Did the U.S. Air Force Nearly Start World War III?

New account alleges nukes almost launched during Cuban Missile Crisis.

Flickr/Florida Department of Commerce

In October 1962, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a U.S. Air Force cruise missile unit received orders to launch. Given that you're sitting here reading this and civilization didn't end with World War III, you can probably guess that they didn't. The story behind why they didn't, which rests on some critical thinking by launch crews to prevent the missiles from firing, is an amazing one.

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An article for Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists tells the story of Air Force veteran John Bordne, who was stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa in 1963. Bordne claims—in an account not verified with the U.S. Air Force—that his unit of eight Mace B cruise missiles inexplicably received launch orders. 

The Mace was one of the U.S. military's early cruise missiles. Developed in the mid-1950s, Mace resembled a small plane—it had large wings and an airplane-like tail. The missile launched into the air by a Thiokol solid rocket booster. Once airborne, a Allison turbojet kicked in and powered the missile for the rest of the flight. An internal navigation system guided the Mace to its target up to 1,500 miles away. 

Mace B's deadly payload was a W-28 nuclear warhead. The W-28 had a yield of 1.1 megatons, making it more than 60 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Detonated over modern-day New York City, a W-28 would kill 1.3 million people and injure another 1.5 million. 

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At the time of the event, U.S. military forces were at DEFCON 2, an elevated "war warning" status reflecting tensions in and around Cuba. Normal, peacetime status is DEFCON 5, while DEFCON 1 means nuclear war. According to Bordne, the commander of his four-missile unit received authenticated radio instructions to launch his missiles. Instead of reflexively launching his missiles, Bordne's commander had nagging doubts. The codes that gave the launch order were transmitted verbally over the radio without a sign of stress or panic. In addition, the missiles were to be launched only at DEFCON 1—and they weren't there yet. 

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Another puzzling detail: Most of the targets revealed by the launch orders were not in Russia. The lack of an incoming attack furthered the commander's doubts. Finally, the captain in charge ordered the missiles to stand down.

But that wasn't the end of it. The lieutenant in charge of another unit of Mace B missiles refused orders to stand down and prepared his missiles to fire. His commanding officer—and Bordne's—reiterated the orders and ordered another officer to shoot the lieutenant if he attempted launch.

He did not.

Again, the U.S. Air Force has not corroborated the events Bordne describes. If true, it appears to be yet another close shave with nuclear war, where only a "man in the loop", thinking critically about the circumstances surrounding him, prevented what would have been unimaginable catastrophe. Read the article at Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

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