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Wednesday, November 10, 1999

NORAD to search the skies on Jan. 1 for errant missiles

Associated Press

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR STATION, Colo. (AP)  Every Christmas Eve, the missile defense wizards stationed here take time for a tongue-in-cheek report on mysterious radar readings at the North Pole. Things will be much more serious at Cheyenne Mountain this year: In a landmark effort, U.S. and Russian experts will be watching to make sure the Year 2000 bug doesn't trigger nuclear war. The hunt for inadvertent missile launches will begin with the Kingdom of Tonga once the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1. "We are partnering with the Russians to make sure nobody makes a mistake," Lt. Col. Gary Warren said Tuesday from deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, the missile defense headquarters for North America. The U.S. military began preparing for the effects of Y2K more than four years ago. With its economy in turmoil, Russia is believed to be considerably behind in its efforts. In February, the Clinton administration proposed setting up the joint Y2K center. Russian officers have already visited the site, and 18 will return  all expenses paid by the U.S. military  on Dec. 23. They will work out of a nondescript structure, Building 1840, near the U.S. Space Command Center at Peterson Air Force Base. The space command, Space Warfare Center, North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) are all in Colorado Springs, sprawled across the prairie at the foot of Pikes Peak some 65 miles south of Denver. It is NORAD that tracks missiles. The 4.5-acre granite bunker is buried 1,700 feet beneath Cheyenne Mountain. The base, which opened in 1966, features 2.8 miles of tunnels, 3-foot-thick blast doors and buildings atop mammoth metal coils that serve as shock absorbers. On Tuesday, Russian journalists were allowed into Cheyenne Mountain for the first time. The Russian officers, however, will not be permitted inside the command center, which was carved out of 700,000 tons of granite. "There is that residual distrust," said Lt. Col. Greg Boyette, who took part in the negotiations and visited Russia several times. "I'm an old Strategic Air Command guy. We've been doing this (fighting each other) for 40 years, and we didn't ask them to give away the farm, either." No U.S. soldiers will be stationed in Russia. However, the two nations will share basic data about any launches or material falling from space. The information will include where missiles or other objects are coming from, where they are headed and what type of object is involved. While Boyette said he expects most nations to avoid any missile launches during the holiday period, the most-discussed scenario is a computer error that creates the impression of a false missile threat. Brig. Gen. Robert Latiff, Cheyenne Mountain's commander, said his teams also are aware of the possibility that an attacker might use any confusion created by Y2K glitches to launch an attack. Still, on New Year's Eve, Cheyenne Mountain will have only a few more than normal staff on hand. Senior officers will be present, so there would be no need to track them down in case of a problem. "If there was an accidental missile launch you can bet the two presidents would be on the hotline," Boyette said. The Russian teams, usually three officers and a translator, will have a direct line to Moscow from the Y2K center at Peterson. At least one member of their U.S. counterparts will be fluent in Russian. Maj. Dan Mullen, who is in charge of managing Y2K problems for Cheyenne Mountain, assured journalists that a scenario similar to "WarGames"  the 1983 movie in which a teen hacks into a military computer  could not set off a war. "Computers do not make the decisions around here. People do," he said. "We plan to be bored on New Year's Eve. We've counted every sesame seed on every bun

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), November 16, 1999

Answers

Bet they do not have time for their donuts.

-- bunkers (can be@stifling.tense), November 16, 1999.

Tee hee hee. Yeah, right. Picture it...

Brad: "Holy CRAP, there's a hundred incoming nukes! FIRE! FIRE!"

Boris: "Is regrettable accident, capitalist imperialist pig dog."

Brad: "Oh, gee. I guess that's OK then. Cancel that counterstrike. Any donuts left?"

TEE HEE HEE.

-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), November 16, 1999.

Colin, you forget that our president has implemented a restriction on launching our nukes until we have been VERIFABLY hit. Your scenario would probably be more like this:

Brad: "Holy CRAP, there's a thousand incoming nukes! Call the president on the satellite hookup! He's in Lower Botswana."

President: "Is probably regrettable accident, capitalist imperialist pig dog military swine type guy."

Brad: "Oh, gee. I guess that's OK then. Forget about counterstriking. Any donuts left?"

-- Nabi (nabi7@yahoo.com), November 16, 1999.

Norad will be real busy this year as they have a dress rehersal tracking Father Christmas's progress around the World on Christmas year.The Father Christmas site opens about Dec 15th with a FAQ

-- Rudolf (Reindeer@upinthe air.com), November 16, 1999.