NATION : Nuclear Command Flights Cut
The United States’ flying nuclear arms command post is no longer in the air 24 hours a day, the Strategic Air Command said today.
In a budget-cutting move that recognizes thawing superpower relations, SAC scaled back flights for the operation known as “Looking Glass” this week. The mission had flown continuously since 1961, officials said.
SAC said it modified the Looking Glass mission by putting the airplanes on ground alert and flying them randomly a few times each week.
The last of the 24-hour-a-day flights ended at 2:28 p.m. CDT Tuesday, said Lt. Col. George Peck, a SAC spokesman.
“In this time of budget crunch, it was the right thing to do,” Peck said.
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