I went in to talk to the security people who were guarding the facility, as a matter of fact, and every one of my questions was answered.” Actually, there were eight of them on an SS-24 missile.
“I went into a nuclear weapons storage bunker and saw an operational nuclear weapon. I went to a nuclear weapons storage site at … SS-24 missile base at Kostroma, which is a little over 300 kilometers northeast of Moscow. On Friday, two weeks ago, that’s exactly what I did. “I was … not expecting … to actually go into a nuclear weapons storage site. Could you perhaps show him how you go about doing that?’ General Sergeyev said yes.” Secretary Cohen said, ‘Well, General Habiger is going to be visiting you within the next few weeks. “During, Secretary of Defense Cohen … asked Sergeyev’s view of the safety and security of their nuclear weapons and, as I recall, General Sergeyev said that his nuclear weapons were as safe and secure as those in the United States. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyo., the first time that a Russian has ever been in one of our weapons storage areas. … I showed him my headquarters in some depth, and I took him to one of our nuclear weapons storage facilities at F.E. … I extended an invitation to him to come visit me at … Offutt, and in late March, early April of this year, he did come.
Perry, then Secretary of Defense, asked me to accompany him to Moscow for some high-level talks. Sergeyev in October of last year, when Dr. For a period of five days last week, the Russians showed me a great deal, specifically about their Strategic Rocket Forces, from their command and control to allowing me the first, as I understand it, nonRussian to ever go into a nuclear weapons storage area and to see how they keep their nuclear weapons secure and safe.” … As a Cold War warrior, I spent most of my adult life sitting alert with B-52 bombers. “I’ve just experienced something that I never thought possible. Here is how Habiger replied to questions posed by the press. Cohen, he examined the security of Russia’s nuclear weapons. He had just returned from Russia, where, at the request of Defense Secretary William S. 4, 1997, he met with reporters in Washington. Habiger, USAF, is commander in chief of US Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Neb., which comprises the nation’s nuclear deterrent forces. And its place in history is now largely recognized as a very sobering reminder about the potentially dangerous mixture of computerized war machines and human error.Gen. This one said the United States' early warning systems - installations that measure scientific readings, like seismic activity, that are always recorded with ground-based ballistic missile launches - were not reporting anything.Īdditional systems checks ultimately revealed the truth. military - and to a lesser degree, the American public - had long feared.Īs he prepared to contact Carter and respond by scrambling Strategic Air Command, Brzezinski received a third call. It appeared to be the pre-emptive strike the U.S. President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski was awakened with a couple phone calls that morning - the first informing him of the threat, and the second to tell him defense computers were reporting more than 2,000 inbound Soviet missiles. RELATED North Korean hackers suspected in India space agency cyberattack