The Whiteman Scenario (Storymaster Press Novels) [Hardcover]

Steve Mcurdy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2008 | Series: Storymaster Press Novels

A fictional dramatization based on actual events. On the eve of the Nixon resignation, the Soviet Union took an action that elevated the Strategic Air Command and the North American Air Defense Command to just short of full combat alert status. Under normal circumstances , there would have been a direct escalation of responses on both sides that could have taken us to the brink of nuclear launch. On this evening, though, there was an uncharacteristic hesitation on the part of normally hawkish US leadership. The book speculates that the hesitation was a reluctance to break an iron clad DO NOT DISTURB order from the president. This reluctance, it suggests, was fear that the event could have a rational explanation which would vanish in a conflagration of nuclear exchanges if Nixon, in his depressed and panicked state, interpreted the event as an attack (and a way out of the Watergate debacle.) The actions of an observant off-duty missile launch officer cause the Joint Chiefs and SAC commanders to back down from an immanent launch. The events of the book compress a series of many such actual events into the evening before the resignation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Pure energy and keen imagination showcased by an author whose characters personae are conveyed through their actions. A thrilling, action packed view of what 'could have been' during one of our country's most critical periods. Dale Manguno Former Missile Launch Officer --Publisher

It was like reading my own voice... Authentic, honest--and terrifyingly true. Andrew Cole, Colonel. USAF (retired) --Publisher

A well-told tale of life as a missile crew member, with good technical base and excellent fiction about The Whiteman Scenario. Charlie Simpson, Colonel USAF (retired) Executive Director, Association of Air Force Missileers --The Missileer

About the Author

Steve McCurdy worked his way through college as a radio announcer and bank teller. Four months after receiving his degree and his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force he found himself second in command of ten nuclear ICBMs. Eighteen months after that he was at the cross roads of what might have become World War III. The events in the book were classified for a long time even for a while after they decommissioned the Whiteman missiles and took half of the Minuteman force out nationwide. The author has been sitting on this for a long time. He may have been sitting on this story, but he has not been sitting on his hands. The creator of hundreds of marketing and training programs for the cream of the Fortune 100, Steve has been active in all forms of media; television, radio, print, and live stage events. He left corporate America for a while to become the producer/director for the critically acclaimed Man Enough off-Broadway, in New York. His radio talk-show, The Neon Fish celebrated excellence in Christian artistic expression, playing host to hundreds of nationally and internationally known artists of faith. He met co-host, Ken Bailey when Ken hired Steve to be the voices on the audio book version of Ken s hilarious, I Flunked Sunday School.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: StoryMaster Press; 1st edition (January 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976117916
• ISBN-13: 978-0976117919
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #887,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Whitemant Scenario, March 21, 2009

By 

CoonDog (Auburn, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Whiteman Scenario (Storymaster Press Novels) (Hardcover)

I lived the Minuteman life for 3 years from 1967 - 1970 at Minot Air Force Base, Dakota as a Missile Systems Analyst. I was an electronics maintenance specialist and performed all aspects of maintenance to keep the missiles in the "Green". Steve's detail and accurate description of our missile lives was right on. I was amazed at Steve's ability to blend the facts into a novel. I experienced many of the same stringent requirements of SAC that Steve detailed in his book.

I highly recommend The Whiteman Scenario to anyone who seeks to understand the height of the "Cold War" and what we went through.

Thanks

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Thriller, March 30, 2009

By 

Chris Crawford (Longview, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Whiteman Scenario (Storymaster Press Novels) (Hardcover)

The Whiteman Scenario takes us back to the Cold War and the men who spent their days (and nights) in small capsules buried underground, waiting for the command to launch missiles against the enemy. This book gives a good look at the selection, training and jobs of the missile crews and the toll the stress had on them and their families.
The real drama begins when routine operations begin to go wrong and the situation goes from bad to worse to deadly. The last third is a real nail-biter.
McCurdy's own experience as a Missile Combat Crew Commander gives The Whiteman Scenario the reality that only someone with day-to-day experience in the same situation can bring. Thanks to recently declassified information, this book is based on actual events.
This is a great book to learn about what once were highly classified activities and to examine what might have happened if one too many things went wrong. Read it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, perhaps a bit overpriced, July 27, 2011

By 

David W. Griffin (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Missiles Rising (formerly The Whiteman Scenario) (Kindle Edition)

It was a bit short for $10 in kindle edition. Also, this isn't a end of the world nuclear war sort of book (which the title implies). But is a fascinating look at the life of a missile officer in SAC in that era. I was a young officer working at NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain, but there was nothing like the pressure on us that there apparently was for these young men (not to mention their wives).

The combination of high pressure, low tolerance for errors, limited information, and some unfortunate luck gives the story it's drama. Yes if those events hadn't happened, the unfortunate results wouldn't have not happened, but the SYSTEM itself was, I think, flawed. Not everyone is an action hero (I'm not) so when you put people under great pressure (more pressure than warranted merely by the job) and force them to maintain the illusion that they are robots instead of fallible people, you set the stage for catastrophe.


Yes, I'm certain real combat is even more stressful than duty in SAC, but I'm fairly sure that unintentional disregarding of a regulation because you almost die from a catastrophic equipment malfunction isn't grounds for imprisonment or death in combat. The book definitely made me think.