vmikey

You know I punched that into the console a few times and it didn't do anything except give me 30 extra missiles.

Best comment of the day!

well, she voted for Reagan twice...

That's about right. You can have very busy days in the capsule. The missiles are 40 years old, so require considerable maintenance. The security systems are so good, tumbleweeds and jackrabbits can set them off. Sometimes we have to retarget the missiles, sometimes we go through exercises. But down time, like on night shift, is quiet. I would get through entire seasons of tv shows that crew members would leave down in the capsule. And I pounded through a library's worth of books.

UPDATE Thanks for the front page love! Have lurked for a while, understand this is a big deal. Answer to a few redundant questions:

A. I never came close to turning my key. Only in training. That means we're doing our jobs well!

A. No, I don't support more U.S. nuclear reductions, for many reasons. The most important being, I don't think lowering our gloves stops us from being punched. And if we're not punched, we don't have to punch back.

A. No, I've never had a UFO "turn off" my nukes. (really, guys?)

A. Would prefer to leave the question of sexual gratification in the capsules to your imaginations, vivid as they are :)

A. I am a former missileer and do not have, want, or need permission to do this AMA from the USAF. My answers are deliberately nebulous and unclassified. And, therefore, kosher!

A: That said, the Air Force is so clunky an inept when it comes to social media, there is probably some poor public affairs officer now tasked in trying to discover my identify -- even though there's nothing they could do if they found it. I wish we had the Navy's Public Affairs team, those guys really have their shit together!

Well in the Cold War, you expected the Russians to hit you right back with a counterstrike. So our bunkers would be a TERRIBLE place to be. On the other hand, a fantastic place to ride out a Zombie Apocalypse.