pilot of the B-52G and acted as stand-in for Rock Hudson when Col Caldwell was depicted as flying the B-52G. The number of the 904th, and the name of its base, Carmody, are both fictitious. The actual base used in filming, Beale AFB, is a two-hour drive from San Francisco. The picture is dedicated to the officers, airmen, and wives of the 456th Aerospace Wing of the Strategic Air Command. The term "operational readiness inspection" (ORI) was actual terminology in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and applied to exercises evaluating the combat readiness of SAC, TAC, USAFE, and PACAF units to carry out their nuclear mission. An ORI would involve the unannounced arrival of a KC-135 with approximately 70 personnel on board who would then conduct a week-long evaluation of every aspect of that base's and wing's readiness. One of the TCM Database commentators vouches specifically for the ORI as depicted, and also for the minimum interval takeoff (MITO) sequence (in which Colonels Caldwell and Farr witness B-52Gs taking off fifteen seconds apart on average). The filming of the MITO occurred in the autumn of 1962 at Blytheville Air Force Base, Arkansas, with aircraft of the 97th Bombardment Wing (H). Reception A Gathering of Eagles received relatively weak critical reviews and did poorly at the box office. After more than forty years, opinions vary widely as to the causes of the poor reception. The period in which this film was released is notable for the release, one or two years later, of a number of films that were decidedly unsympathetic to the US military (e.g., Dr. Strangelove, Fail-Safe, etc.). These films asserted a position regarding "positive control" of nuclear weapons that ran counter to A Gathering of Eagles and appeared to much greater critical acclaim and box-office reception. Awards A Gathering of Eagles received an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Effects (Robert Bratton) in 1963. See also List of American films of 1963 Strategic Air Command (film) Bombers B-52 References Notes Bibliography Davis, Ronald L. "Robert Pirosh Interview." Words into Images: Screenwriters on the Studio System. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2007. . Graham, Richard H. SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales, and Legends. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Zenith Press, 2002, . Vagg, Stephen. Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood. Albany, Georgia: Bear Manor Media, 2010. . External links 1963 films Cold War aviation films Films directed by Delbert Mann 1963