Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Stories of Special Forces Operators podcast. Listen to
some of the bravest and toughest people on the planet
share their stories. Sit back and enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Have you ever wondered what your furry friend is really thinking? Well,
let me introduce to you my new book, Dog Psychology
by doctor Carlos Vasquez. As a psychology professor with over
ten years experience, I've unlocked the secrets of the canine psyche.
I will teach you how to understand your dog's body language,
to code their barks and wines, solve behavioral puzzles, and
(00:45):
strengthen your pond like never before. With Dog Psychology, you'll
see the world through your dog's eyes. Don't just be
a dog owner, become a dog whisperer. So go get
Dog Psychology by doctor Carlos Vasquez, available now on Kendle
or paperback on Amazon. We look at an interesting story today.
(01:14):
Upcoming weeks, we're going to have over a half a
dozen interviews that we've done with Special Forces. But today
we bring you this week an interesting story that I
read about the Green Berets who parachuted with nuclear bombs
strapped to them for US Special Operations personnel connecting high
altitude parachute jumps are pretty much par for the course,
(01:35):
But what about doing it with a nuclear bomb strapped
between your legs. Well, now you're on a different level.
But a US Army Special Forces paratrooper is pictured free
falling during a training exercise with a special atomic demolition
munition or say DM, a form of automatic demolition munition.
Eight ms were man portable nuclear weapons, also known as
(01:59):
backpack nukes. These munitions were fitted into specifically or especially
designed hard cloth carrying cases for the transportation on the
backs or between the legs with special operators. The sadms
weighed in the region of about one hundred and fifty
pounds with their warheads, the W fifty four contributing around
fifty to fifty five pounds. Saad ems were extremely small,
(02:20):
about twenty four inches long and about sixteen inches wide.
But why would a special operation personnel train with these?
In order to unpack the question, we need to look
back about seventy years. Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August
of nineteen forty five, well imparted a level of devastation
never before seen, and of course, a few years later,
the Soviet Union dead named it his first atomic bomb
(02:42):
in nineteen forty nine. While the US military conducted further
tests of such weapons into the early part of the
Cold War, a broader view emerged the smaller nuclear weapons
for limited tactical purposes would likely prove critical for operations
on the ground in future conflicts. Indeed, the idea of
using tactical nuclear weapons and a possible conflict involving the
(03:02):
Soviet Union became an important component of President Eisenhower's new look.
As such, scientists and technicians at Los Alamos nuclear Weapons
Laws began shrinking the size of the warheads. The US
Army was making news as well to acquire different sorts
of battlefield nuclear weapons. Roy coil less guns which fired
(03:22):
nuclear oreheads they call it the Davy crocket which fired
nuclear oriheads with a yield of roughly ten to twenty
tons of TNT, were part of the purchases. Part of
the push towards fielding and broad a range of nukes
by the Army included the development of atomic demolition munitions.
While we've been talking about the eight MS, they were
designed to be used on overlow the ground surface against
specific targets to block and deny enemy forces. The initial
(03:45):
objective of adms was to manage nuclear landscaping, creating great
craters or destroying mountain sides that could obstruct enemy forces.
The munitions first entered the US Army Arsenal And around
nineteen fifty four, with one of the first EIGHTM tests
taking place during Operation Teapot, part of a series of
nuclear tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site. During said tests,
(04:07):
an eight thousand pound eight AM with a yield of
one point two kilotones was detonated, creating a crater three
hundred feet wide and one hundred and twenty feet deep.
A whole family of adms was developed, as included the
tactical ad Atomic demolition munition sporting a W three W
W thirty warhead. The TDM TAADMS weighed around eight hundred pounds,
(04:30):
is a complete system and around three hundred produced between
nineteen sixty one and nineteen sixty six. Then they eventually
got to a much lighter version, man portable ADM. The
Army ended up producing around three hundred sadms between sixty
four to sixty six. Production on an interim W fifty
four Mod zero weapon started in April nineteen sixty three
(04:54):
at The heart of the SADM system was the W
fifty four tactical nuclear warhead with W fifty four was
developed in the late fifties by a man named Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory onto early nineteen fifty nine and thereafter
by the Los Alamos National Lab. Compared to the heavier ones,
the Army envisioned these lightweight saadms could more easily be
(05:16):
used tactically for operations behind enemy lines. In this sense,
the munitions would be used to frustrate enemy forces by
blowing up fortified structures, tunnels, mountain passes, and viaducts. Along
alongside the deployment via land or sea, sadms were also
designed to be sent behind enemy lines from the air
with two man parachute teams. One individual carrying of the
(05:38):
disassembled weapon in a big bag made of canvas, will
descend the target points before setting up the device's explosive timer.
Owing to the US's nuclear doctrine dictating that no single
person ever have the means to employ a nuclear weapon
on their own, teams of at least two would accompany
the bomb, so the detonation code would be split between
(06:00):
two special operators. The idea of using special forces known
as green Light units to transport these ad ms behind
enemy lines had stretched red roots, stretching back to nineteen
fifty six special ops units to harass and frustrate the
enemy with the purpose of their mission. It kind of
coordinates with the historical origins of the special forces in
(06:21):
the Army in the nineteen fifties. It was envisaged as
the elite units would stay behind in rear areas to
target enemy forces and even mobilize local resistance. However, the
early eighty ms were too large and heavy to be
carried by one man or two, and so the production
of savms moved the concept along quickly. To be selected
for the green Lights was a rare and highly secret thing.
(06:42):
In a book written by Annie Jacobson's Surprise Kill Vanish
The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators and Assassins,
green Lights personnels were pulled from Army Special Forces Navy
Seal units in the Marines. Units worked under pseudonyms and
were fatigues with no markings exigned Insignia. Training involved learning
infiltration techniques, including parachute launches and wet deck submarine launches. Overall,
(07:06):
the instruction of green Light units took a place over
the course of a week, consisting eight to twelve hours
a day of training. Parachute missions involving sadms were performed
over the sea as well as over land during the
sixties and seventies in order to train for their potential
detonation overseas. In nineteen seventy two, green Line units parachuting
near the White Mountain National Forests in New Hampshire. The
(07:29):
nuclear weapons used was the training dummy. Navy seals also
performed underwater training with them. Moreover, drills with the sad
ms also occurred outside the US and the Bavarian Alps.
Timing was everything. Billy Waugh, you probably heard of him,
recalls of his time with the green Lights and the
book Surprise Killing Vanished. You had to jump quickly. You
couldn't afford to be spread out when you landed on
(07:51):
the ground. Indeed, the jumper's rigging was designed in such
a way that the nuclear component would fall to the
end of the seventeen foot long lowering line once outside
of the aircraft. Once the SADM were fixed in place
and that nation charges triggered, green Light personnel needed to
retreat to a safe location to avoid being caught in
the explosion. This would have been a difficult task given
(08:12):
that the timers could not be relied on for complete accuracy.
As Army field manuals from the time indicated, it was
not possible to state that SADM would fire at a
specific time. Furthermore, there was also the fact that green
light teams would also have had to make their way
out of enemy territory once the munition was detonated. According
to Bill Flavin, who commanded a Special Forces SADA team
(08:32):
during the Cold War, there were real issues with the
operational wisdom of the program. Sadms, in the long run,
were never used in foreign soil during the Cold War,
those realities were thankfully never realized. That the US military
was training Special Forces personnel to transport nuclear weapons personally
behind enemy lines gained wider traction publicly in nineteen eighty
(08:53):
four thanks to an ex Army intelligence officer, William Markt,
and colleagues when they presented sketches and descriptions of the
mission or of the sabms. Really From there, the weapon
was slowly phased out and was officially retired in nineteen
eighty nine. So Was it true that special forces jumped
out with nuclear weapons? Well, yes and no. They were
(09:17):
planned to do it. They never did it with an
actual nuke, and they never did it on foreign soil.
But they were designing it to be that way, and
they had created a scenario for them to be able
to do it, but it never came through fruition. That's
it for now.
Welcome to Stories of Special Forces Operators podcast. Listen to
some of the bravest and toughest people on the planet
share their stories. Sit back and enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Have you ever wondered what your furry friend is really thinking? Well,
let me introduce to you my new book, Dog Psychology
by doctor Carlos Vasquez. As a psychology professor with over
ten years experience, I've unlocked the secrets of the canine psyche.
I will teach you how to understand your dog's body language,
to code their barks and wines, solve behavioral puzzles, and
(00:45):
strengthen your pond like never before. With Dog Psychology, you'll
see the world through your dog's eyes. Don't just be
a dog owner, become a dog whisperer. So go get
Dog Psychology by doctor Carlos Vasquez, available now on Kendle
or paperback on Amazon. We look at an interesting story today.
(01:14):
Upcoming weeks, we're going to have over a half a
dozen interviews that we've done with Special Forces. But today
we bring you this week an interesting story that I
read about the Green Berets who parachuted with nuclear bombs
strapped to them for US Special Operations personnel connecting high
altitude parachute jumps are pretty much par for the course,
(01:35):
But what about doing it with a nuclear bomb strapped
between your legs. Well, now you're on a different level.
But a US Army Special Forces paratrooper is pictured free
falling during a training exercise with a special atomic demolition
munition or say DM, a form of automatic demolition munition.
Eight ms were man portable nuclear weapons, also known as
(01:59):
backpack nukes. These munitions were fitted into specifically or especially
designed hard cloth carrying cases for the transportation on the
backs or between the legs with special operators. The sadms
weighed in the region of about one hundred and fifty
pounds with their warheads, the W fifty four contributing around
fifty to fifty five pounds. Saad ems were extremely small,
(02:20):
about twenty four inches long and about sixteen inches wide.
But why would a special operation personnel train with these?
In order to unpack the question, we need to look
back about seventy years. Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August
of nineteen forty five, well imparted a level of devastation
never before seen, and of course, a few years later,
the Soviet Union dead named it his first atomic bomb
(02:42):
in nineteen forty nine. While the US military conducted further
tests of such weapons into the early part of the
Cold War, a broader view emerged the smaller nuclear weapons
for limited tactical purposes would likely prove critical for operations
on the ground in future conflicts. Indeed, the idea of
using tactical nuclear weapons and a possible conflict involving the
(03:02):
Soviet Union became an important component of President Eisenhower's new look.
As such, scientists and technicians at Los Alamos nuclear Weapons
Laws began shrinking the size of the warheads. The US
Army was making news as well to acquire different sorts
of battlefield nuclear weapons. Roy coil less guns which fired
(03:22):
nuclear oreheads they call it the Davy crocket which fired
nuclear oriheads with a yield of roughly ten to twenty
tons of TNT, were part of the purchases. Part of
the push towards fielding and broad a range of nukes
by the Army included the development of atomic demolition munitions.
While we've been talking about the eight MS, they were
designed to be used on overlow the ground surface against
specific targets to block and deny enemy forces. The initial
(03:45):
objective of adms was to manage nuclear landscaping, creating great
craters or destroying mountain sides that could obstruct enemy forces.
The munitions first entered the US Army Arsenal And around
nineteen fifty four, with one of the first EIGHTM tests
taking place during Operation Teapot, part of a series of
nuclear tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site. During said tests,
(04:07):
an eight thousand pound eight AM with a yield of
one point two kilotones was detonated, creating a crater three
hundred feet wide and one hundred and twenty feet deep.
A whole family of adms was developed, as included the
tactical ad Atomic demolition munition sporting a W three W
W thirty warhead. The TDM TAADMS weighed around eight hundred pounds,
(04:30):
is a complete system and around three hundred produced between
nineteen sixty one and nineteen sixty six. Then they eventually
got to a much lighter version, man portable ADM. The
Army ended up producing around three hundred sadms between sixty
four to sixty six. Production on an interim W fifty
four Mod zero weapon started in April nineteen sixty three
(04:54):
at The heart of the SADM system was the W
fifty four tactical nuclear warhead with W fifty four was
developed in the late fifties by a man named Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory onto early nineteen fifty nine and thereafter
by the Los Alamos National Lab. Compared to the heavier ones,
the Army envisioned these lightweight saadms could more easily be
(05:16):
used tactically for operations behind enemy lines. In this sense,
the munitions would be used to frustrate enemy forces by
blowing up fortified structures, tunnels, mountain passes, and viaducts. Along
alongside the deployment via land or sea, sadms were also
designed to be sent behind enemy lines from the air
with two man parachute teams. One individual carrying of the
(05:38):
disassembled weapon in a big bag made of canvas, will
descend the target points before setting up the device's explosive timer.
Owing to the US's nuclear doctrine dictating that no single
person ever have the means to employ a nuclear weapon
on their own, teams of at least two would accompany
the bomb, so the detonation code would be split between
(06:00):
two special operators. The idea of using special forces known
as green Light units to transport these ad ms behind
enemy lines had stretched red roots, stretching back to nineteen
fifty six special ops units to harass and frustrate the
enemy with the purpose of their mission. It kind of
coordinates with the historical origins of the special forces in
(06:21):
the Army in the nineteen fifties. It was envisaged as
the elite units would stay behind in rear areas to
target enemy forces and even mobilize local resistance. However, the
early eighty ms were too large and heavy to be
carried by one man or two, and so the production
of savms moved the concept along quickly. To be selected
for the green Lights was a rare and highly secret thing.
(06:42):
In a book written by Annie Jacobson's Surprise Kill Vanish
The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators and Assassins,
green Lights personnels were pulled from Army Special Forces Navy
Seal units in the Marines. Units worked under pseudonyms and
were fatigues with no markings exigned Insignia. Training involved learning
infiltration techniques, including parachute launches and wet deck submarine launches. Overall,
(07:06):
the instruction of green Light units took a place over
the course of a week, consisting eight to twelve hours
a day of training. Parachute missions involving sadms were performed
over the sea as well as over land during the
sixties and seventies in order to train for their potential
detonation overseas. In nineteen seventy two, green Line units parachuting
near the White Mountain National Forests in New Hampshire. The
(07:29):
nuclear weapons used was the training dummy. Navy seals also
performed underwater training with them. Moreover, drills with the sad
ms also occurred outside the US and the Bavarian Alps.
Timing was everything. Billy Waugh, you probably heard of him,
recalls of his time with the green Lights and the
book Surprise Killing Vanished. You had to jump quickly. You
couldn't afford to be spread out when you landed on
(07:51):
the ground. Indeed, the jumper's rigging was designed in such
a way that the nuclear component would fall to the
end of the seventeen foot long lowering line once outside
of the aircraft. Once the SADM were fixed in place
and that nation charges triggered, green Light personnel needed to
retreat to a safe location to avoid being caught in
the explosion. This would have been a difficult task given
(08:12):
that the timers could not be relied on for complete accuracy.
As Army field manuals from the time indicated, it was
not possible to state that SADM would fire at a
specific time. Furthermore, there was also the fact that green
light teams would also have had to make their way
out of enemy territory once the munition was detonated. According
to Bill Flavin, who commanded a Special Forces SADA team
(08:32):
during the Cold War, there were real issues with the
operational wisdom of the program. Sadms, in the long run,
were never used in foreign soil during the Cold War,
those realities were thankfully never realized. That the US military
was training Special Forces personnel to transport nuclear weapons personally
behind enemy lines gained wider traction publicly in nineteen eighty
(08:53):
four thanks to an ex Army intelligence officer, William Markt,
and colleagues when they presented sketches and descriptions of the
mission or of the sabms. Really From there, the weapon
was slowly phased out and was officially retired in nineteen
eighty nine. So Was it true that special forces jumped
out with nuclear weapons? Well, yes and no. They were
(09:17):
planned to do it. They never did it with an
actual nuke, and they never did it on foreign soil.
But they were designing it to be that way, and
they had created a scenario for them to be able
to do it, but it never came through fruition. That's
it for now.
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