Word: bullis
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...reporting for alert duty, Lieut. Colonel Dante Bulli and his crew in effect braced themselves at the end of a taut, outstretched spring. The trigger was the rasping sound of a klaxon horn. At any moment, that horn might blow. It could mean that a Soviet nose cone was on its way carrying destruction, and that there were 15 minutes in which to get off the ground and head for preassigned Soviet targets. There would be no time for second thoughts, no room for second-guessing as to whether some button-pusher was running a test. To the SAC alert...
Command Pilot Bulli's first business was to get his eight-jet B-52 combat-ready. Aircraft No. 264 was towed to a spot near Runway 05 called "the Christmas Tree," a hardtop strip that is branched with parking stubs, one for each alert plane. The six-man air crew then spent three hours "cocking" the plane so that it would be ready for instant takeoff. They ran through pages of checklist items, threw on selected switches that would bring scores of units to life as soon as the main power was turned on. Pilot Bulli finished his part...