This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
The answer, at least for strategic air command circa the early 60s, is nothing. Every drill was a real scramble command. Only after the B-52's were loaded hot and bound for Russia would the drill be revealed. Of course, maintaining the radio was job one. - BT The P
Morgan Wick: I want to respond with a Dr. Strangelove reference, but I can't think of anything good...
BT The P: Yeah, there's no snappy line that sums up just how screwy that concept is.
LTR: The movie Fail Safe summed it up pretty well
BT The P: But Dr. Strangelove is like Fail Safe but funnier. There's just no good quote to sum it up.
Sikon: What the heck is a drill? Apart from the tool.
Tanto: Drill, noun: An activity done as an exercise or practice. You've never had a fire drill?
DonBoy: "This is not an exercise" is not more laconic — that is, shorter — than "This is not a drill".
Can we find some blue to put in the "in the otherwise" part of the Star Wars example?
During Your Obedient Serpent's days aboard a Coast Guard High Endurance Cutter, someone once left an unattended PA mike in an area where work was being done. Work with power tools. Including drills. Thankfully, it was a weekend when most of the officers were not on board, or he would have been in far more trouble for picking up the mike and saying, "Now, this is a drill, this is a drill!" *vreeee* *vreeee* *VREEEEEEE*
Ruduen: Is it really necessary to have the "But This Is" Joke in the article twice? It appears once in the first part and once at the end, and it seems unnecessary, since this isn't exactly a good place for repetition.
