Slightly OT: POTUS' "Nuclear Football"

[castlebravo92]

An interesting read is "The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner"

For a long time, the PAL code to launch our nukes was set to all 0s and everyone, from the generals down to the key turners, knew the code.

Additionally, the "machine" was primed to fire regardless of an actual order from the POTUS. Many base commanders admitted that they would launch if their bases were attacked and no launch order was forthcoming and comms were down.

Same thing with the bomber crews...let's say they were launched and never got a turnaround order, and comms were lost, they would continue on to their targets and drop their bombs.

Kind of scary considering the US used to send nuclear armed bombers to the edge of Soviet airspace all the time in the 50s and 60s.