U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Command (1964)
1964 · Short film · 29 min
Synopsis
This Department of the Air Force color film serves as a report on the Tactical Air Command’s participation in Exercise Desert Strike, conducted by the Air Force and US Army in May 1964. Conducted in the southwestern United States, it was the largest maneuvers on American soil since 1943. General Paul D. Adams, of the United States Strike Command, is shown at mark 03:33, as the narrator explains the exercise covered a variety of combat scenarios, including nuclear warfare. The conflict occured between the imaginery countries of Calonia (including Oregon, California, and most of Nevada) and Nezona (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and the remainder of Nevada). The large‐scale maneuver, in which 100,000 troops and airmen and more than 500 planes, were held in the Mojave Desert with decisions made by the two “governments,” both represented by retired military officers and active State Department personnel. The film offers painstakingly detailed evidence of the exercise, with the “war” commencing at mark 11:00. With scene after scene of “desert warefare,” the narrator offers a continuous narrative of the action, including a proclamation at mark 13:57 to use nuclear weapons if necessary, with one “attack” occuring on Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The film features several aircraft, including the McDonnel F-101 Voodoo and Douglas RB-66 Destroyer light bomber, both of which are seen near mark 15:20, and the North American F-100 Super Sabre. As heavy equipment is…
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Details
- Running time
- 29 minutes
- Collection
- Ephemeral Films
