Source: United States Air Force
The 19th Airlift Wing’s ROCKI 21-02 exercise at Volk Field Air National Guard Base came to a close May 6, as the wing assessed its ability to deploy into theater as a lead Air Expeditionary Wing–becoming Air Mobility Command’s first to experiment with the lead wing construct in a dynamic exercise environment.
The
19th Airlift Wing’s ROCKI 21-02 exercise at Volk Field Air National Guard Base came to a close May 6, as the wing assessed its ability to deploy into theater as a lead Air Expeditionary Wing–becoming
Air Mobility Command’s first to experiment with the lead wing construct in a dynamic exercise environment.
The overarching intent of ROCKI 21-02 focused on testing the rapid insertion of an AEW into a bare-base environment, establishing logistics and communications with theater command and control in order to receive follow-on forces, generate mission employment, and project combat power across all domains.
“Today’s adversaries possess the capability to strike our operational centers of gravity, directly threatening our capability to project agile combat airlift,” said
The
19th Airlift Wing’s ROCKI 21-02 exercise at Volk Field Air National Guard Base came to a close May 6, as the wing assessed its ability to deploy into theater as a lead Air Expeditionary Wing–becoming
Air Mobility Command’s first to experiment with the lead wing construct in a dynamic exercise environment.
The overarching intent of ROCKI 21-02 focused on testing the rapid insertion of an AEW into a bare-base environment, establishing logistics and communications with theater command and control in order to receive follow-on forces, generate mission employment, and project combat power across all domains.
“Today’s adversaries possess the capability to strike our operational centers of gravity, directly threatening our capability to project agile combat airlift,” said
To err is human, to forgive is not Strategic Air Command policy. (U.S. Air Force)
For as destructive as the world’s combined nuclear arsenals could be, it sure seems like both the United States and Soviet Union were pretty cavalier about using them. The U.S. alone had 32 different nuclear weapons incidents, which includes straight-up losing six of them, none of which was ever found.
The Soviets, of course, had a far-from-perfect nuclear record. The USSR may have lost upward of a hundred weapons. It also would have launched a nuclear attack against the U.S. if it weren’t for one officer who recognized a malfunction in the early warning system.
Did a black bear in Duluth nearly start a nuclear war?
A book by a Stanford professor using declassified Air Force documents appears to bolster much of the legend. 2:00 am, Apr. 28, 2021 ×
A Convair F-106A Delta Dart at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Interceptor jets like this were ready to take off from Volk Field in Wisconsin, armed with nuclear-tipped, air-to-air missiles, after a bear apparently triggered an alarm at the Duluth Air Force base during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force)
It’s one of those stories that sounds too far-fetched to be true that a bear outside the fence at the Duluth Air Force Base nearly triggered World War III and a possible nuclear holocaust.