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Program
Countdown: NORAD
Producing Organization
Ross-McElroy Productions
WRKB
Contributing Organization
Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/512-pc2t43k14w
NOLA Code
CTND
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Description
Program Description
95 minute program, produced by WRKB and initially distributed by NET in 1962. It was originally shot on film.
Program Description
Countdown explores in detail Norad North American Air Defense. Norad is the vast network of early warning systems operating twenty-four hours a day to ensure the defense of the United States from enemy attack. Chicago, the second most heavily guarded city, is depicted as typical of Americas defense system. Using this city as its focal point, Countdown shows operating procedure at Norad headquarters the detection of aircraft through information supplied by continental radar, and the identification, interception, and destruction of theoretical enemy aircraft. This film also investigates SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), which supplies Norad with essential air detection information. Of particular interest is the discussion of the Nike Hercules and Nike Ajax missile batteries that ring Chicago and other cities in the United States. Countdown was produced for WRKB, a Chicago commercial TV station, by Ross McElroy Productions Inc. in cooperation with Norad, the strategic air command, the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the office of the Secretary of Defense. The guests on the program are: Gen. Laurence S. Kuter, commander-in-chief of Norad Lt. Gen Robert J. wood, commanding general of Norad Brig General Kenneth H. Gibson, commanding general of the Chicago defense sector Brig, Gen. Kermit David, commander of the Chicago-Gary defense area Col Francis J. Pallister, executive officer for the Chicago Gary defense area Lt. Col Andrew Freeborn, direction center chief, Chicago defense sector (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Broadcast Date
1962-00-00
Asset type
Program
Genres
Talk Show
Topics
Public Affairs
Military Forces and Armaments
Media type
Moving Image
Credits
Director: Braun, Clifford
Guest: Pallister, Francis J.
Guest: Freeborn, Andrew
Guest: GIbson, Kenneth H.
Guest: Wood, Robert J.
Guest: Kuter, Laurence S.
Guest: David, Kermit
Narrator: Ross, Norman
Producer: McElroy, David
Producing Organization: Ross-McElroy Productions
Producing Organization: WRKB
Writer: McElroy, David
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2413331-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2413425-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
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Citations
Chicago: “Countdown: NORAD,” 1962-00-00, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed August 15, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-pc2t43k14w.
MLA: “Countdown: NORAD.” 1962-00-00. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. August 15, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-pc2t43k14w>.
APA: Countdown: NORAD. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-pc2t43k14w