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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (96379)	4/26/2003 8:40:55 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

1. If I am not mistaken, that is a direct line out of nuclear protection training for civilians in the '50s. I have seen old training films to that effect. The military ones were only a little better. 2. They told the soldiers the threat is 3-fold, the heat blast, the shock wave, and the radiation. 3. Then they added that as far as a soldier is concerned radiation is not important, just stay out of the blast by going in a ditch. ST, 1. Cheap shot. I certainly did not copy it out of any other book. I did not need to...I went to the school. More importantly, you are mistaken. Alpha was not the problem with the older generation weapons. Alpha radiation became a major concern with much more recent nuclear weapons. Those in the 50s, 60s and 70s were much much dirtier. White sheets were not effective against those weapons. And I have no recollection of any of that being taught in the 60s or 70s. 2. True then and still true today. 3. Not true. Radiation is certainly still one of the major deadly hazards. American soldiers get extensive training in avoiding radiation (including ditches as a last resort). Every unit has radiation detectors. The big difference today is the type of radiation. Alpha is very short lived (but deadly) with the new clean weapons. Other types of radiation are usually less prevalent but can still be a deadly hazard with newer weapons. Of course it may be difficult for a front line troop or civilian to tell if it is a new or old weapon, so taking appropriate defensive actions is always appropriate. Dirty bombs...the current terrorist threat... are a different story. Their radiation hazard will be determined by the radioactive substance used. You can infer what is expected from the word dirty. Remember it is important now IMO for everyone to understand and be able to plot likely fallout zones. One of the military schools I attended, spent six weeks on fallout zones. That led me to invent a tool to simplify the teaching process and present the info, that was highly classified when I learned it, in a logical and unclassified manner...understandable by my grandkids. Most can learn the basics in 20-30 minutes or less using my invention, "The One Minute Fallout Zone Calculator" The study of fallout zones continues. The Army did extensive testing of chemical and biological fallout zones in Oklahoma last month. My tool and the plotting techniques I describe work for all situations. I am convinced that many Americans are fearful and locked into inaction because they do not know what to do during the likely scenarios we are being warned about by Homeland Defense. Fallout is one area where a little knowledge is a very good thing. I have been collecting the questions asked during my 90 minute presentations. I may expand it to 2-3 hours. I plan to answer all of the questions Homeland Defense will not address. ST...BTW I was the Deputy (NAICO) Nuclear Accident Incident Control Officer for the Southwest US from 1976 - 1977. That was one of only three jobs I had outside Special Forces during my career. The others were Airborne Instructor, Tower Committee, 1968, and a unique assignment in Berlin from 78-80. uw