Eric Schlosser - Command and Control

“hypergolic”: The word, according to rocket scientists, means “spontaneously ignitable.” One of the advantages of using hypergolic propellants is that the propellants eliminate the need for an ignition system in a missile. One of the disadvantages is how dangerous they are. For a good introduction to the subject, see B. M. Nufer, “A Summary of NASA and USAF Hypergolic Propellant Related Spills and Fires,” National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA/TP-2009-214769, June 2009. For a more thorough examination, see the chapters “Liquid Propellant Rocket Engine Fundamentals” and “Liquid Propellants” in George P. Sutton and Oscar Biblarz, Rocket Propulsion Elements, 7th ed. (New York: Wiley, 2001), pp. 197–267.

supersonic convergent-divergent nozzles: Shaped like an hourglass, a convergent-divergent nozzle increases the velocity of a hot gas by forcing it through a narrow chamber.

The fuel, Aerozine-50: A brief overview of the Titan II’s propellants and their hazards can be found in “Propellant Transportation Awareness Guide for Titan II Deactivation,” Department of the Air Force, October 1, 1982. A more detailed account is offered in “Titan II Storable Propellant Handbook,” Revision B, Bell Aerosystems Company, Prepared for Air Force Ballistic Systems Division, March 1963.

a Rocket Fuel Handler’s Clothing Outfit (RFHCO): For a description of the gear and its proper use, see “Missile Liquid Propellant Systems Maintenance Specialist: Volume 3, Propellant Transfer System,” CDC 4551, Extension Course Institute, Air Training Command, February 1983, pp. 1–42.

Electroexplosive devices were used: For the various things that could explode in a Titan II silo and the potential risks, see “Nuclear Weapon Specialist: Volume 5, Rockets, Missiles, and Reentry Systems,” CDC 46350, Extension Course Institute, Air Training Command, November 1980 (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY), pp. 19–38.

Technical Order 21M-LGM25C-2-12, Figure 2-18: The relevant excerpt of the tech order can be found in “Titan II Class A Mishap Report: Serial Number 62-0006, 18 September 1980, Damascus, Arkansas,” Eighth Air Force Mishap Investigation Board, October 30, 1980, p. 0–1.

“Oh man,” Plumb thought: Interview with Jeffrey L. Plumb.

Second Lieutenant Allan D. Childers had gotten out of bed: I spoke to Childers at length about that day. His testimony before the accident investigation board can be found in “Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Tab U-13.

the Dash-1: An abridged version has been published: Technical Manual, USAF Model LGM-25C , Missile System Operation (Tucson: Arizona Aerospace Foundation, 2005).

“the hostile invasion… by the Iraqi regime”: Quoted in “Iran Criticizes Iraq for Ending ’75 Pact,” New York Times , September 19, 1980.

the International Institute for Strategic Studies… issued a report: The title of the report was “The Military Balance, 1980–1981.” See Louis Nevin, “Soviets and Warsaw Pact Have Weapons Lead Over West,” Associated Press , September 17, 1980.

an unemployment rate of about 8 percent: President Carter cited that figure while speaking to reporters on September 18, 1980. See “Transcript of the President’s News Conference,” New York Times , September 19, 1980.

“a crisis in confidence”: For the complete speech, see “Text of President Carter’s Address to the Nation,” Washington Post , July 16, 1979.

an official report on the failed rescue attempt: See “Rescue Mission Report,” Joint Chiefs of Staff, Special Operations Review Group, August 1980.

77 percent of the American people disapproved: President Nixon’s disapproval rate never exceeded 71 percent. These ratings are cited in Donald M. Rothberg, “Carter Plunges in Polls, But Campaign Chief Insists He’ll Win,” Associated Press , July 30, 1980.

“I refuse to accept [Carter’s] defeatist and pessimistic view”: See “Transcript of Reagan Speech Outlining Five-Year Economic Program for the U.S.,” New York Times , September 10, 1980.

“four more years of weakness, indecision, mediocrity”: See “Text of Reagan’s Speech Accepting Republicans’ Nomination,” New York Times , July 18, 1980.

“a bumbler”: Quoted in “Interview with John B. Anderson,” BusinessWeek , September 8, 1980.

“People feel that the country is coming apart”: Quoted in ibid.

a bestselling nonfiction book in late September: See Edwin McDowell, “Behind the Best Sellers; ‘Crisis Investing,’” New York Times , September 21, 1980.

“In the last few years before the outbreak of war”: John Hackett, The Third World War: August 1985 (New York: Macmillan, 1978), p. 316.

Ronald Reagan later called The Third World War: In 1983, President Reagan told the New York Times that The Third World War was the most important book that he’d read for work that year. See “Reading for Work and Pleasure,” New York Times , December 4, 1983.

the techno-thriller: For Hackett’s role in creating the new genre, see J. William Gibson, “Redeeming Vietnam: Techno-Thriller Novels of the 1980s,” Cultural Critique , no. 19 (Fall 1991), pp. 179–202.

“Life begins at forty”: Quoted in David Sheff, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono , ed. G. Barry Golson (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2000), p. 8.

“Politics and rebellion distinguished the ’60’s”: Jerry Rubin, “Guess Who’s Coming to Wall Street,” New York Times , July 30, 1980.

the highest-paid banker… earned about $710,000 a year: Roger E. Anderson earned $710,440 in 1980, an income that would be roughly $2 million in today’s dollars. A few years later, Anderson was forced to leave Continental Illinois, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation subsequently took it over — at the time, the largest bank bailout in American history. For Anderson’s salary, see L. Michael Cacage, “Who Earned the Most?” American Banker (May 29, 1981). The story of how Anderson’s bank collapsed remains sadly relevant. See “Continental Illinois and ‘Too Big to Fail,’” in History of the Eighties: Lessons for the Future , Volume 1 (Washington, D.C.: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Division of Research and Statistics, 1997), pp. 235–57.

“There is a tidal wave coming”: Quoted in Ernest B. Furgurson, “Carter as Hoover, Reagan as F.D.R.? Socko!” Los Angeles Times , July 22, 1980.

political, as well as military, considerations: According to one historian, Congressman Wilbur D. Mills agreed to support a reduction in corporate taxes — and in return Arkansas got the Titan II bases. See Julian E. Zelizer, Taxing America: Wilbur D. Mills, Congress, and the State, 1945–1975 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 187.

It weighed roughly six thousand pounds: Cited in Stumpf, Titan II , p. 118.

steel doorjambs: …weighed an additional thirty-one thousand pounds: Ibid.

Rodney Holder was once working in the silo: Interview with Rodney L. Holder.

Launch Complex 373-4 had been the site of the worst Titan II accident: My account of the Searcy accident is based primarily on “Report of USAF Aerospace Safety Missile Accident Investigation Board, Missile Accident LGM-25C-62-006, Site 373-4,” Little Rock Air Force Base, August 9, 1965 (OFFICIAL USE ONLY); “Launch Operations and Witness Group Final Report,” submitted to USAF Aerospace Safety Missile Accident Investigation Board, Missile Accident LGM-25C-62-006, Site 373-4, n.d., (OFFICIAL USE ONLY); and Charles F. Strang, “Titan II Launch Facility Accident Briefing, Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas,” minutes of the Ninth Explosives Safety Seminar, Naval Training Center, San Diego, California, August 15–17, 1967 (NO FOREIGN WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE ARMED SERVICES EXPLOSIVES SAFETY BOARD); and Stumpf, Titan II , pp. 215–21.