Thanks for the update, KenV.
Last time I saw parts of the SIOP was in 1984. I was Plans weenie for our wing at Hill, so we had an annex or two of the SIOP. We did not have a nuclear commitment, but the big plan had stuff that we needed to support the SIOP.
I am fairly confident that we now have a host of nuke options, most of which are not WW3.
I also can comment on a few things from the Cold War days.
I sat alert in N. Dakota with my trusty air defense VooDoo waiting. It had two nuclear Genie rockets ( not missiles, but real rockets that we aimed with the jet and no guidance on the suckers). I was 23 years old, but a fully-qualified pilot. We had no PAL ( permissive action link) and no Unique Signal Generator panel. We did have "two-man" control, as my back seater had to "consent". The F-106 dudes only had the one pilot so if that sucker was launched, there was no two-man stuff ot anything else. Also be aware that the U.S. Navy nuke planes did not have PAL. Not sure about the SLBM's on the subs.
In the Viper, we had a long process to "pre-arm" the nukes and we were always worried that the damned things would not work after we escaped and evaded all the threats and did not get blinded by another guy's nuke. Strange and terrifying times, my friends.
The actual arming process was changed after Goldsboro and the Spanish incident. We had the PAL, and it was coded to the actual bomb, and we had to enter the code after other security procedures. Then we had the USG ( unique signal generator), which was actually a sobriety test. Basically, a sequence of switches/keystrokes that meant you really, really intended to drop/launch the nuke. So that was "pre-arm", not "arming". Each nuke has a profile that must be achieved for it to "arm" or the sucker will not go off. So in my Viper I could not loft a B61 from 5 or 6 miles way like the 'vark could, or do an over-the-shoulder like the Navy A-7's could do. I had to fly over the tgt and have that stupid parachute and also make sure the bomb went up thru a change of altitude and come back down sensing a change and so forth.
Oh well, glad those days are over.
Gums recalls....