Friday Movie (Sort Of) Review: DEFCON

I decided that today I would deviate slightly from the normal course of movie reviews by not actually reviewing a movie. Rather, I am going to review one of my favorite computer games: DEFCON.

DEFCON is a computer game created by Introversion Software out of the UK. The goal of the game is to destroy as much of the enemy as possible while saving as many of your people as you can. The game explores the worst case scenario of the Cold War: total annihilation. It simulates any number of scenarios that you can create, and it has a great replay value. You are the leader of a country and control the nuclear arsenal. You are able to manipulate these units and set them against your enemy.

The game starts at DEFCON 5, which allows players to place units and begin to move their fleets into international waters. DEFCON 4 allows you to place radar units and gather information. You can also continue to place units during this time period. When DEFCON 3 takes effect, conventional naval and airborne combat is authorized. The conflict escalates to DEFCON 2 with combat becoming more aggressive. DEFCON 1 is initiated shortly after DEFCON 2, and this authorizes the use of nuclear weapons. ICBM's, submarine nukes and bomber nukes become available for use. The weapons are targeted and launched.

Essentially you are playing a thermonuclear chess match. You need to place your units strategically throughout the game. You also have to defend your most populous cities, while sacrificing others. The game plays pretty much like a real scenario would have been played out during the Cold War. On the map below, you see flight patterns of missiles, the fleets off of the coast and the large white dots are direct hits by nuclear weapons.

The game is not as graphically advanced as the games are today (or in 2006 when it was released), but that is part of the shock of the whole game. All you see is a map of the world with your allies and enemies marked on it and stats listed around the board. It has an incredibly haunting soundtrack, and every once in awhile you hear random soft sobs. Here is a video of a NATO vs. China and Russia scenario. (Make sure you have the sound turned up.)

DEFCON is not a fun game, it isn't a game that you play to enjoy. It is a game of strategy, and it is one of the most challenging games I have every played. There is no winning in this game; you lose every time. This is the only game I know where everyone loses, and the one who loses the least is the one who is declared the victor. Sound a little familiar, my Cold Warriors? I believe that this was the strategy for an actual nuclear war.

I highly recommend playing this game if you have a chance, especially if you are interested in how the actual warfare would have played out during the Cold War. You can set up the enemies and allies which ever way you want and you can play out your own scenario. The first time I played this game, I was all excited to be able to play through all the levels of DEFCON. When the last bomb was launched and I saw how many people had been lost in one encounter, it gave me the shakes. The scenario I played was an all out nuclear encounter between Europe, America, Russia and China. Thousands survived and millions died and I put the game away for almost a year before I dared to play it again.

I have to give DEFCON a rating of DEFCON 1. The realism in this game is too real, and the emotion you get by playing is real as well.  It gives you the horrible understanding of what would have happened if the bombs fell. 

Cold War Biography

The Cold Warrior I have chose to write this column about today is a pretty important guy. This man was responsible for saving the world from nuclear annihilation. Look familiar?

This man's name is Vasili Arkhipov, and he was the second in command on the Soviet Foxtrot-Class submarine B-59, which was just offshore of Cuba. The date was October 27th, 1962 which was during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The USS Randolph began dropping depth charges in order to force the submarine to surface so they could identify them. The captain of B-59, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky believed that the charges were the beginning of a nuclear war. He convinced the political officer, Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, to launch a nuclear tipped torpedo. The two men tried to persuade Arkhipov to go along with launching the torpedo.

The submarine needed three officers to launch the torpedo, and Vasili Arkhipov was against the launch. There was an argument, and Arkhipov convinced Savitsky to surface the submarine and wait for orders. If Arkhipov would have agreed to launch the torpedo, the USA would have surely seen this as a sign of agression and a full out nuclear war would have ensued. It was because of Arkhipov that the disaster was averted and the world did not have to suffer an apocalypse.

Friday Movie Review: A is for Atom

Albert Einstein, the cartoon!

A is for Atom is one of those cutesy little movies that was made to inform the viewer about nuclear energy and atoms. Created in 1952, this movie is an overview of what is known about the atom to that point.

The movie first describes what an atom is, and how atomic energy can create limitless energy. There is information on how an atom works, how it looks and the parts of an atom. There is a short history of atomic energy including artificial transmutation, nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. The Oakridge plant is then discussed, and this leads to a short discussion of the future of nuclear energy. (Including the use of isotopes in medicine and agriculture.)

The dropping of the atomic bomb and the proliferation of nuclear weapons during the Cold War lead to the increased interest in nuclear energy and atoms. This video is a great introduction to the subject.

You can view the whole 14 minute video here, and I highly recommend it!


A is for Atom: DEFCON 2

-educational
-cute
-great vision of the future

I Need You!

Yes, you! I have been writing 3 blogs a week for quite some time now, and while I enjoy it immensely, this blog is really about you! I need your help writing this blog. We have three segments; movie reviews, Cold Warrior biographies and artifacts and events of the Cold War. I need your ideas! What would you like to see? Do you have a story for our biography blog? Do you have an interesting artifact you would like profiled? Was there an event that defined the Cold War for you? I need you to let me know! Friend us on Facebook and tell us about your interest or message me through this blog. I can't wait to hear from all of you!

Cold War Biography

In light of recent events, I decided to dedicate today's blog to Francis Gary Powers. If you are unaware of the most recent news, Mr. Powers is being posthumously awarded the silver star for his "exceptional loyalty" during his terrible interrogation by the Soviets.

Flying a U-2 mission, Mr. Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union on May 1st, 1960. He had to endure harsh interrogation at the hands of the KGB. He then had to endure the rough conditions in the prison in which he was held. Two years after he was captured, he was exchanged for a Soviet colonel.

I would like to say he got the welcome home that he deserved, but unfortunately the reception was cold. He was initially criticized for the way he handled the situation. Thankfully, Mr. Powers appeared before the senate and it was determined that he followed orders, did not give any information to the Soviets and had conducted himself “as a fine young man under dangerous circumstances.”

Finally, after all these years, Mr. Powers is getting the recognition he deserves. On June 15, 2012, General Norton Schwartz will present the Silver Star to the surviving family of Francis Gary Powers for his action during the U-2 spy plane incident. This will be a truly remarkable day in Cold War History!

Friday Movie Review: Twilight Zone's "The Shelter"

Today's movie review is a review of The Twilight Zone's "The Shelter." The Twilight Zone is well known for its horror, science fiction and psychological thriller stories which takes an average situation and gives it a twist, or several, or no twist at all, which kept the audience guessing until the very end. Some of The Twilight Zone's most compelling episodes are not the ones that include little green men or robots, but the ones that address subjects relating to the Cold War and how people react to these Cold War situations that they are thrust into.

"The Shelter" begins like a typical day in 1960's suburbia; a birthday party is being held for the main character Bill Stockton by his wife Grace. His guests include his brother-in-law Jerry, Frank Henderson and Marty Weiss who are former roommates, and the wives of Jerry, Frank and Marty. You can see from the friendly banter that Bill is well liked amongst his group of friends. As a doctor, not only is Bill their friend, but he has also taken care of them and delivered their children. They spend the time toasting him, as well as slightly roasting him about his building of a fallout shelter in his basement. It is clear from the conversation that he is the only one who has made these preparations.

The party continues until it is interrupted by Bill's son Paul who says "Mom, mom! The picture went out on the TV set." Well, this is never a good thing when it comes to a story about the Cold War (see: Fail-Safe and the Day After for starters.) The dreaded instructions are telling them to turn to the CONELRAD stations, and the once jovial party finds out that there are unidentified objects heading towards the US. The party rushes out to get back to their houses and Bill and his family lock themselves into their shelter.

One by one, the party guests come back with their families and they desperately try to get Bill to open the door. The mothers beg Bill to take in their children, and there is nothing that Bill can do; his shelter is stocked for three people only. The once friendly guests begin to turn on Bill and each other, letting their anger boil to the surface. Racism, paranoia and hostility burn into every word they speak to their former friends. Finally, the decision on the outside is made to break down the shelter door and let themselves in. Using what they can for a battering ram, the guests succeed in getting into the shelter only to hear a radio announcement. The threat is over; the unidentified objects were just harmless satellites. The friends apologize for their behavior, but the damage has been done.

We can learn a lot about the Cold War from this episode. Many people took the approach that the party guests had taken; they thought that they would never need a fallout shelter. What they didn't consider was that they might need one someday, and the desperation they would feel once they found out that they were unprepared. Desperation is what leads people to do things out of character. The party guests, who held Bill in such high regard, turned against him when it became a matter of life and death. As they were trying to get into the shelter, they turned against each other. At the very end, they were guilty of committing murder; the breaking of the shelter door rendered the shelter useless and wrote a death sentence for the three people it was intended for. "The Shelter" showed us in a few short hours, a group of people could go from beloved friends to cold blooded killers all in the name of survival.

But Bill is not innocent in all of this. Fallout shelters were supposed to be discreet ways of surviving. There were ways to build one under the cover of secrecy. Bill's building of his fallout shelter was well known, to the point that he was teased by the members of the party. What Bill failed to do is think through the entire timeline of ramifications that would occur if he built the shelter. He stopped right at the "save my family part" of the timeline. He never went further to understand what his neighbors would try to do. In trying to save his family, Bill effectively killed them because he did not consider everything that would happen.

It was very important (and still is important) to keep survival plans as secret as possible. The Cold War showed us that very few people were actually prepared for such an event to happen. Just because people aren't prepared doesn't mean that they are going to give up when the hammer does fall. They will go to those who are prepared or who they perceive as being prepared and try to get them to let them in on the plan. It will not end well. This is good advice to follow today with any survival plans. Now, I know that avid readers of the blog and Facebook know that I have a fallout shelter in my basement and that I am a survivalist. However, the fallout shelter is mainly to showcase my collection of fallout shelter supplies and collectibles. Don't think for one second that I am staying put in my basement; unlike Bill, what I am going to do and where I am going to go is known only to me and my fiance. This is how I am going to ensure our best bet at survival and that is what Bill should have focused on.

"The Shelter" gave us a great glimpse into human psychology and how people would react during the worst of the worst. It taught us that being prepared for a disaster didn't necessarily mean that we were 100% prepared. "The Shelter" showed us the ugly side of human nature and the lengths that people would go to in order to survive. It is one of the more chilling episodes of the entire series, and it is definitely one that should not be missed.
The Twilight Zone "The Shelter": DEFCON 2

-psychological
-realism
-relevance to today

Artifact of the Day!

Today's artifact of the day are survival crackers! Now, these aren't glamorous like Geiger counters or fallout signs, but they were some of the most important items in a fallout shelter. These crackers were meant to be a main staple of the shelter diet, and they can be easily found today.

In a survival situation, it is very important to keep your calorie count up. If you drop below a certain level you begin to lose energy and feel depressed. Depression can lead to hopelessness and paranoia; two things that could make shelter life very difficult. It was very important to keep morale in a shelter up so that you could face what was outside the shelter once you emerged.

These cracker tins weigh about 7lbs a piece, and usually come two to a box. The reason why crackers were chosen is because they could be stored very easy and they had a relatively decent shelf life. (You were supposed to rotate shelter supplies every 6-12 months depending on what it was.) Besides cans of water and crackers you could find military MRE's, canned vegetables and fruits, starches as well as canned meat in a typical shelter. When it came time to swap out shelter supplies, there would be a lot of bland, but healthy, meals served at dinner time!

Cold War Biographies

This is week two of our Cold War Biographies. Today, we will focus on John Welch, board chair for the Cold War Museum.

John has been one of the driving forces behind the museum, and here is a little more about him!

Tell us a little about yourself, what your position is at the Cold War Museum and how you got involved with it.

I was born the last of six kids a month after Kennedy was assassinated to a couple of Depression Babies who rinsed and re-used the plastic baggies from our lunches. Mom and Dad came from Brooklyn, moved us around NY some, until we settled with the Bell System in North Carolina in 1978. They were married 53 years when cancer took Mom in 2003, and they still serve as an example of how dedicated, loving and rewarding marriage can be. They were the great teachers of my life, and I’ll do well if I live to be half the man my father was.

In the early 1990’s I met Gary Powers Jr. at George Mason University. I was focused on a straight-A grade average to make up for my under-graduate; it was an important part of learning that anything is possible with enough effort. Gary and I were in the MPA program together and became friends. He had an idea for a memorial to his Dad and asked me to help. We soon realized that there was a much bigger story to tell, and thanks to Gary’s unbelievably tireless efforts The Cold War Museum was born. I was a pretty good background guy. Gary was (and is) great as a public speaker and many other things, but our differences made us a good team. I’m skipping a lot here – Gary deserves a lot more credit. In 2010 I took over as chairman. I’m honored and privileged to lead this effort, and pray I’m up to the task.

Leslie (my wife) and I met at work in DC. She’s beautiful, funny, smart and dedicated. I’m blessed to have such a partner in life. Lucas was born in 1999 – just as the Millennium Bug was scamming the tech industry. Joshua was born in 2003, just in time to be held by his Nana before her reassignment as his guardian angel. They are my purpose in life. While the museum and other charitable efforts I support are important, if I can look back on my life knowing that I took proper care of my wife and children then I’ll move on with confidence and humble self-satisfaction.

While nonprofit management and fundraising are my specialty and my current career, I’ve wandered a bit. I’m fascinated by the long-game in public policy and public administration – which is a Cold War theme. Consider how many governments have been formed under the premise of serving “the people” only to later subjugate them. I believe in systemic change, which is made possible only if institutions like The Cold War Museum encourage people to seek the truth. I’m also fascinated by how things work, which is why I became licensed general contractor and home inspector. My first car was a 1965 Corvair that I disassembled at age 14 and had running and ready when I got my license two years later. Despite my efforts, it was still unsafe at any speed. Now I enjoy using the tools and skills I gained as a contractor to help my friends and family occasionally, as the aging back allows. And I enjoy applying myself to exceptional missions – most notably that of The Cold War Museum.

Why do you feel the Cold War should be preserved?

The Cold War was the most volatile and dangerous time in history. It holds many lessons that should be studied toward securing a more safe and secure world for our children. It is important to recognize and remember the significant (and in some cases, ultimate) sacrifices made by Cold War Veterans and civilians to attain and/or protect Freedom. Freedom has a cost that is paid by few but benefits many. Honoring them is the right thing to do. And we must be ever mindful that Freedom, when taken for granted, is in peril. Thus the need for a Cold War Museum: learn from history or repeat it.

What is your favorite artifact in the Cold War Museum’s Collection?

I guess it’s the SA-II Russian-made missile. Aside from being cool, I like the fact that it was constructed as part of a strategy to defeat our Free society and now resides in our museum, helping to tell the story of Democracy’s victory of Communism. And in a museum that doesn’t charge admission – it’s Free too!

What do you personally remember most about the Cold War?

My first opportunity to vote in an election came when Ronald Reagan ran for his second term. I remember feeling safe with him in charge.

Who is your favorite Cold Warrior?

I don’t know – who’s your favorite super hero? Every man or woman who signed on the dotted line making a commitment to stand between you and me and a bullet is my hero. That’s why I’m so eager to build a Cold War Memorial – not only for those who served in uniform but also for those whose service can never be publicly known. If you want me to narrow it down, I’d go with my older brother who served in the Marines in the late ‘70’s and took an oath that remains intact to this day to defend America. And if you’ll allow me to stretch the definition of the Cold War slightly I would claim another family warrior as a favorite: my Dad served in the Pacific theater toward the end of WWII and to my astonishment and great satisfaction trained on Japanese codes with the Signal Corps at Vint Hill, Va. Small world!

What else would you like people to know about you and your relationship to the Cold War?

You’ll notice that when I write I capitalize words that my English teachers wouldn’t: Free, Freedom, Veteran… For important reasons I choose to my apply time, energy and resources to telling the Cold War story, honoring those who served, and helping our children learn that Freedom is worth everything. It’s a bedrock value handed down by our Founding Fathers; it’s what brave men and women fought for in our past wars; and it’s what motivated many to break free of authoritarian regimes during the Cold War. During the Cold War people fought for their “inalienable rights,” and those of others. I wish to honor their legacy, tell their story and ensure that their values endure. Hence, The Cold War Museum.

As you can see, John has a great desire to preserve the Cold War and to teach others about it. (And apparently he does general contract work, so that is always a plus when it comes time to re-shingle the roof...)

I hope you enjoyed this interview, and remember to check back on Wednesdays and Fridays for new posts!