The Broken Chain of Command

There have been a few times in history when the decision of a single person has held back the waves of destruction of a nuclear war. Most notable of those is Stanislov Petrov, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces and on duty in September of 1983. It was only a few weeks after the Soviets shot down Korean Air Lines flight 007. With international tensions running high, Petrov was informed of a missile launch from the United States. Shortly after that the system showed that another five missiles had been launched. They were, theoretically, in the air, on their way to Soviet Russia. But Petrov did not report the launch to superiors as he was supposed to, knowing that a counterstrike would be ordered based on his report. Several minutes ticked by as he waited for confirmation of the launches that never came and he did not report it until later.

These are the seconds and the people who hold in their very hands the future of the world. One would like to think they’re conscious of the awesome responsibility they hold and are ever vigilant in their search for proof of launch before they give the order to retaliate. But as the quality of individual troops lessen, their purpose for entering the military much more vague than a sense of patriotism and dedication to service, who will be making that decision for America?

One thing Petrov had going for him was the general suspicion of computers prevalent in 1983, so when he received an erroneous report from sensors that there was one launch, and then five more, he had reason to doubt the validity of what turned out to be a rare alignment of sunlight on high altitude clouds. Today’s military are much less skeptical of the accuracy of computer generated reports.

What it all comes down to, eventually, is the decision of one person, the information racing through a chain of command. Unlike Petrov’s decision, who thought it likely a false alarm, thinking that the United States would not fire one or even a couple of nuclear weapons at the Soviet Union, but more likely an initial wave of hundreds, there was a calculation to be made and a risk to be taken. It was not his place to make that judgment, exactly, his role was simply to recognize the alarm and pass that information on to others, but he did not and in not-doing, he saved the world. It is all the more commendable, because this was the old Soviet Union and such decisions were not allowed to be made at that level. This is what caused him to not only receive a note of thanks, but also a reprimand for failing to report the alarm. He received no official award of merit.

As the world is once again straining with international tensions, the fear of nuclear war on the minds of Americans and Russians alike, who will stand in that breach? Does the clown show that has gripped the upper ranks of the military not cause a shiver up the backs of citizens? It should. As a veteran, I see little of the military I knew. The focus, in the past, was on duty, on the obligation of military service, but since the military has largely become a playground for social experimentation, providing guidelines of how to overcome heterosexuality in the stridently heterosexual community, rather than finding the best officers to exert their best judgment in times of crisis, they are now trained to first use the correct pronouns for a gender-vague individual.

One has to wonder if a superior would take information from an underling who, in panic, used the wrong pronoun and that issue would suddenly became paramount to the superior officer over the information being relayed. It works in the reverse, too, would a soldier accept an order from a superior who used the wrong pronoun in giving that order and would not the discussion become an issue for the JAG, costing time and lives? Who knows, because no one knows the temperament or focus of our soldiers, sailors and airmen of today. From the bearing of the upper command structure, it is not clear.

The United States is in a different situation than ever before, too. Who has the nuclear football? Is it, as suggested in a few media reports, some Marine at the side of Joe Biden? Who would actually give the order to initiate a strike or counterstrike? Joe? The man who can’t find his way off of a stage without getting lost? Some Marine standing by, with the suitcase open, waiting for a nod from the man letting ice cream drip down his knuckles? Is it Austin who wore the clown-inspired facemask while reviewing the troops during Covid? Doesn’t that violate the civilian-rule over the military? We are talking about the end of the world, or at least, the end of the United States and the fact that we, the people, don’t have any idea who is actually in charge of our massive nuclear arsenal is a serious consideration.

Assuming that the message doesn’t get lost in a web of woke regulations on the way up to Joe Biden, who is willing to accept the information coming back down? Assuming that it gets to Joe, who finds, somewhere on his person, the launch codes and has an inkling of what they’re for and what it means to give them, other than it pleases his Marine handler, how does it get back down? If I were an American version of Petrov, I would be hesitant to give the order to my subordinates knowing that it came from Joe.

Not to worry, that’s all been taken into account, the protocols for ensuring it’s the right decision have been hammered out. Really? But then, who is giving that order? Is it an unelected Susan Rice? An unelected Barack Obama? The military itself does not have the authority to make that decision and the doubt that Joe can make it is what the 25th Amendment is for. Does one trust Kamala? Also, she is someone who does not fit the requirements to hold office as the president, so where is that authority coming from? Why should anyone in the descending chain of command accept it as a legal order, being unsure of the origin of it? Orders can be given all the way down, but someone has to push the button, turn the key, an individual, usually not more than a sergeant. How do they feel, what is their perception of what they are about to do? In the movie War Games, the whole idea of putting that decision-making in the hands of a computer stemmed from individuals who were not emotionally or psychologically prepared to end all life on earth by their actions alone. Is it any better now?

An incident I was directly involved in leads to these questions. It was Denmark, we were on an exercise and this was fun flying for the pilots. At the end-of-runway check, where I was instructing another airman to do that job, I found an oil leak. I timed it, it was within regulations, but there were several different allowances based on the device. I couldn’t determine which device or connection was leaking. I looked at all the different sight glasses and couldn’t tell, I wiped it all down and the leak continued. Keep in mind, an end-of-runway check should take roughly 90 seconds, maybe two minutes max. The pilot was getting really angry, so angry, I took the headset off while I tried to figure this out. Unable to determine the source of the leak, I put the headset on and informed him that I couldn’t let him have the jet. Curses flew from the captain, threats, “pull those chocks, airman!” I told him the only way he was getting that jet was to jump the chocks. It was intense, angry, but I couldn’t do as he asked. I was threatened with disobeying orders of a superior officer of being derelict in my duty. Keep in mind, the leak was within regulations and what I was doing was a courts-martial offense, it was disobeying a superior officer. I had nothing to back up my actions, except I couldn’t let him have the jet without knowing where the leak was coming from. His life was on the line and I would be responsible for it, if he died.

Finally, they took the jet around. I was told later that no one could tell where it was coming from, that they had to drop the panel to see and when they did, it was a cracked sight glass, so slight that is could not been seen from the lower angle. They guessed that he would have gotten up to 20,000 feet and it would have broken out completely, draining the oil of the Right AMAD, it would have caught on fire and he would have had to punch out. In those days, and maybe still, people didn’t generally live through an ejection from an F-15.

Take that tension, the demand of a superior officer to do one’s duty, times it by 100,000 and recognize that the only place for the order to legally originate is from the drooling, nodding off, lost on stage without a guide, Joseph R. Biden and ask yourself who is willing to turn the key that will annihilate the population of earth?

I just received the paperbacks of Into Exile and have already mailed out copies. It’s for sale in the store at twelveround.com. I’ve also discounted the other two books in the series to take the pain out of shipping as much as I can.

Western Rifle Shooters Association (WRSA) can be found at the link. I don’t know how long it will be housed there, but that’s all I have for them right now.