Jay

Have seen the figure of 12 airborne 7/24 out of 4-500 bombers we had.
Don't hold me to those exact figures but will give you an idea. These
missions were called "Chrome Dome". One flight path was around
northern Pacific. Another one was over to the Med and return. Some
missions were 24 +/- hr flights. Med is where they lost the two birds
and 4 bombs with the mid air off Spain.

'Looking Glass' flew out of Offutt with a General aboard 7/24. Was a
backup C and C in case Washington got hit and National Authority
zapped. New bird was airborne and checked out before old bird landed.
If trouble getting the replacement airborne, the old bird just punched
a tanker until their replacement got airborne.

Glad the MAD has been put to bed.


Big John


On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 18:11:27 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Thanks for the clarification and history, Big John. As always, we're
indebted to you and your expertise.

I had no idea that we kept the bombers airborne 24/7 -- I thought it was
just "Looking Glass" and recon stuff that was always in the air, with the
bombers on stand-by alert.