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Today's fear is islamic terrorist. But personally, it doesn't compare to the fear some of us had to grow up with,...USSR nuclear missles. How many of you had to go through nuclear fallout drills in school? What proceedures did your teachers make you follow? I had one teacher make us go out into the hall and cower with our hands over our heads. Another teacher had us stick our heads in our desk. Our desk then were made of solid metal with a wood seat and desktop. Looking back on it now, I see how utterly useless such drills were.
I was serving in the Air Force stationed at Iceland. We constantly had to do drills for Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear (which was more along the line of say goodbye now). All the time we scrambled fighters to chase off Bear Recon planes trying to get down south in an attempt to see what we were up to.
BTW, if you have ever read the book Red Storm Rising, the description of the base at Keflavik is dead on, which was worrisome to say the least.
We did CBR drills on the ship during Desert Storm. We'd put on the mask, close all ventilation valves coming in from the outside (engine room and fire room were given a pass to quickly open their valves again due to extreme temperatures), and activate countermeasure wash down (sea water sprinkling system on the outer decks). When putting on a respirator at work the guys are amazed at how fast I can get it on and straps tightened.
Today's fear is islamic terrorist. But personally, it doesn't compare to the fear some of us had to grow up with,...USSR nuclear missles. How many of you had to go through nuclear fallout drills in school? What proceedures did your teachers make you follow? I had one teacher make us go out into the hall and cower with our hands over our heads. Another teacher had us stick our heads in our desk. Our desk then were made of solid metal with a wood seat and desktop. Looking back on it now, I see how utterly useless such drills were.
I would liken the drills you did in grade school to the new administration's approach to dealing with Islamic terrorists. Now we are going to put our heads down and hope for the best.
One of the major differences I see though is in the past we viewed it as our elected leaders negotiating and/or posturing with the opponent leader(s). Today it is far more messy, multiple groups with little national affiliation, and willingness to commit acts for sake of psychological impact.
I grew up as an Air Force Brat in the mid-50's through early 70's and spent nearly half that time living in Europe where my dad was stationed - and I well remember the whole nuclear bomb drill bit - so the Cold War and the Balance of Terror played huge parts in my life. It was MUCH scarier than today, but it was just something we dealt with and accepted to the point where we really didn't give it much thought. It just WAS. There was even a period of time when my dad was doing espionage work and spending time on the other side of "the wall" - and even then we just accepted it (my mom didn't know what he was doing - even though she KNEW what he was doing (if you get what I mean)).
BTW - Growing up as a Military Brat was terrific and I wouldn't trade my childhood experiences for anything.
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Originally Posted by LordBalfor
I grew up as an Air Force Brat in the mid-50's through early 70's and spent nearly half that time living in Europe where my dad was stationed - and I well remember the whole nuclear bomb drill bit - so the Cold War and the Balance of Terror played huge parts in my life. It was MUCH scarier than today, but it was just something we dealt with and accepted to the point where we really didn't give it much thought. It just WAS. There was even a period of time when my dad was doing espionage work and spending time on the other side of "the wall" - and even then we just accepted it (my mom didn't know what he was doing - even though she KNEW what he was doing (if you get what I mean)).
BTW - Growing up as a Military Brat was terrific and I wouldn't trade my childhood experiences for anything.
Ken
You are very lucky to have grown up the way you did.My dad was in the ASA and by the time I came along it was his history rather than the news of the day.
One of the major differences I see though is in the past we viewed it as our elected leaders negotiating and/or posturing with the opponent leader(s). Today it is far more messy, multiple groups with little national affiliation, and willingness to commit acts for sake of psychological impact.
I completely agree. There's a HUGE difference psychologically. Like Sailor Dave and others, I well remember the "Soviet threat", the "Civil Defense" shelters, and Rod Serling's many Twilght Zone mentions of the "fear of the other side".
That being said, there's a big difference between an 'enemy country' who covets our oil, timber, our land, and our material wealth....and a group of suicidal 'screwballs' who recognize NO country, not even their own....and don't want anything we have....they just don't want US to have it, either...and they want us dead....and are willing to "blow themselves (and their own children) into eternity", if they can take a few of us with them.
In sheer numbers, Islamic terrorism hasn't produced anywhere near the casualties of conventional war. However, psychologically, there's a big difference...It's like losing a loved one in a car wreck, as opposed to losing a loved one to a drive-by shooting.....it's like 300 people dying in a weather-related plane crash, as opposed to 50 school children lost to a 'bomb' someone planted in their school. Psychological perception is a BIG part of this.
I'll conclude by saying much of the 'word out there' is that in the coming century, we'll see relatively FEW conventional wars, as opposed to many many wars over culture, religion, and other such 'slights'.....and those are the kinds of wars that NOBODY wins.
One more point, regarding "conventional war". I happened to hear an interview just yesterday with the Israeli consul in Los Angeles, upset about the "Hamas"-dressed demonstrators who'd been in front of his office, re the Gaza situation.
According to HIM, there have been several cases CAPTURED ON FILM of Hamas fighters shooting Palestinian children, in order to leave the body where it would implicate the Israelis. He claimed to have seen recent footage of Hamas guerillas running for cover in a crowd, PICKING UP RANDOM CHILDREN to carry as 'human shields'.
I realize the "Israeli consul" has a stake in this, and is goingt to give his 'side' of things...but if any of this is even PARTIALLY true, what kind of "honor" is this? How does this fit in with any traditional concept of a "just" war, or any civilized "rules of engagement"? And how does ANYONE engage such an enemy, and stay "clean"?
Last edited by macmeal; 01-12-2009 at 09:23 AM..
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You are very lucky to have grown up the way you did.My dad was in the ASA and by the time I came along it was his history rather than the news of the day.
