Thanks Butler for the Vigilant Shield post. Scroll down a bit to read this: Global Lightning exercises, according to STRATCOM documents, practices “nuclear combat readiness, proficiency and training” and “provides a bridging exercise between nuclear and non-nuclear forces.” In other words, it practices escalation from conventional to nuclear war and implementation of the Bush administration’s new global strike war plan, named CONPLAN 8022. When the first Global Lightning was held in October 2004, The Shreveport Times reported B-52 bombers from nearby Barksdale air force base practicing minimum-interval take-offs, where 13 bombers took off within a minute or less of one … Continue reading Touch-and-Go