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.
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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.
The interior of Looking Glass, a Boeing EC-135, at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland in 2021.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Scenes from U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
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.
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.
A look at a 69th Bomb Squadron B-52H Stratofortress at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
A look at a 69th Bomb Squadron B-52H Stratofortress at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A look at a B-1B Lancer at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
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.
Scenes from U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
Scenes from U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
Scenes from U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
Senior Airman Fels talks to U.S. Strategic Command's Experience Day participants at Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
A U-2 Dragon Lady flies over Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
A U-2 Dragon Lady flies over Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
