US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crews held the world in their grasp while on nuclear alert during the tense years of superpower stand-off. As the mighty bomber marks its 60th anniversary, we look back on the era of Strategic Air Command nuclear alert. THE BROODING B-52F Stratofortresses sat in rain and darkness at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, their 185ft wings drooping, raindrops ricocheting off the ribbed skin of their fuselages. Men assigned to guard the bombers were hunched under torrent-spattered ponchos, getting occasional relief inside narrow guard post cubicles - armed, wet, and cold. 'Those kids endured that duty no matter what the weather', said retired Lt Gen Ellie B. 'Buck' Shuler Jr, referring to the guards who under today's terminology would be called Security Forces.
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