We don't have IT

[jsglow]

DEFCON is strategic and is not used at the Operational or Tactical levels of command. In aviation, the COCOM directs the JFACC to establish various states of readiness for air assets. Under Alert Alpha designated air assets must be able to be airborne within 5 minutes meaning crew dogs are sitting in the cockpit in full flight gear (a brutal proposition in places like Iraq and Saudi.) Under Alert Bravo designated air assets must be airborne within 15 minutes meaning crew dogs are in full flight but sitting in the ready room swilling coffee.   

Do you know how this was all handled domestically on 9-11?  All I know is that it was eerie here in Chicago when the only thing in the air were fighter jocks flying around.  But I still worry that we were poorly prepared and had too few ready assets to really protect anyone. 

[WellsstreetWanderer]

I always thought SNAFU was military normal not Defcon 5

[brewcity77]

I hear that ITT Tech, Phoenix University, and Southern New Hampshire University are turning out tons of IT experts. Maybe Buzz should hire one as an assistant?

[seakm4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOk2u_Bu73I

[Windyplayer]

Teams that have IT, players that have IT, win.  This year we might win a few, maybe even more than our share, but until something shows me otherwise, we don't have IT this year.  And I was hoping for better. VB, a guy who at least flashed IT, coulda made it oh so different.  One of the dumbest moves in MU upper classmen history.

One of the most hollow, pointless posts I have ever read on Scoop. That's saying something.

[MerrittsMustache]

I hear that ITT Tech, Phoenix University, and Southern New Hampshire University are turning out tons of IT experts. Maybe Buzz should hire one as an assistant?

Any of those guys bigs or outside shooters?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Well, MAD was absurd in many ways and on many levels but the reality is that it kept Ivan out of Western Europe. Damned expensive proposition, though. The brilliance of MAD is that it limits the end game to one unacceptable extreme.

The doctrine has been revisited recently due to the Kennedy shooting. I am convinced Khrushchev blinked over Cuba precisely because he could see Moscow in ruins. If the Bay of Pigs did anything it hardened Kennedy's resolve on Missiles in Cuba.

Coincidentally, I am reading an excellent book now that addresses Kennedy's analytics in both Cuban crises.  The President's Club by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy looks at the role of former Presidents in executive decision making. A fascinating read that I recommend highly.

I've always been of the opinion that it is simple as hell, but effective as hell.   The danger is when you get one of these clowns running a country that doesn't care if you blow their world up...that's when it falls apart. As long as you have people that realize the repercussions, then it works.  So far, so good.  Simple concept, perhaps absurd, but functional.

[willie warrior]

Both are classics by two outstanding directors. Each underscores the absurdity of Mutual Assured Destruction but while Kubrick's political satire suggests an inevitable holocaust Lumet's work finds an ultimate redemption through our shared humanity. Another excellent book/movie of the genre is Seven Days in May.     

Just watched Seven days in May a week or so ago. An attempted Military coup of a weak President by a right wing General. Wonder what that is all about. With Ava Gardner as the eye candy. She was a little aged then, but man, she was a looker earlier. Wonder if she is any relation to Devante.

Slim Pickens riding the bomb down waving his ten gallon hat was great, as was George Scott's wacky General Turgeon.

[willie warrior]

Well, MAD was absurd in many ways and on many levels but the reality is that it kept Ivan out of Western Europe. Damned expensive proposition, though. The brilliance of MAD is that it limits the end game to one unacceptable extreme.

The doctrine has been revisited recently due to the Kennedy shooting. I am convinced Khrushchev blinked over Cuba precisely because he could see Moscow in ruins. If the Bay of Pigs did anything it hardened Kennedy's resolve on Missiles in Cuba.

Coincidentally, I am reading an excellent book now that addresses Kennedy's analytics in both Cuban crises.  The President's Club by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy looks at the role of former Presidents in executive decision making. A fascinating read that I recommend highly.

A historical question would be:
Would JFK had the gonads to rain the missles? My own opinion is I think not. He was way too content shooting missles at his various mistresses.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Do you know how this was all handled domestically on 9-11?  All I know is that it was eerie here in Chicago when the only thing in the air were fighter jocks flying around.  But I still worry that we were poorly prepared and had too few ready assets to really protect anyone. 

We went to Defcon 3 for 9-11.  Only time we went to Defcon 2 was the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

A historical question would be:
Would JFK had the gonads to rain the missles? My own opinion is I think not. He was way too content shooting missles at his various mistresses.

Apparently shooting them in very short amount of time according to his conquests...not the CIC in the sack.   

[Pakuni]

We went to Defcon 3 for 9-11.  Only time we went to Defcon 2 was the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

We went to Defcon 1 when that kid from Seattle hacked into Joshua to play Global Thermonuclear War.

[jsglow]

A historical question would be:
Would JFK had the gonads to rain the missles? My own opinion is I think not. He was way too content shooting missles at his various mistresses.

All very interesting questions.  How history might have looked very differently at JFK had Lee Harvey not killed the President in what was the first 5-7 years of TV for most folks.  Image cemented forever that afternoon 50 years ago, especially for anyone old enough to remember.  Although I also suppose it is unfair to pin on JFK what LBJ then did in his name, both good and not so good ranging from tens of thousands in Nam to Neil Armstrong.  3 bullets that shaped the world.

As many of you know, John McAdams at MU is an acknowledged expert on the Kennedy assassination. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

All very interesting questions.  How history might have looked very differently at JFK had Lee Harvey not killed the President in what was the first 5-7 years of TV for most folks.  Image cemented forever that afternoon 50 years ago, especially for anyone old enough to remember.  Although I also suppose it is unfair to pin on JFK what LBJ then did in his name, both good and not so good ranging from tens of thousands in Nam to Neil Armstrong.  3 bullets that shaped the world.

As many of you know, John McAdams at MU is an acknowledged expert on the Kennedy assassination. 

Love McAdams, but many don't agree.  Time had an article on him the other day....the conspiracy guys certainly don't care for him...

http://nation.time.com/2013/11/05/the-debunker-among-the-buffs/

[ChicosBailBonds]

We went to Defcon 1 when that kid from Seattle hacked into Joshua to play Global Thermonuclear War.

This movie is now 30 years old...crazy.  The actor playing the general (Barry Corbin) was rumored to have died earlier this month but turns out to be a complete hoax.

WE ARE AT DEFCON 1

http://www.youtube.com/v/UHBqJj0znYo

[GGGG]

Love McAdams, but many don't agree.  Time had an article on him the other day....the conspiracy guys certainly don't care for him...

http://nation.time.com/2013/11/05/the-debunker-among-the-buffs/

I have been on his web-site....and I have to hand it to him.  I do not care enough about one subject enough to devote that much time and energy toward it.

[humanlung]

Any of those guys bigs or outside shooters?

Mostly traditionals.

[muwarrior69]

Obamacare doesn't have IT either.

[jsglow]

Obamacare doesn't have IT either.

Teal?

[keefe]

It wasn't handled systematically because the USG didn't have a system to counter terrorism under normal peacetime operations . DoD only uses DEFCON to manage strategic assets in the build-up towards nuclear warfare.

What you are really asking is who should have prevented the 9/11 attacks and the answer is law enforcement. Remember that the Regular and Reserve US military is in Title 10 status and cannot serve as a police force due to Posse Comitatus. The Guard is Title 32 and can be used in specific situations but must be activated by each governor in response to that specific situation. The Coast Guard may always be employed in that way but on 9/11 they were a part of Treasury - Homeland Security was not yet a Federal Department.

National Command Authority is limited in employing the military in anything that smells like law enforcement. And the political appetite for doing so is generally very low in a democracy. The activities and actions of the 9/11 terrorists were criminal and were the responsibility of law enforcement working with the intelligence community.

The US military can and will address specific threats to National Security within the sovereign borders of the US but nobody wants Air Force Intel pukes reading American citizen mail or having the 3rd ID manning road blocks on I 5. The Founding Fathers rightly limited the role and responsibility of the US Military in order to remove the possibility of a coup d'état from the list of political options. Military members take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, not any person or office. This is a marked difference from other nations that swear allegiance to monarchs or dictators. The wisdom of Jefferson, Adams, and Madison is recognizing that there is no countervailing force to the military and correctly limited the military's role in domestic affairs. That has rarely been the case throughout world history.

The military was not poorly prepared on 9/11. In fact, within hours of the attacks we had boots on the ground in Afghanistan and started killing Taliban sh1theads that first week. But democracies are fragile things and millions of men armed to the teeth and subordinated to one man or group is rarely a good thing for a Republic.

[warriorchick]

Teal?

Obamacare has half a billion dollars of IT.  It's just not effective.

[real chili 83]

We were saying the exact same thing this time last year.

Last year we had IT, but didn't know we had IT at first.

I suspect that we very much have IT this year, but don't quite know that we have IT yet.

[Benny B]

This movie is now 30 years old...crazy.  The actor playing the general (Barry Corbin) was rumored to have died earlier this month but turns out to be a complete hoax.

WE ARE AT DEFCON 1

http://www.youtube.com/v/UHBqJj0znYo

I was in Colorado Springs a couple weeks ago walking through some DOD contractor facilities... God as my witness, one of the contractor reps started talking about virtual war centers and computer simulations, and it took every fiber of strength to refrain from asking if the computers could play tic-tac-toe.

[keefe]

I have been on his web-site....and I have to hand it to him.  I do not care enough about one subject enough to devote that much time and energy toward it.

More than 12,000 posts says otherwise!!

[GGGG]

More than 12,000 posts says otherwise!!

I'll get bored of this eventually...