The giveaway is that your first clue there's been a nuclear blast is supposed to be the flash, but if you're looking when the flash hits you're blinded, but you've got to prepre for the coming shockwave and fallout. Talk about a rock and a hard place. It's a crying shame kids aren't made to act out this futile ritual in schools any more. As you do, you can feel yourself maturing. Beyond war.
Many years after my last duck and cover drill, I was stationed at a Strategic Air Command base during the latter part of the cold war.. I got kicked out of an all-ranks briefing because I couldn't stop giggling. An 0-5 was giving a big-picture overview of what would happen if the alert planes got an actual "go" order. When he got to the part about recovering returning aircraft, all I could picture was them trying to land in the crater that a 2-5Mton blast would leave, and flashing back to elementary school, hiding under a fucking desk.
We were less than 5 miles inland, and the warning time on an SLBM could have been as low as 5 minutes. I later got to explain to him in my commander's office that I realized he was trying to motivate the troops, but it was as silly then as it was in the 60s. I was ordered not to speak to my coworkers about the likelyhood of a SAC base being a primary first-strike target. Also got a letter of reprimand for my unprofessional behavior.
The giveaway is that your first clue there's been a nuclear blast is supposed to be the flash, but if you're looking when the flash hits you're blinded, but you've got to prepre for the coming shockwave and fallout. Talk about a rock and a hard place. It's a crying shame kids aren't made to act out this futile ritual in schools any more. As you do, you can feel yourself maturing. Beyond war.
Many years after my last duck and cover drill, I was stationed at a Strategic Air Command base during the latter part of the cold war.. I got kicked out of an all-ranks briefing because I couldn't stop giggling. An 0-5 was giving a big-picture overview of what would happen if the alert planes got an actual "go" order. When he got to the part about recovering returning aircraft, all I could picture was them trying to land in the crater that a 2-5Mton blast would leave, and flashing back to elementary school, hiding under a fucking desk.
We were less than 5 miles inland, and the warning time on an SLBM could have been as low as 5 minutes. I later got to explain to him in my commander's office that I realized he was trying to motivate the troops, but it was as silly then as it was in the 60s. I was ordered not to speak to my coworkers about the likelyhood of a SAC base being a primary first-strike target. Also got a letter of reprimand for my unprofessional behavior.
Hey, at least the onset of nuclear Winter would cut your exposure to the rapid-aging effects of harmful UV rays!