For last-ditch emergencies SAC has alternate command posts on KC-135 jet tankers.

The Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) was both a Major Command ( MAJCOM ) of the United States Air Force and a " specified command " of the United States Department of Defense.

SAC also controlled the infrastructure necessary to support the strategic bomber and ICBM operations, such as aerial refueling tanker aircraft to refuel the bombers in flight, strategic reconnaissance aircraft, command post aircraft, and, until 1957, fighter escorts.

Soon after taking command, on 9 November, LeMay relocated SAC to Offutt AFB south of Omaha.

When LeMay assumed command of SAC, his vision was to create a force of nuclear-armed long-range bombers with the capability to devastate the Soviet Union within a few days of the advent of war.

But the reality when LeMay assumed command was that SAC had only sixty nuclear capable aircraft, none of which had the long-range capabilities he desired.

Despite having a limited range, by the end of LeMay ’ s command in 1957, the B-47 had become the backbone of SAC, comprising over half of its total aircraft and eighty percent of its bomber capacity.

During LeMay ’ s command, SAC was able to effect great changes in American nuclear strategy.

It was this uncertainty that LeMay entered into upon assuming command of SAC which emboldened him and SAC planners to attempt to unilaterally form American nuclear strategy.

As a backup to this potentiality, the concept of a SAC airborne command post was developed.

As envisioned, the airborne command post would be carried on a long range / long endurance aircraft, manned by a battle staff headed by a SAC general officer of at least brigadier general rank.

Named the EC-135 Looking Glass, it realized the SAC vision of a flying command post.

The stripe appeared on the sides of SAC aircraft in the area of the cockpit on bomber aircraft and mid-fuselage on tanker and command post aircraft running from the top to the bottom of the fuselage at an angle from 11 o ' clock to 5 o ' clock.

In service the V-Force would have been capable of destroying both area and high value point targets ( air bases, command centers, ground forces staging areas ) hours before they could be attacked by NATO or SAC ’ s, long range bomber forces.

When LeMay took over command of SAC, it consisted of little more than a few understaffed B-29 bombardment groups left over from World War II.

A famous legend often used by SAC flight crews to illustrate LeMay's command style concerned his famous ever-present cigar.

Of all these various schemes, only LeMay's command structure of SAC survived complete reorganization in the changing reality of Cold War-era conflicts.

According to letters in Curtis LeMay's service record, while he was in command of SAC during the 1950s several petitions were made by Air Force service members to have LeMay promoted to the rank of General of the Air Force ( five stars ).

In the 1960s the population rose to about 6, 400 due to the nearby presence of the Glasgow Air Force Base, ( SAC air command and housing B-52 bombers ) used during the Vietnam War and the earlier part of the Cold War.

Offutt AFB's legacy includes the construction of the first two bombers to drop atomic bombs and over 40 years as the headquarters for the former Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) and home for its associated ground and aerial command centers for the U. S. in case of nuclear war during the Cold War.

Increased defense spending during the 1980s brought additional operational improvements to Offutt, including the Bennie Davis Aircraft Maintenance Hangar, and a new command center for Headquarters SAC.

Offutt was brought to popular attention during its SAC period when the command was depicted in the 1955 film Strategic Air Command starring Jimmy Stewart, the 1963 film A Gathering of Eagles starring Rock Hudson, and 1964's Fail-Safe starring Henry Fonda ( which not only claimed to show portions of the base but also a nearby Omaha neighborhood ) and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb starring Peter Sellers ( which depicts a nuclear first strike from a mad general at the fictional Burpelson Air Force Base ).

The 319 BMW became the host wing as the 4133d Strategic Wing inactivated and command of the base transferred from the ADC to SAC.

The redefinition and expansion of its mission would help SAC to formalize and consolidate its control over nuclear planning and strategy.

SAC ’ s assumption of control over nuclear strategy led to the adoption of a strategy based on the idea of counterforce.

LeMay and SAC ’ s continuing efforts to assume greater control over nuclear strategy were vindicated on August 11, 1960, when Eisenhower approved a plan to create the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff ( dominated by SAC ) to prepare the National Strategic Target List and the Single Integrated Operation Plan ( SIOP ) for nuclear war.

As a result, LeMay was relieved when the Korean War ended in 1953 and he was able to go back to building SAC ’ s arsenal and gaining control over nuclear strategy.

The aircraft would be equipped with the latest in electronics and communications equipment so that it would be able to assume control of all of SAC's bomber, aerial refueling and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as SAC's land-based intercontiental ballistic missile ( ICBM ) force and the U. S. Navy's Fleet Ballistic Missile ( FBM ) submarine force in the event SAC headquarters was destroyed.

As a Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) unit, the 4080th was later redesignated the 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing and also acquired Lockheed DC-130 Hercules aircraft for launch and control of Firebee reconnaissance drones that were the precursors of contemporary unmanned aerial systems.

" An NSC-chaired group took over arms control responsibilities from a State-chaired group ( SAC / G ) and ramrodded the tough negotiating position favored by ACDA Chief Fred Ikle and Richard Perle of the Defense Department.

Part of the American reaction to the Soviet atomic and hydrogen bomb tests included maintaining a large Air Force, under the control of the Strategic Air Command ( SAC ).

On 23 August 1986 the first launch of a completely operational hardware configured missile and launch facility, and also the first Peacekeeper launch by a SAC combat crew under the control of Air Force Systems Command took place from silo LF-02.

On 31 July 1990, SAC replaced the 12th Air Division with the Strategic Warfare Center ( SWC ), which provided operational command and administrative control over Ellsworth's subordinate units.

With the inactivation of TAC and SAC in 1992, Tenth Air Force today is responsible for command supervision of fighter, bomber, rescue, airborne warning and control, special operations, flying training, combat air operations battle staff, and space reserve units.

In 1957 16th AF was realigned under Strategic Air Command to provide command and control of SAC bases and B-47 Stratojet rotational units assigned and deployed to Spain and Morocco.

In 1966 after SAC withdrew its forces from Europe, 16th AF became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe, providing command and control of USAFE forces initially in Spain and North Africa, and later in Italy and Turkey until 2006.

Acting on a proposal by SAC Commander in Chief General Thomas S. Power that SAC control strategic weapons targeting, Gates set up the JSTPS.

On 1 November 1968 control of RAF Greenham Common was transferred from SAC to the United States Air Forces in Europe, with the 7551st Combat Support Group having administrative control of the base.

In 1950 RAF Bomber Command asked for, and received, 70 B-29s from the United States after offering to place them under the control of SAC during wartime.

On 1 July 1959 USAFE took control of Mildenhall from SAC and the 7543d Air Base Squadron was activated by USAFE as the host unit.

The United States Air Force built a new runway, which was the longest in the north of England, and a huge rectangular hardstanding apron as well as a new control tower to turn Elvington into a " Basic Operation Platform " which would have operated as a Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) dispersal airfield.

Up until 1980, Strategic Air Command considered retaining the former SAC Alert Facility on the south end of the airfield as either an Operating Location ( OL ) or as a smaller installation to be called McCoy Air Force Station under control of an air base squadron for occasional dispersal basing of two B-52D / G / H and two KC-135A / E / Q aircraft from other SAC installations.

Control of the base was transferred back to SAC on 1 July 1972, and the 384th Air Refueling Wing ( ARW ) began its tour at McConnell AFB in December 1972 and took control of the 91st ARS.