Posted 9/26/2007 05:56:00 PM by Douglas

Twenty four years ago today, Stanislav Petrov saved the world. I find it ironic, if not expected, that he was demoted for his actions, but the military doesn't have a sense of humor about a breech in protocol. But isn't that what makes the difference between good judgment and bad judgment? Being right? He was right, so it was good judgment.

The real irony: if the Soviets had launched a full scale counter attack, I probably would have been living in a nuclear holocaust instead of watching it on TV as a fourth grader and being scared shitless. At the time, I had no idea how close we really were.

Labels: Stanislav Petrov

Posted 4/12/2006 05:42:00 PM by Douglas

How ironic that this happened the same year War Games came out. A little too ironic.

It was Sept. 26, 1983, and Petrov was playing a principal role in one of the most harrowing incidents of the nuclear age, a false alarm signaling a U.S. missile attack.

As Petrov described it in an interview, one of the Soviet satellites sent a signal to the bunker that a nuclear missile attack was underway. The warning system's computer, weighing the signal against static, concluded that a missile had been launched from a base in the United States.

The responsibility fell to Petrov, then a 44-year-old lieutenant colonel, to make a decision: Was it for real?

Petrov was situated at a critical point in the chain of command, overseeing a staff that monitored incoming signals from the satellites. He reported to superiors at warning-system headquarters; they, in turn, reported to the general staff, which would consult with Soviet leader Yuri Andropov on the possibility of launching a retaliatory attack.

Petrov's role was to evaluate the incoming data. At first, the satellite reported that one missile had been launched – then another, and another. Soon, the system was "roaring," he recalled – five Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles had been launched, it reported.

Despite the electronic evidence, Petrov decided – and advised the others – that the satellite alert was a false alarm, a call that may have averted a nuclear holocaust. But he was relentlessly interrogated afterward, was never rewarded for his decision and today is a long-forgotten pensioner living in a town outside Moscow. He spoke openly about the incident, although the official account is still considered secret by authorities here.

Wow. Full nuclear commitment was averted at the discretion of one man that was disobeying direct orders! Further proof that the satire in Dr. Strangelove, while terrifyingly hilarious, wasn't that far off the mark.

Labels: Stanislav Petrov

Posted 5/21/2004 08:57:00 PM by Douglas

Good to see the Russians finally getting around to honoring some guys that prevented the end of humanity.

MOSCOW -- A retired Soviet military officer was honored Friday for averting a potential nuclear war in 1983 by ignoring an alarm that said the United States had launched a ballistic missile, a U.S.-based peace association said on its Web site.

Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov was in charge of the Soviet Union's early warning system when the system wrongly signaled the launch of a U.S. Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile in September 1983.

Petrov had to decide within 20 minutes whether the report was accurate and whether he should launch missiles in retaliation, the Vlast magazine reported in 1998.

Petrov decided the alarm was false and did not launch a retaliatory strike.

Wait a second. . . . this story sound familiar. 1983, huh? Isn't that the same year that War Games came out? It is! It's the same story? Now I know where the movie came from: Our own imminent mutually assured destruction! Cool!

Labels: Stanislav Petrov