Minimum Interval Take Off (MITO) launch of 9 B-52s and 5 K-135s in under 5 minutes.

There is “nothing” as impressive as an entire wing of BUFF’s scrambling and levitating into the air 10-15 sec apart. Back in the day these guys knew they had at best 20 min before warheads so every scramble they made it count. I am humbled by their dedication.

I’m flying the second to last B52. Exciting takeoff with greatly reduced visibility due to the water injected engines in all the leading aircraft.

That turbulence had to be VIOLENT. Amazing thing to be able to do with anything near the consistency and safety record you all managed in SAC.

When I was flying for Uncle Sam in Germany, we had a bumper sticker on the car: Jet Noise-The Sound of Freedom.

In the 60s my father was stationed at Eglin AFB in Florida. I was in my teens and rode my Honda 50 all over the base. On several occasions I was thrilled to be able to stop my bike at the end of the runway near the King Hanger off the road behind the blast deflector and watch as the B52 bomber wing was scrambled. I remembered the big guys taking off about 10 or 15 seconds apart but all of the videos I have watched they take off at much longer intervals. I thought I must have been wrong but this video shows I was probably right. Anyone that talks about how awesome a space shuttle launch was should have been there when they scrambled the whole darn wing.

I was stationed at Wurtsmith, March, and Fairchild AFBs from 1981-1996 when I retired. I watched KC-135A/E/Rs and B-52D/G/Hs doing close intervals. Never gets old. Watching the D models with the big tails taking off.

Shorty after take off had you looked down you would've seen our house. Both my wife and I grew up in Rome, NY. After 50 years we to decided to move and now live in Lake Wales and sail on Crooked Lake. Thanks for the B52 memories...I still hear them overhead :-)...

I was a kc-135 crew chief (1976-1980) stationed at Pease AFB after multi jet engine tech school. I finished my enlistment at the tanker detachment at Travis AFB. Getting engine run certified and running engines was a real pleasure. Crew chiefs pulled a lot of alert duty and went TDY with the plane. I was never bored. This video brings back a lot of memories

Probably one of the most awesome vids of the heavies that I've ever seen. Thanks!

This was the real deal!!!! There's nothing like getting your eardrums blown apart with this awesome noise from these airplanes. The "screaming" J-57 turbojets on both the B-52Gs and KC-135As here were very evident with their "water-injected" take-off sequences. There was so much smoke. Whoever must've filmed these airplanes taking-off, must've blown out their eardrums!!

Heavy forever, 42nd Bomb Wing, 68-71 Line mechanic, always on the line or in the hanger and loved every minute of it

Thanks for bringing back some memories. We lived at Griffiss twice during his career and we watched many MITOs from that exact spot. As great as seeing the ships take off from that end is, it was absolutely devastating when from that vantage point, the birds would taxi out in front of you and almost sit there quivering as the power came up and slowly inch forward under clouds of black smoke. Pretty awesome for a 10 year old. Thanks for the video and thanks for the records lookup process.

I, too, was a KC-135 nav. I was "drafted" into the KC-135 after my last assignment in AC-130 gunships in 1973. The memories of being in tankers is one that forever be remembered with great fondness. There was nothing greater feeling than flying across the "Pond" without a GPS or navigating over the polar region; just using celestial means to get there. I never flew with the PINS {Palletized Inertial Navigation System). Remembered my very young Boomer mooning a BUFF, after refueling, during an ORI! The alerts, the ORIs, the TDYs, were all part of being in SAC. I spent 5 years at Loring AFB and for a South Texas local, it was a shocker. Those were brutal winters but I did learn how to ski. I retired in 1990 and became an MD80 ground school instructor at American Airlines for 24 years. So, I managed to stay in the aviation field after retirement from the USAF.

My dad participated in these excercises as well he was a kc 135 navigator as well!

I too was at Griffiss AFB NY between 1985 to 1989 as a crew chief on 62-3521 she was a A model then till later she followed me to Grissom AFBR as an R model. I really do miss those A's specially on MITTO ground shaking smoke-filled runway what a sight to see thanks for the video

I was a boomer in the 70's and can attest to the unpleasantness of the ride if you in the back of the pack. But it was pure exhilaration and I wouldn't have traded my job for anything.

As a kid growing up in the 60s, Dad was stationed at McCoy AFB, Orlando Fl. During the Cuban missile crisis, these brave souls would be fully alerted weekly and sometimes twice weekly. One cell airborne 24/7, one cell idling one the ground, one cell on hot cocked alert and the 4th moving up to alert. When the horn blew, forget about seeing anything, (cart starts), hearing anything, (deafening roars), or even thinking for over 45 minutes as the defenders took to the sky. We were less than 200 miles I believe north of Castro's front yard. God bless them and their boss, General Le May, they stood up to and stood down the threat. Who would have thought that 22 years later I would become an F-16 crew chief? Kept Vipers in the air for 30 years and wouldn't trade it for anything. I like to think that we made those before us proud.

A nice tribute to the G models, watched an ORI, MITO at Ellsworth. There from 1976 to 1979, great memories

Thank you very much for posting this.

Ironically, it was SAC's willingness and ability to fight that kept the peace.