Reply #3: You are correct...

[Rick Myers]

I served in the USAF at alert sites in Alaska 1976-78, and everyone KNEW the Cold War was crap. We KNEW that Russian military equipment was junk. No one felt threatened...

Our F-4E's intercepted Russian aircraft at a rate varying from 2 to 10 a DAY, and it was all a big joke. The Russians would send 50's vintage planes into our airspace just to get our big bad fighters to scramble, then they'd lumber back across the border long before our guys got there...

On Xmas Day 1976, I watched a Red Yak-22 circle our base for 10 minutes while our planes sat at the end of the runway unable to takeoff because this big old chunk of 50's junk had about 2 tons of electronics jamming gear inside it. It fried EVERYTHING... Then it hit afterburners and bugged out...

We were more amused than afraid of a fight...