Missile

The documentary goes inside a training squadron. The squadron belongs to Strategic Air Command. The place is Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Officers here are trained for one job. That job is manning the launch control centres for intercontinental missiles. The camera sits in on the classes and the meetings. Codes are explained. Methods of communication are shown. Targeting and the steps of a launch are worked through one by one. Emergency procedures are part of the syllabus. So is protection against attack. The classes also discuss the moral side of nuclear war. The military side comes up as well. The film watches without commenting. The hundred and fifteen minute documentary carries the signature of Frederick Wiseman, an American production finished in 1988.