The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

From this film, I figure out railway tracks will be back in time now. But seems like the 1600 per hour business is around here... [Instrumental music] [Instrumental music] [Instrumental music] [Instrumental music] Dateline Cuba: January 1959. A victorious revolutionary enters Havana in triumph. [Instrumental music] [Cheering] [Speech in Spanish] [Narrator] He promises his people freedom. [Instrumental music] [Cheering] Instead, he gives them bondage as Russia's first satellite in the Caribbean. [Instrumental music]

Soon, our government notes a steady increase in the amount of Soviet shipping to Cuba. Is a breakneck Soviet build-up of personnel and military equipment underway? Is Russia establishing an armed camp 90 miles from the continental United States? A bland Khrushchev denies applying offensive weapons to Cuba. His foreign minister, Andrei Gromyko, tells President Kennedy that the Soviet government would never become involved in rendering such assistance. The 14th October, 1962 surveillance of Cuba, which had been interrupted four days by Hurricane Ella, is resumed. A strategic air command reconnaissance pilot soars high over Cuba, his cameras recording all that is below. His film is delivered to an Air Force recon laboratory for developing and printing. Within hours after they were taken, photo interpreters in Washington are studying the photographs.

The evidence is unmistakable. Russia is building missile sites. Both medium and intermediate-range missiles are seen on the ground. Jet bombers are being uncrated. In one giant step, Russia is giving Cuba an offensive nuclear capability that can strike at the heart of the United States, or at our neighbors in the western hemisphere. The administration studies the situation. A crisis is near. Too many key officials fail to turn up at dinner parties. There are no longer any regular hours. An anxious America speculates. Then on 22 October, the president speaks to the nation. He directs the armed forces to prepare for any eventuality and warns, [Kennedy] "It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet

Union." [Narrator] He imposes a naval and air quarantine on the shipment of all offensive weapons and demands that Russia withdraw such weapons from Cuba. The two great nuclear powers of the world now face each other squarely. As the world holds its breath, our leaders work around the clock. Even before the president spoke, the armed services were prepared for what he called any eventuality. The joint military staff adapted standing contingency plans to the administration's strategy for this crisis. Aircraft, troops, and naval ships were moved into position. They are now alert and ready. Minutes after the president spoke, the Secretary of Defense reports the military actions of the past ten days. This included redeployment of air defense units to better defend the eastern coast, substantial reinforcement of Guantanamo, the alerting and evacuation of the defendants from Guantanamo, and the increased alert status of the United States military forces worldwide,

including the alert status of the strategic air command. As the coded orders go out, all wing command posts step up their alerts. These sackmen and their weapons systems are the might which gave the president speech unmistakable significance. The worldwide deterrent force of sack on super alert around the clock is a message in the clear that Russia understands. On them and their planes and missiles, and on the Polaris submarines on station around the world, rests the responsibility of keeping Soviet nuclear power at bay. As the alert is stepped up, missiles and rockets are slung under wings of bombers and fighters to ready them if the go signal is given. Both ADC and sack aircraft are dispersed to assure survival of the force, should the Soviet Union decide to attack. At civilian airports, they are met by volunteer air national guard and Air Force Reserve personnel who assist in dispersal operations.

?Sync clad? headquarters, which controls all unified Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Forces during contingency operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean, prepares for any eventuality in Cuba. Working closely with ?Sync clad?, other Air Force commands are already at increased alert posture. Flying radar stations keep constant vigil over the approaches to our borders, feeding information into the Montgomery Air Defense sector, which watches the skies to the south. If an unknown aircraft appears, interceptors instantly will be directed to it. In minutes, the unknown will be identified and if hostile, shot down. Simultaneously, the tactical air command is ready. Attack fighters positioned at Florida bases even before the President spoke are on alert. The supersonic hard-hitting F-100s. [Whooshing sounds] F-104s [Whooshing sounds]

and F-105s. Reconnaissance aircraft, the RB-66s [Whooshing sounds] and the RF-101s. The dispersal of this gigantic air armada was carried out so coolly and professionally, the public is not yet aware of it. The events moving swiftly toward a showdown with the Soviets, the United States wins hemispheric support. By unanimous vote, the Organization of American States sanctions the use of force, if necessary, to enforce the quarantine. Even as the Organization of American States approves the President's proposals, naval ships plow through the Caribbean to establish the quarantine line. ?USAF? airlifts, battle-ready lead troops to staging areas. They are prepared to act if word is given. More tactical aircraft arrive to strengthen forces already deployed. And, General ?Le May?

Air Force Chief of Staff down from the Pentagon, is given a quick but thorough progress report. General Sweeny, who commands the Air Force's assigned ?to sink plant?, tours the Florida Bases, reviewing contingency plans with key staff members. He talks with personnel, inspects planes and equipment. The day before the President's address, he was in the White House, reporting that his tactical air forces were ready. Meantime, Air Force Plains helped the Navy enforce the quarantine. From bases throughout the Caribbean, they scan over one million square miles of ocean, reporting back the location and course of approaching vessels. As the fighting men and planes continue to move into position, equipment and support personnel vital to their mission move with them. Mats, tack, and air reserve aerial workhorses fly hundreds of missions.