A 23 year old Cold War nuclear missile commander (122)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.8 • 863 Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2020

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Scott was a Pershing 2 nuclear missile Fire Control Officer which meant he was responsible for the launch of the missile. Aged 23 he was made platoon commander and responsible for 3 of these deadly weapons. The Pershing II was a mobile, intermediate-range ballistic missile deployed by the U.S. Army at American bases in West Germany beginning in 1983. It was aimed at targets in the western Soviet Union. Each Pershing II carried a single, variable-yield thermonuclear warhead with an explosive force equivalent to 5-50 kilotons of TNT. Under the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union, all Pershing IIs and their support equipment were removed from the inventory and rendered inoperable If you are enjoying the podcast please leave a written review in Apple podcasts or share us on social media. By telling your friends you can really help the podcast grow. If you can spare it I’m asking listeners to contribute $3 USD per month to help keep us on the air (larger amounts are welcome too) plus you can get a sought after CWC coaster as a monthly financial supporter of the podcast and you bask in the warm glow of knowing you helping preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Back to today’s episode, guest host Peter Ryan chatted with Scott and you will remember from Peter episode 101 where he interviewed me about the podcast. We welcome Scott & Peter to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information on this episode in our show notes, which can also be found as a link in your podcast app. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode122/ If you like what you are hearing, please leave reviews in Apple podcasts and share us on social media. If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. Thankyou very much for listening. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations 0:00 Introduction and Background of Scott, a Pershing 2 nuclear missile fire control officer 1:52 Call for listener support and donations 2:38 Scott's journey in the US Military and his role as a Pershing 2 nuclear missile fire control officer 7:15 Briefings on the East Bloc, precautions and surveillance by East Bloc agents 10:57 Scott's experiences near the GDR border and overview of the Pershing 2 missile 13:23 Scott's promotion and the significance of the missile system in ending the Cold War 16:08 Comparisons of real-life launch procedures with popular culture and communication in the field 20:37 Maintenance procedures and orders after launching missiles 26:42 Off-duty activities and relaxation in Germany, travel opportunities 30:45 Quick-fire portion: Scott's favourite Cold War memories and memorabilia 44:34 Wrapping up the conversation with Scott and closing remarks by Ian Sanders 45:33 End of the episode Chapters powered by PodcastAI✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.7	It's hard to grasp this, but I was 23, and I controlled the launch of three nuclear missiles.
0:13.2	This is Cold War Conversations. If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War history accounts.
0:23.1	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app or join our emailing list at Cold Warconversations.com.
0:32.2	Scott was a Pershing 2 nuclear missile fire control officer, which meant he was responsible for the launch of the missile.
0:40.3	Age 23 he was made a platoon commander and responsible for three of these deadly weapons.
0:47.3	The Pershing 2 was a mobile intermediate range ballistic missile deployed by the US Army at American bases in West Germany
0:55.2	at the start of 1983.
0:58.3	It was aimed at targets in the Western Soviet Union, with each Pershing carrying a single
1:03.6	thermonuclear warhead with the explosive force of 5 to 50 kilotons of TNT.
1:14.2	If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave a written review in Apple Podcasts or share us on social media by telling your friends you can really help
1:19.5	the podcast grow. If you can spare it, I'm asking listeners to contribute at least
1:25.2	three US dollars per month to help keep us on the air.
1:29.7	Plus, you get the sought-after Cold War Conversations coaster as a monthly financial supporter
1:34.9	and you bask in the warm glow of knowing that you're helping preserve Cold War history.
1:41.0	You also get some exclusive extras as well.
1:44.4	Just go to Cold Warconversations.com slash donate.
1:49.1	So back to today's episode, guest host Peter Ryan chatted with Scott and you will remember
1:55.4	Peter from episode 101 where he interviewed me about the podcast.
2:00.3	We welcome Scott and Peter to our Cold War Conversations. 101, where he interviewed me about the podcast.
2:04.9	We welcome Scott and Peter to our Cold War conversation.
2:12.4	Probably a good starting point for our discussion today would be if you could tell me just a little bit about your background and what led you to join the U.S. military? Yeah, sure. So I grew up in a military
	...

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