drive all human judgement out of the loop.

Bear

George Sexton wrote:
> Even better would be one of the command and control centers. There's one
> outside Phillip, South Dakota. During the cold war, each missle squadron had
> two or three units of 10 silos. Each set of 10 silos had a command and
> control center. The silos for the squadron were interconnected, so that Site
> A could launch Site B's weapons if necessary. Above the command and control
> center was a small barracks with a  vehicle maintenance facility, kitchens,
> quarters, etc. The troops would rotate out to the site for a few weeks at a
> time from the main base (Ellsworth). I toured it once on the 4th of July
> when I was a kid.