Training for a job you hope never to perform
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Noelle Swan Staff writer
Understanding others is one of the key goals of journalism.
So when the Monitor鈥檚聽Sarah Matusek and Alfredo Sosa set out on a reporting trip to a nuclear missile training facility for this week鈥檚 cover story, they brought a litany of questions for the U.S. missileers who oversee these weapons.
What鈥檚 it like to live below ground, detached from friends and family? Do you think about the consequences of a potential missile launch? Would missileers even know what target a missile is aimed at if given the order?
As answers unfurled, Sarah and Alfredo realized they suddenly had fresh questions, not for the missileers, but for themselves.
鈥淐ould I do the job that these young men and women, some of them younger than me, might be asked to do?鈥� Sarah wonders aloud during a joint interview with Alfredo.
He, too, was surprised by how much he ended up envisioning himself in the missileers鈥� seat. 鈥淲hen I do a story on farming, I don鈥檛 question, 鈥榃ould I drive this tractor?鈥欌�� Alfredo says, chuckling.
As you read Sarah鈥檚 account and peruse Alfredo鈥檚 photos, try to imagine yourself in an underground bunker that could launch nuclear missiles. How would you handle that kind of responsibility?
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure that the missileer is even thinking about the possibility to launch each day because their 24 hours underground is filled with a bunch of other tasks to support the broader mission,鈥� Sarah says.
Indeed, the ultimate goal is to never actually launch. The missileer鈥檚 role is one of deterrence. That means being ready for a moment that we all hope never comes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the only job I can think of where nobody has actually performed it,鈥� Alfredo says. 鈥淪o they鈥檙e trained to do something that nobody has ever done. And hopefully nobody will.鈥�
After reporting this story, both Sarah and Alfredo say they have newfound respect for these missileers and the quiet work that they do, hidden from public view.
鈥淭his unifying shield of deterrence across the entire country happens in such isolated and lonely conditions,鈥� Sarah says.
鈥淔orty or 50 years ago, these same people were the national heroes,鈥� Alfredo adds, referring to the attention paid to the nuclear arsenal during the height of the Cold War. 鈥淣ow, they鈥檙e like a forgotten breed.鈥�
This column first appeared in the Feb. 17 issue of 海角大神 Weekly.聽Subscribe today to receive future issues of the Monitor Weekly magazine delivered to your home.
