Travis answers the call in Cuban missile crisis Published Oct. 23, 2012 By Mark Wilderman 60th Air Mobility Wing History Office TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Fifty years ago this month, men and women stationed at Travis played an important role in the Cuban missile crisis. Never before, or since, has the world come closer to global nuclear war. After the Soviets built up military forces on the Communist island of Cuba, President John F. Kennedy vowed swift and immediate response to any attacks on the United States mainland. Some of the individuals tasked with that defense were stationed at Travis. Travis answers the call. Travis' 1501st Air Transport Wing was immediately placed on alert in response to the discovery of Soviet offensive missiles and bombers in Cuba. The mission of the wing's five transport squadrons was to airlift essential military personnel and their equipment into the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and air bases along the Gulf Coast to support a possible U.S. invasion of Cuba, to forcibly remove the Soviet missiles and bombers threatening the U.S. if directed by the Kennedy administration. During October and November 1962, the 1501st ATW's maintenance complex experienced its largest workload surge to that time, with organizational maintenance squadrons working 24-hour days to achieve the highest possible ops ready rate. Travis Strategic Air Command squadrons add muscle. On Oct. 21, 1962, Kennedy raised the nuclear war readiness level of the 5th Bomb Wing and Travis' Strategic Air Command tanker force to Defense Condition 3, one level above the normal SAC readiness posture. The following day, as the crisis escalated, SAC forces were ordered to defense readiness condition 2, bringing the world closer to a global nuclear confrontation than at any time before or since. In DEFCON 2, all available B-52G Stratofortresses were generated to alert status, loaded with weapons, and readied for launch against targets in the Soviet Union from ground or airborne alert, including the 16 B-52Gs of Travis' 5th BW. Likewise, the 916th Air Refueling Squadron generated every available KC-135A Stratotanker to support the B-52 force if launched against its Soviet targets. All SAC bomber and tanker combat crews remained close to their aircraft at the recently opened SAC alert facility, ready to scramble to their bombers and tankers to deliver nuclear retaliation against the Soviet Union in the event a Soviet missile in Cuba was launched against the U.S. mainland. Like their 1501st ATW counterparts, the 5th BW maintainers generated the maximum number of B-52s and KC-135s during the crisis. SAC combat crews remained in DEFCON 2 at Travis until Nov. 15, 1962, a period of more than three weeks on the brink of nuclear war. As a precaution against a surprise Soviet nuclear attack, the F-102 Delta Daggers of the 82nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron were dispersed to Siskiyou Airport in Northern California for increased survivability. Resolve, diplomacy end crisis. On Oct. 25, the U.S. requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. In the Caribbean Sea, U.S. warships intercepted Soviet Bloc ships bound for Cuba and checked for additional shipments of offensive missiles and bombers. U.S. Navy blockade ships narrowly averted a nuclear exchange when they intercepted a Soviet, diesel-powered submarine B-59, which was armed with a nuclear-tipped torpedo. Tensions increased further Oct. 27, when a Soviet commander in Cuba ordered an SA-2 surface-to-air missile battery to shoot down a U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance plane. Throughout the long weeks of the crisis, the Kennedy administration and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev secretly pursued a diplomatic solution to avoid an imminent nuclear war via letters and radio broadcasts. Following through on an Oct. 26 proposal in November, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw Soviet offensive missiles and bombers from Cuba in exchange for the U.S. secretly removing its missiles from Turkey and Italy and promising not to invade Cuba. This agreement ended the crisis. The negotiated agreement prevented a nuclear war and resulted in the Hotline Agreement, which established a Moscow-Washington hotline to allow U.S. and Soviet leaders to confer directly in any future crisis. Remnants at Travis. The Travis Heritage Center has preserved a rare Military Air Transport Service Douglas C-124C Globemaster II and a Douglas C-133B Cargomaster as flown by the 1501st ATW during the crisis. Likewise, the heritage center has preserved a SAC Boeing B-52D and a GAM-77 Hound Dog cruise missile, as well as an ADC Convair F-102A, formerly based at Travis with the 82nd Air Defense Command. The 82nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron alert and maintenance facilities and the SAC alert facility remain in use, but are not open for tours. 50th anniversary commemoration To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the crisis and to honor its veterans, the heritage center recently developed a new model aircraft display featuring several of the aircraft and missiles based at Travis during the crisis. The model display includes a 5th BW B-52G armed with Hound Dog missiles, a 916th Air Refueling Squadron Boeing KC-135A, an 82nd FIS F-102A and two 1st Missile Battalion Nike-Hercules surface-to-air missiles. In 2013, the display will expand to include models of the 1501st ATW C-124C, C-133B and C-135B Stratolifter transport aircraft based at Travis during the crisis. The Travis Heritage Center is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and is closed Sunday and Monday. For information about the center, call 424-3241.