Why The Military Is TERRIFIED Of A 'Broken Arrow' 

As they said in the film “”I don’t know which is scarier, the fact that we have a missing nuke or that it happens so often that we have a term for it””

The “We were soldiers” film was the first time I ever looked into this order. Can’t imagine the dread any soldier/officer feels giving that command out.

The battle of Ia Drang is just a tactical engagement. But it convinced the US to believe heli airlift tactic worked. And it convinced the VN to believe they can fight the US by "hugging them closely" to prevent airstrikes and arty.

Don’t forget “BROKEN ARROW BROKEN ARROW THE DC EVAC SITE IS BEING OVERRUN”

I remember the term 'broken arrow' from the movie 'We Were Soldiers'. It was an emotional and brutal movie to watch.

"Call that sunnuva beech off" "PULL UPPPPPPPPPP" We were soldiers and The outpost we're pretty solid movies

That's not the only time "Broken Arrow" was used since Vietnam. There was at least one other, in Iraq in 2007, when PB Dog was destroyed by a VBIED and insurgent forces tried to assault the compound. (Source: I was there.)

Oh, I had to experience many a Broken Arrow over at the Creek.

My grandfather served in Vietnam. While I do know about quite a bit of his time there, such as what he did for a silver star and two bronze stars. I have also been told he fought at la Drang but that was the one part of his service he never talked about. He apparently did see "We Were Soldiers" once and he didn't cry, but his eyes were watery and he was really quiet for the rest of the day.

In the uk armed forces were just say: “The situation is less than ideal” 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

We were soldiers is so underrated

Broken Arrow? Calls for all available aircraft for immediate CAS. It's an God Damn it moment. "My God, there is no hiding it now..." It means every air asset to assist an unit completely surrounded and in immediate danger of being overrun.

1:41 I learned in We were Soldiers movie mention about that Broken Arrow requested all available aircrafts supports, when they overran by the enemy only.

We were soldiers showed the horrors of that battle. Couldn't imagine fighting an enemy you couldn't see, to the men who served and paid the ultimate sacrifice , thank you, from one vet to another 💙

“You should be ashamed of your military honor!” Theodore Roosevelt

I remember this code from the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 from 2010. Having known what that code meant made hearing it during the game all the more haunting with the events going on in the game at the time.

I’ve never known the term Broken Arrow to mean anything other than a missing nuke.

Nothing but respect for all those brave souls who fought valiantly and gave up their lives for something greater than themselves.

I just love the fact that the default rifle firing sound is the sound of the Sniper's stock primary in TF2.

"Babe wake up, Simple History just uploaded a new video"

Charlie Hastings was not Forward Observer (FO). He was an Air Force Air Liaison Officer (ALO). A First Lieutenant at the time he retired as a full Colonel.

last time I was this early, we used bows and arrows

On the flip side, if you are the attacker, “Broken Arrow” means the entire US Air Force is rapidly approaching your location and there is no escape

Simple History never fails to give us more knowledge

A teacher of mine has a son who once served as helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. He never got an official "broken arrow" code but was always prepared for it if need be.

One of my top favorite 90s movies

I'm in the air force, and a broken arrow is a mishap with a nuclear weapon that doesn't involve a risk of nuclear war. Hearing broken arrow in this context just seems weird to me.

The only time I’ve heard the words “Broken Arrow” was from Black Ops 2. I didn’t know that the word was this important.

In the Navy, "Broken Arrow" is used for something else. I can neither confirm nor deny it's purpose in the Navy.

In regard to nuclear weapons/reactors: Dull Sword: An accident that does only minor damage to the weapon. Bent Spear: An incident that results in radioactive contamination. Broken Arrow: The detonation or burning of a nuclear weapon. (This doesn't necessarily mean a nuclear explosion, just the explosives in the warhead detonated, usually spreading radioactive material over a wide area) Faded Giant: An event involving a military nuclear reactor or other radiological accident not involving nuclear weapons Empty Quiver: The seizure, theft, or loss of a functioning nuclear weapon

That B36 that Crashed in BC had one of its Turrets Recovered from the Wreckage & Put in a Museum in my Town

As someone who wants to be in the military, I’m always interested in the terminology and phrases of things.

Fantastic video! I love this channel!

7:59 nah, "Nucflash" is the most significant one, having the highest precedence

I remember there was a film “Broken Arrow” released in 1996 with John Travolta and Christian Slater, directed by John Woo. Good memories.

5:13 And nobody know how many nuclear weapons that the Soviets had lost during the Cold War. So sleep well tonight.

This was a very interesting video as always, well done Simple History. The codeword Broken Arrow has become synonimous of the term FUBAR and those Close Air Support attacks in Vietnam is a noteworthy example along with the recent example of missing atomic warheads. By the way i really liked the NVA charge from the first person mode of the North Vietnamese soldier.

Helldivers Need it owns Broken Arrow moment

I only remembered the old movie in the early 2000 called "Broken Arrow". The soundtrack from Hans Zimmer from that movie was quite good too!

We Were Soldiers(2002)

7:50 That's odd, when I was a Nuclear Machinist Mate in the Navy, I never heard that code phrase come up. We would always call it a Reactor Incident if there was a situation or casualty that resulted in the release of fission products or core material from the reactor vessel.

There was TWO Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers that fought that battle at OP Keating. Many other awards also.

I remember hearing the Code word “Broken Arrow” on the movie We Were Soldiers it’s still of of my favorite Movies. Btw Did anyone else see NVA Soldiers with M14s on 0:46?

I just wish this video would express, up front, that "broken arrow" literally means "an accidental event that involves nuclear weapons, warheads or components that does not create a risk of nuclear war". Or, more explicitly, an event that involves the launching, fire, detonation, or theft of a nuclear armament. Even if the above isn't the relevant command, it usually means bring all available air force in the area in for support.

Save your time, broken arrow is when a unit is requesting bombardment of their own area because they’ve been overrun.

Nice education content :D keep it up!!🎉🎉🎉❤❤

Loved that part in we were soldiers, when Mel Gibson has a look over being overwhelmed and he goes to say the order but hesitates even speaking the words. Then without any further delay says those words. Broken arrow. Radio operator repeated the order and higher command hear those words over a crackling radio, the men faces drop. Someone says what does that mean? It means that Americans are about to be over run and they want every available air support to bomb their area. My body got chills in the cinema.

The truck turning over, I was in Minot when this happened. Oh my was that a nightmare

If Anyone Wants To Know More About The Attack At Outpost Keating, The Movie 'Outpost' Is Based On This Engagement And I Heavily Recommend It.

I'm only scared of a Broken Arrow situation if John Travolta is involved

Broken Arrow is still used. We are trained to use the code in only the most extreme cases. It will delete all grids around you.

6:41 The safeties you referred to are called a "permissive action link."

There was a movie in the 1996 with John Travolta and Christian Slater named Broken Arrow where a mile was stolen. In it a character saints he wasn’t sure what was more terrifying, that a nuke was missing or that it happened so often that there is a code specifically for the situation.

Okay I just want to point out the camouflage we're looking at in 2009 at the Battle of camp Keating. The desert camouflage by then was phased out and replaced with the god-awful camouflage ACU heavily criticized.

Expanding on the first Broken Arrow incident of 1950: The crew of Convair B-36 TN 44-92075 did not all bail out; the Weaponeer, Ted Schrier, was not observed to have left the aircraft, and it was, at the time of the order to bail out, set on autopilot to ditch into the Pacific. The crew observed 44-92075 to turn 180 degrees and head towards land, and it is thought that Schrier had disabled the autopilot, and attempted to save the stricken plane, now that the weight of the bomb and crew had been thrown out. In any event, the radio was tied down and continued to transmit for upwards of three hours before falling silent, and the bomber was found to have passed between two mountains, coming to rest at a bearing of 075. It was not discovered for several years, and the first US attempt to illegally access the wreck was thwarted by the team getting lost in 1953. In 1954 they came back and, with a farmer who knew where it was a guide, were able to access the wreck, removing several items, and detonating explosives to destroy the remainder. What is left is still there to this day. Also, the fucking USAF neglected to tell us they dropped a nuke in the waters they had us looking for their crew in- while the bomb did not go critical, it is still an abhorrent white lie that, in conjunction with the illegal border crossing and deployment of explosives, an act that has forever marred the US' image. (The jettisoning of the bomb is also disputed- locals reported a bright light, but not related sound of an explosion, and due to the illegal access of the wreck by unathorized US troops and continued refusal to divulge if one of the items they removed was the bomb or not, we still do not know for certain to this day.)

People who live in Savannah, Georgia: *Haha. Im in danger*

in the book Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor Book by Clinton Romesha that talks about the insane thing that happend in Command Post Keating: it's is aid that they didn't know about "Broken arrow" but they talked about the alamo position. the movie does not compere to the book must read or listen to nailbiter

MACV-SOG Recon or Spike teams were always basically under broken arrow conditions

Imagine seeing those planes stacked at different altitudes all waiting to drop ordinance the view from the sky must’ve been amazing yet horrifying

6:49 is that the SL-1 reactor I see kinda looks like it from the pictures of the compound

This is interesting stuff!

Please make a video on the Castilian War

Man, this sucks when the CSM and base CO arrive to the company party.

3:19 I believe a movie named "outpost" on Netflix is based on this battle right here

FOB Baylough, COP Margah. Both places i know that had situations close to a broken arrow. More so with FOB Baylough as the LP/OP called an airstrike on their location as they ran out of ammunition holding back 500- 1000 Afghans. COP Margah, well a ton of awards were given out there and the firefight lasted 14 or 15 hours. I can concur on the Bent Spear term as I was personally in the location it happened.

6 official missing warheads is wild

The B-58 incident at Grissom AFB.

As a person who plays cod the old ones broken arrow is just a refrence to me

How many times was the broken arrow used in the context of needing air support?

I was scared of it while in eastern afghanistan. I remember in 2009 being concerned when 1 platoon was out of the wire. We only had 3 undermanned platoons on base at any time. Help was 45 minutes out at best. Broken arrow was my most feared concern. COP michigan Kunar province.

2:19 to 2:20 😮😢 reminds me of how the NLF guerillas in one scene of the film were screaming in agony from the Napalm bombs exploding right before and on them

Well it is because it's close air support you got to remember there were not very very accurate especially there's a chance of Friendly Fire and yes a lot of casualties can happen because of that friendly fired up dropping bombs accidentally too close to the friendlies

I found out about this term thanks to the Ace Combat Wikipedia. For context, Ace Combat 4 has a mission called “Breaking Arrows”. It’s a mission where you have to shoot down enemy cruise missiles. I was looking that mission up because I wanted to find out what happens if you get too close to the final missile. Turns out the thing explodes, killing you instantly, if you get too close.

Don't forget about that movie "Broken Arrow" with Christian Slater and John Travolta. That's that is one when Travolta tries to steal a couple nukes.

The broken arrow called in vietnam was a call for all combat aircraft in theatre to support. Not in sector, not in thr vicinity. In the theatre. Meaning all combat aircraft avaliable to the US in vietnam were called. Thst includes aircraft carriers and even b52.

A video about the German paratroopers or Fallschirmjäger in WW2 would be good.

Lmao at Gilbert Gottfried voicing the soldiers in the beginning.

When pelican 1 is far away and theres no reinforcements left

🙌 Simple History 🙌 please can you make a video covering about Portugal's participation and envolment into World War 1 please? And maybe possibly make a extra WW1 Armys video mentioning Portuguese expeditionary troops? If possible i thank you alot. 🇵🇹

Vietnam video with an F16 dropping ordnance in a CAS context. Odd choice that. 2:16

that’s We Were Soldiers reference

da nang valley battle a regiment vs a whole divisions nva regulars broken arrow means a whole battalion is over run or the combat units are over runed need all available air support to that passions

"prairie fire prairie fire"

There have been a few lost nukes that fell directly onto American soil. Some were never fully recovered and thus the land had to be purchased and monitored by the federal government. Also when describing nuclear spillage, toxic glowing green goo isn’t a good representation of that since nuclear warheads are made from solid materials compressed together with conventional explosives to reach critical density.

Translation: "WE'RE F*CKED AND NEED ALL THE HELP YOU CAN SEND AND THEN SOME"

I guess danger close is now the new broken arrow

They are concerned about all John Travolta movies...

Disclaimer: do not jokingly say 'Broken Arrow' around your active service friends. They will quickly enter their game face and respond seriously, making your joke fall flat

terrain warfare versus Jungle Warfare

I was so sure this was about JJBA when i read the title lol

Funny it has to do with Nukes in the Air Force.

try making a video of weapons made in Indonesia, namely Pindad SS1 similar to Belgium and Pindad SS2 and Komodo D5 weapons and AM 1 weapons similar to M4 and AR 15 weapons from the United States and search for them.

Watching this on CC is funny. Every time they talk about the NVA, it misinterprets it as NBA regiment and im thinking of some bball squad fighting us

Can your next video be about the dictator or libya. Mummar gafaffi?

"Roger that, solid copy on Broken Arrow. Major it's been an honor, out." - Wolverine 2-1 Bravo Actuals final transmission to Wolverine 1-2 as they were being overrun by a couple platoons of T-80s. 2009 Modern Warfare 2 is just something else man.

Only broken arrow i know is from the aether storyline

Wasn't John Travolta in Broken Arrow? 🤔

What music is in the background?

Basically: Broken Arrow = Bombard Area

I knew broken arrow because of COD MW2 where Washington looked what happened to it during the American civil war