One of the less-fun parts of being in the military was participating in annual readiness inspections. In the Strategic Air Command, that meant Operational Readiness Inspections. For missile guys, it was relatively minor - it wasn't as if we could launch the missile!
One year, my deputy got sick, and I was assigned a deputy from another squadron. The missile checkout -- you had to send simulated commands to each missile, then record the results on a computer tape -- took a long time to do, so we split it. I did the first half of the flight, he did the second half. Only it turned out that the very last missile I did sent back an extra response, which he thought was from his first one. He didn't send the interrogation, so there was no valid response, so the missile failed.
Many, many people were unhappy with me.
On the other hand, if I hadn't decided to get out of the Air Force, I wouldn't have gone to EDS, and therefore wouldn't have met my future wife. Maybe I'd have met A future wife, but not one as good as this one.
So, okay.
2 comments:
Plus we might have had problems with all those missiles you were in charge of...not really!
I DO miss the chance to make half the world a reeking cauldron of destruction and depair. But then again, we already have Washington, DC.
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