When a B-52 bomber takes off, the sound is visceral. Things shake. That was expected at a Strategic Air Command (SAC) bomber wing in northeast Michigan during the 1980s.
Launching the bombers and their tankers before Soviet missiles struck was solely why 4,000 airmen and their “dependents” were there.
Morale was always an issue. To cope, commanders used awards, recognition and official propaganda, including the weekly base newspaper.
As editor of the “Wurtsmith News,” I published material from military news services and local sources. If I bollocksed content, I was accountable. I knew my guardrails and won SAC-wide awards.
I ultimately oversaw all SAC newspapers from Offutt AFB, just south of Omaha. I critiqued issues and held workshops. I prevented “party line” deviations.
Imagine my amazement when Offutt’s “Air Pulse” recently headlined not just “Commissaries to sell single-use bags” and “Mighty medics unveil mural,” but also “Hegseth’s Christian rhetoric probed” and “Judge rules against Pentagon press limits.” Impossible in my time.
So, despite the lies flying from the current regime, I’m pleased propaganda may have eased somewhat, at least here.
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