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Rep. Don Bacon wants to bring 24/7 'Looking Glass' back to Offutt

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A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated newspaper. Majority shareholder: David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group.

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Rep. Don Bacon wants to bring 24/7 'Looking Glass' back to Offutt

• Steve Liewer Omaha World-Herald
• Jan 28, 2024
• Jan 28, 2024
• 0

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Shiny new 'Looking Glass' on display at SAC Museum after 6-year restoration.

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Back in the Cold War years, the Soviet nuclear threat compelled the Strategic Air Command to keep an EC-135 command-post plane airborne continuously — for 29 years.

An EC-135C Looking Glass airborne command post sits on the apron at Offutt Air Force Base. This aircraft (62-3582) was later converted for use by the 55th Wing as a WC-135C Constant Phoenix radiation-monitoring jet. By the time it was retired in 2020, its unit had given it the nickname "Lucifer's Chariot" because of its frequent ill-timed mechanical failures.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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Two battle staff members remove classified material from a Looking Glass plane following a flight in 1981, the airborne command post’s 20th year of round-the-clock operation.

OMAHA WORLD-HERALD ARCHIVES

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The interior of Looking Glass, a Boeing EC-135, at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland in 2021.

OMAHA WORLD-HERALD FILE PHOTO

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Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts

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A Navy E-6B Mercury flying the Looking Glass mission taxis at Offutt Air Force Base in 2019. The aircraft flies as an emergency airborne command post carrying a battle staff from U.S. Strategic Command.

JACOB SKOVO, U.S. AIR FORCE

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Photos: StratCom Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base

Commander of U.S. Strategic Command Gen. Anthony J. Cotton speaks to participants of StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Commander of U.S. Strategic Command Gen. Anthony J. Cotton speaks to participants of StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Rear Adm. Anthony Carullo, Rear Adm. Ian Gordon Murray, Austrialian Navy, and Robert Lambert, Plattsmounth, Neb. mayor, listen to Commander of U.S. Strategic Command Gen. Anthony J. Cotton speak to participants of StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Commander of U.S. Strategic Command Gen. Anthony J. Cotton speaks to participants of StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

A member of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force listens to Col. Nelson Tirado, U.S. Strategic Command, speak to participants of StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Scenes from U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Peter Fey, U.S. Strategic Command deputy historian, gives a history briefing to participants during StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

B-52H Stratofortress crew members from the 23rd Bomb Squadron talk to U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day participants at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

A look at a 69th Bomb Squadron B-52H Stratofortress at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

A look at a 69th Bomb Squadron B-52H Stratofortress at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Gen. Anthony J. Cotton, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, left, walks around a B-52H Stratofortress with Sgt. Maj. Howard L. Kreamer, StratCom Senior Enlisted Leader, during StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Gen. Anthony J. Cotton, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, left, walks around a B-52H Stratofortress with Sgt. Maj. Howard L. Kreamer, StratCom Senior Enlisted Leader, during StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Gen. Anthony J. Cotton, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, right, greets a B-52H Stratofortress crew with Sgt. Maj. Howard L. Kreamer, StratCom Senior Enlisted Leader, center, during StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

B-1B Lancer crew members talk to U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day participants at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

A look at a Doolittle Raiders patch on the shoulder of a U.S. Air Force Captain's uniform with "Toujours Au Danger," "always into Danger," at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

B-1B Lancer crew members talk to U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day participants at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

A UH-1N Huey crew member talks to U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day participants at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

A look at a B-1B Lancer at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Gen. Anthony J. Cotton, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, tours a UH-1N Huey during StratCom's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Scenes from U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Scenes from U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Scenes from U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

Senior Airman Fels talks to U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day participants at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

A U-2 Dragon Lady flies over Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

A U-2 Dragon Lady flies over Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

NIKOS FRAZIER THE WORLD-HERALD

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Two battle staff members remove classified material from a Looking Glass plane following a flight in 1981, the airborne command post’s 20th year of round-the-clock operation.

• OMAHA WORLD-HERALD ARCHIVES

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The interior of Looking Glass, a Boeing EC-135, at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland in 2021.

• OMAHA WORLD-HERALD FILE PHOTO

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A Navy E-6B Mercury flying the Looking Glass mission taxis at Offutt Air Force Base in 2019. The aircraft flies as an emergency airborne command post carrying a battle staff from U.S. Strategic Command.

• JACOB SKOVO, U.S. AIR FORCE

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An EC-135C Looking Glass airborne command post sits on the apron at Offutt Air Force Base. This aircraft (62-3582) was later converted for use by the 55th Wing as a WC-135C Constant Phoenix radiation-monitoring jet. By the time it was retired in 2020, its unit had given it the nickname "Lucifer's Chariot" because of its frequent ill-timed mechanical failures.

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