Film Premiere at the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum
THE GREATEST WEAPON EVER USED – A Missileer’s Story
ASHLAND, NE (April 27, 2017) – In a new Film Short by the award-winning web show, Old Guys and Their Airplanes (OGTA), retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert Parker, former commander of the 20th Air Force and former Air Force Missileer, offers his perspectives on the reliability of both the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and the Missileers who stand alert around the clock.
“The Minuteman ICBM missile system has been on alert every day since 1961,” stated Parker. “It’s because of this constant alert, we can say the Minuteman system is being used every day.”
In “The Greatest Weapon Ever Used,” Parker not only retells the importance of ICBMs to a generation far removed from the Cold War, but explains how ICBMs are the most responsive missile system in the nuclear triad and can launch in less than a minute.
Parker, who retired in 1996, served as both a launch control officer and as a weapons inspector in Russia. His experience includes on-site inspection in Russia to ensure compliance with nuclear arms treaties. “This was important work. Both sides wanted a safer world for our grandchildren,” stated Parker.
OGTA produced the documentary because, “there’s a lot of talk today about nuclear weapons and their delivery but very few of us understand the people who are responsible to deploy these weapons,” said John Mollison, aviation artist, writer and host of the show. “This episode highlights not only the reliability of the Minuteman ICBM but the humanity and resolve of those responsible for the weapon system.”
Filmed in California and North Dakota, additional insight is provided by Missileers from the 742nd and 740th Missile Squadrons.
“The Greatest Weapon Ever Used” will premiere at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Omaha, Neb., Saturday, June 3, at 10 a.m. with Parker in attendance to offer additional insight into his command of the 20th Air Force and the nation’s ICBM systems.
The museum is offering reduced admission of $10.00 per adult and $4.00 for youth to premiere attendees. A special pre-registration package will include a commemorative print of Mollison’s artwork of the Boeing LGM-30 Minuteman missile series, lunch and a tour of the museum’s Boeing EC-135 “Looking Glass” Airborne Launch Control aircraft, which is currently undergoing restoration. Advanced registration is requested but any museum guest is invited to attend the premiere.
