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“Film describes the physical characteristics of the SAC Command Post, communications network, warning and alert systems, a senior controller demonstrating how positive control is assured and a simulated alert situation.”
Reupload of a previously uploaded film, in one piece instead of multiple parts.
Public domain film slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
US Air Force film SFP-1236
Offutt Air Force Base (IATA: OFF, ICAO: KOFF, FAA LID: OFF) is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the Air Force Weather Agency, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the Air Combat Command (ACC), the latter serving as the host unit.
Aviation use at Offutt began in September 1918 during World War I as a Army Air Service balloon field. It was renamed in honor of World War I pilot and Omaha native 1st Lt. Jarvis Offutt in 1924.
Offutt AFB’s legacy includes the construction of the first two bombers to drop atomic bombs and over 40 years as the headquarters for the former Strategic Air Command (SAC) and home for its associated ground and aerial command centers for the U.S. in case of nuclear war during the Cold War. The population was 8,901 at the 2000 census.
Overview
Offutt Air Force Base is the host station for the 55th Wing (55 WG), the largest wing of the United States Air Force’s Air Combat Command. Additionally, the base is home to many significant associate units, including US Strategic Command Headquarters, the Air Force Weather Agency, the Omaha operating location of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and many others…
Strategic Air Command
At one minute past midnight, on 9 November 1948, Offutt gained international prominence when it became the host base for Headquarters Strategic Air Command, which was moved from Andrews AFB, Maryland. Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington chose to locate the Air Force’s crucial long-range atomic strike force at Offutt primarily because the base was centrally located on the North American continent, placing it well beyond the existing range of long-range, nuclear-armed bombers to (then) stay safely out of range of hostile missiles or bomber aircraft.
Offutt’s population and facilities grew dramatically to keep pace with the increased operational demands during the Cold War. Several new dormitories and more than 2,000 family housing units — built in the late 1950s and 1960s under incremental Wherry and Capehart projects — quickly replaced the old quarters of Fort Crook. Headquarters SAC moved from the Martin-Nebraska complex to Building 500 in 1957, and new base facilities in the 1960s and 1970s included a hospital, main exchange, commissary, and library.
During the late 1950s Offutt housed a Royal Air Force facility for servicing Avro Vulcans, which visited the air base frequently while on exercise with SAC.
Operational use of Offutt Air Force Base included the basing of alert tankers in the late 1950s and 1960s, support for intercontinental ballistic missile sites in Nebraska and Iowa in the 1960s, and worldwide reconnaissance from the mid-1960s to the present.
To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Offutt AFB Defense Area and Nike-Hercules Surface-to-air missile sites were constructed during 1959. Sites were located near Cedar Creek, Nebraska (OF-60) 40°59′00″N 096°05′28″W, and Council Bluffs, Iowa (OF-10) 41°13′47″N 095°41′58″W. They were operational between November 1960 and March 1966.
During the Cold War, a general and various support personnel from the base were airborne 24-hours a day on an EC-135 from February 3, 1961 to July 24, 1990 in Operation Looking Glass, creating an airborne command post in case of war. Operation Looking Glass carried out its mission without any mishaps or incidents during its 29 years of existence.
The 3902d Air Base Wing was inactivated on 1 March 1986, and the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing assumed host-unit responsibilities for Offutt. Increased defense spending during the 1980s brought additional operational improvements to Offutt, including the Bennie Davis Aircraft Maintenance Hangar, and a new command center for Headquarters SAC…
