Showing posts with label Cold War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cold War. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 23, 2016


''Togetherness''

This article,  published in the December 1960 issue of Aerospace Magazine, describes safety procedures for the correct handling of the Boeing BOMARC air defense missile during air transport. The tone of the article is unusual for such a subject -' 'As this article goes to press, the safety record of Bomarc airlifts can be summed up in four words: so far, so good. You may recall, however, the optimist who jumped off the top of a New York office building. He was heard to yell the same thing as he passed the 20th floor: so far, so good''
The writer of the article, some guy named Thomas Pynchon, quit Boeing in 1962 and went on to become a novelist of some renown.

Aerospace Safety Magazine, 12/1960, USAF

http://www.vheissu.net/bio/eng_togetherness.htm

Saturday, November 21, 2015


''Fallout Chic''



The result of a research contract awarded to Rice University, Department of Architecture by the US Civil Defense agency. Five architects designed fallout shelters for industrial buildings. 

Industrial Architecture : Fallout Shelters (1963)


https://archive.org/details/industrialarchit00lacyrich

Friday, August 21, 2015


''What's THIS button for?''


''Declassified nuclear weapons employment manuals from the Cold War.''

Nuclear weapons employment manuals 


Monday, July 20, 2015


''Terminate, with extreme prejudice''


''SAIGON. - In a nondescript white concrete-block building on the outskirts of this capital city, an International Business Machines Corp. Model 1430 computer runs 24 hours a day grinding out one of this war-torn country's most valuable products: Military intelligence. The building houses one of four intelligence centers scattered around Saigon. Using automatic data processing equipment, this intelligence setup - the biggest operated by the United States outside Washington and the biggest ever used against a single enemy - is now handling a massive assortment of facts and figures aimed at winning the Vietnam war. More than 100,000 separate items are being added to the system's computerized files each month; a 60-ton haul of enemy documents seized last January is still yielding valuable information. Tens of thousands of IBM punch cards help keep tabs on the foe; they bear detailed identification of captured Communists and Vietcong suspects.''

COMPUTERIZED INTELLIGENCE NETWORK IN SOUTH VIETNAM 
Computers and Automation 1967/08 page 34

https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computersA_7199056

Sunday, March 29, 2015


''The science of control''



                                  ''The most fundamental concept in cybernetics is that of “difference”,
                                   either that two things are recognisably different or that one thing
                                   has changed with time''

An introduction to Cybernetics (William R, Ashby,1956)

https://archive.org/details/introductiontocy00ashb

Saturday, March 28, 2015


''For Nuclear Families''




''This booklet is a brief guide to 3 basic kinds of nuclear shelter:
■ Simple shelters for short-term indoor or out-door use which can be built from materials already at
hand.
■ Shelters that can be assembled from do-it-yourself kits.
■ Permanent custom-built shelters built into the ground.''

Domestic Nuclear Shelters Technical Guidance (UK Government handbook, 1981)

https://archive.org/details/DomesticNuclearSheltersTechnicalGuidance

Friday, March 27, 2015


''Praise the Lord and Pass the Atomic Ammunition''



This must be one of  the most  far fetched things you can find on the web. It makes the works of H.P. Lovecraft, P.K. Dick and W.S. Burroughs seem sedate by comparison. Like a prequel to A Canticle for Leibowitz. Amen! 

''All ground forces operating In a nuclear environment 
must expect exposure to radiation. Chaplains must be 
spiritually and emotionally prepared for ministering to an inimaginable
number of Injured and dying people''

The Chaplain Ministery (SIC) in a Nuclear Warfare Situation (U.S. Army Chaplain Center, 1973)

https://archive.org/details/chaplainminister00park

Thursday, March 26, 2015


''Bada bing, bada... Boom!''



The ruggedness, simplicity, low cost and effectiveness of the RPG-7 has made it the most widely used grenade launcher in history. More than nine million units have been delivered since it was introduced by the Soviet armed forces in 1961.The RPG-7 has been used in almost all conflicts since the 1960s, from Viet-Nam to Syria.

RPG-7 Soviet Antitank Grenade Launcher manual (U.S. Army, 1976)

https://archive.org/details/milmanual-rpg-7-antitank-grenade-launcher

''Say hello to my little friend!''



Operator's Manual For M16, M16A1 (1985)

https://archive.org/details/OperatorsManualForM16M16a1

Tuesday, March 3, 2015


“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you” 



U.S. Army Surveillance Of Civilians - A Documentary Analysis (U.S. Congress, 1972)

https://archive.org/details/ArmySurveillanceOfCiviliansADocumentaryAnalysis

Monday, March 2, 2015


''Hearts and minds''



Manual published by the Central Intelligence Agency that was distributed in Nicaragua in the early 1980s.

PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS IN GUERRILLA WARFARE (1981)

https://archive.org/details/PsychologicalOperationsInGuerrillaWarfare

Wednesday, February 18, 2015


''Ad astra, per aspera''



Studies on Lunar surface material from the Sea of Fertility- Soviet Lunik 16 lunar probe (1974)

https://archive.org/details/nasa_techdoc_19750003742

Tuesday, February 17, 2015


''Taking Tiger Mountain..." 



Secret lectures delivered at the Voroshilov Soviet General Staff Academy (1973-75) dealing with military doctrine, strategy, operational art, and tactics.

Issues of Soviet Military Strategy- (National Defense Univ. Press 1989-92) 

Volume 1-  https://archive.org/details/voroshilovvol100ghul

Volume 2-  https://archive.org/details/voroshilovvol200ghul

Volume 3-  https://archive.org/details/voroshilovvol300ghul

Thursday, February 12, 2015


'"Hünde, wollt ihr euwig leben?" 



PAM 20-1 A Guide To Army Philosophy (U.S. Army, 1958)

https://archive.org/details/PAM20-1

Monday, February 9, 2015

Sunday, February 8, 2015

''2345 3487 3454 3455 4867 3465 4965 3452....''




Published by the N.S.A. from 1974 to 1997 - "A mix of technical, expository, philosophical, futuristic, argumentative and historical articles - with a light touch here and there - there's always an article or two to engage the reader." 

Cryptolog Technical Journal (N.S.A. 1974-1997 136 issues)

https://archive.org/details/nsacryptolog

Friday, February 6, 2015

Friday, January 30, 2015


''Spy vs Spy''


Some transcripts from ''Venona'', a U.S. counter-intelligence program that lasted from 1943 to 1980 to decrypt messages sent by Soviet intelligence.

Venona program documents (N.S.A. , published 1995)

https://archive.org/stream/foia_Venona-HQ-1/Venona-HQ-1#page/n65/mode/2up