- Thread starter
- #41
Thanks for reminding me of the stress. There was more: Missile officers fall under the Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) where you were required to report any marital, financial or psychological problems and also report any conduct by other missile officers that would fall under PRP scrutiny. You were expected to get 100% on all monthly Codes and Emergency War Order tests; 90% was failing. If you came close to that 90% you and your crew partner had to report to the squadron commander for “counseling." You were not allowed to take any medication stronger than sudafed; otherwise you were pulled off alert until a medical doctor reinstated you; meanwhile other crew members had to pick up extra shifts to cover for your absence; they weren’t happy and they knew who you were. If you were fortunate enough to moved up to be an evaluator, you only pulled 2 alerts per month (instead of 8), but you also worked an office job 5 days per week. If you got a major error on an evaluation (as an evaluator) you were immediately fired from your job and returned back to one of the squadrons the next day, to pull 8 alerts per month with the rest of the “line swine.” It was a brutal environment professionally under SAC (Strategic Air Command) where the old saying was “To err is human; to forgive divine; neither of which is SAC policy.”I've always envisioned that as the most boring, stressful job on earth.
Last edited: