Former Air Force pilot turned bestselling author Dale Brown detailed his service as a navigator-bombardier aboard a B-52 Stratofortress loaded with nuclear weapons, as well as discussed the procedures and psychological stresses of preparing to drop the bomb.
"When the horn went off, you never knew if that was the real thing or that was just an exercise," Brown remarked, recalling the time he had to copy a combat message while on alert in the B-52. When the klaxon sounded, Brown explained, your orders were to start the engines, copy the coded message, and prepare for take-off. The first few letters of the coded message would indicate if the mission was an exercise or an order to go to war, he said.
Brown also talked about the 'Dreamland' air base, the secret Aurora program, hypothetical nuclear war scenarios, and the dangers posed by radical Islam, China, and North Korea. He said North Korea has "an extremely large and very sophisticated military society," but believes their current nuclear capability is too limited to pose a serious threat to the United States.
In the first half-hour, adventurer Susan Meckley shared her experiences sailing from Mexico to Hawaii on her vessel USSV Dharma. During her 3,000-mile journey, she slept in short 25-minute shifts, Meckley explained, in order to check the radar and look for large ships that could possibly smash into her boat. At the time, Meckley was docked in Hilo, Hawaii, where she expected to remain until August. She planned to sail to the Marshall Islands next.