Looking Glass: The Beauty of Accountability

This blog is as much an on-line journal now, as it is a place for professional waxing.  We (Laure and I) have a 7-week old daughter, Anna Elizabeth.  She is our first and only child (so far).  Maybe this blog will survive long enough for her to have a better understanding of her Daddy.  :)

I came across this picture in my old files recently.  It was taken somewhere around 1986.  I don't remember the Colonel's name, but he was involved in the design of the first Airborne Launch Control System and was telling me about that project.

For those not familiar, this picture is on-board a plane called the Looking Glass, which was a USAF airborne command post. In the event of a nuclear war, this plane and its battle staff and computer/communications team would assume command of the war and reconstitution of the US government through an airborne network of similar aircraft because, more than likely, the ground command centers at the White House, NORAD, Pentagon, and Omaha would be quickly gone. We could launch all 1,000 nuclear ICBMs from that panel in the background. And we were all in our late 20s/early 30s. 

Crazy.

Healthcare has been interesting, but in terms of accountability, responsibility, and adventure, it's been pretty boring in comparison to this job.  The military and this job, in particular, give young people an unprecedented level of accountability.  If you can handle the stress, it gives you a sense of quiet, underlying confidence that you can do anything.

The Beauty of Accountability.