Background Looking Glass (or Operation Looking Glass) is the code name for an airborne command and control center operated by the United States. It provides command and control of U.S. nuclear forces in the event that ground-based command centers were destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperable. In such an event, the general officer aboard the Looking Glass serves as the Airborne Emergency Action Officer (AEAO) and by law assumed the authority of the National Command Authority and could command execution of nuclear attacks. The AEAO is supported by a battle staff of approximately 20 people, with another dozen responsible for the…
Author: John Greenewald
The following documents are archived at The Black Vault to offer researchers useful guides to publications, documents, articles, and government agencies/structures. General Document Research Guides Government Manual, United States, 2009-2010 [750 Pages, 2.8MB] Investigators’ Guide to Sources of Information, April 1997 [750 Pages, 580 kb] – This 1997 Investigators’ Guide to Sources of Information is published as a service to the investigative community by GAO’s Office of Special Investigations. It is intended to be a useful investigative tool for identifying sources of information about people, property, business, and finance. This year’s guide is organized so that all of the information about…
The below are records from the Cold War era about strategy, warfare, the Soviet Union, etc. They are listed from the newest to the oldest. Acquisition Management in the U.S. Air Force and Its Predecessors, 1997 [66 Pages] Air Combat Command (ACC) and the Legacy of the Cold War, December 1995 [3,228 Pages, 124.91MB] – The end of the Cold War in 1989 brought with it a restructuring of the Department of Defense. The ACC came into existence on June 1, 1992, incorporating assets from the Strategic Air Command (SAC), Tactical Air Command (TAC), and Military Airlift Command (MAC). During the Cold War,…
Background Parapsychology is a field of study concerned with the investigation of paranormal and psychic phenomena which include telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation, apparitional experiences, and other paranormal claims. It is often identified as pseudoscience. This section holds many documents relating to many different aspects of Parapsychology that have been released under the FOIA. You will notice many of the documents, are intelligence translations of foreign texts. Does this show that there is much more to the topic than we are lead to believe, if the government has taken the time, spent the money and has the interest…
Conscientious Objection Background A conscientious objector is an “individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service” on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, disability or religion. In general, conscientious objector status is only considered in the context of military conscription and is not applicable to volunteer military forces. In an all volunteer military, the definition skews a bit. You will see these applicants below, despite willingly signing up, seemingly changed their minds and wanted out. Below, you will find the applications submitted to different armed services. As more are released, they will be added here.…