Item BRINK OF APOCALYPSE 4/2 - Interview with Gen John T. Chain, US Air Force, Head of Plans and Operations, Air Staff, Pentagon, [2007]

Typescript transcript of interview with Gen John T. Chain US Air Force, Head of Plans and Operations, Air Staff, Pentagon. Subjects include his role in 1983 in the US Air Force as the 3 star Head of Plans and Operations; intelligence briefs he received; Cold War tension during 1983, in comparison to the period of 1958-1962; Ronald Reagan’s strong feelings on dealing with the USSR; the introduction, mixed reception and budget concerns of the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) and Star Wars; interests of national security and the balance of power, sharing technological advances with the USSR; Reagan’s speeches antagonising the USSR; the chances of the USA launching against North Korea; 1983 US Naval exercise in the Pacific which involved searching USSR waters, a provocative exercise to see how the USSR would react; US and USSR flying along borders to gather information, the US’s advantage; the shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight KAL 007 and the mood in Washington following the shooting; the USSR claims that KAL 007 was a military Boeing 747 and the US stating there were no military 747s in September 1983; first nuclear briefing to Reagan by Strategic Operations Integrated Operation Plan (SIOP) given by commandeering chief Bill Hadden and Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff(JSTPS); briefings to Tom Clancy, who was writing a Jack Ryan novel, and Clancy’s questioning of Chain on how he would respond to a president nuclear order; USSR response to Able Archer, US combat readiness. 56pp