Cuban Missile Crisis issue of Germany by both East and West formally accepting the existence of West Germany and East Germany, and US recognition of the government of mainland China. The letter invited counter-proposals and further exploration of these and other issues through peaceful negotiations. Khrushchev invited Norman Cousins, the editor of a major US periodical and an anti-nuclear weapons activist, to serve as liaison with President Kennedy, and Cousins met with Khrushchev for four hours in December 1962. Kennedy's response to Khrushchev's proposals was lukewarm but Kennedy expressed to Cousins that he felt constrained in exploring these issues due to pressure from
550th Strategic Missile Squadron 550th SMA along with the 551st Strategic Missile Squadron at Lincoln AFB, Nebraska, on 1 April 1961, marked the first standing up of Atlas F units. The squadron was assigned twelve missiles, based in a 1 x 12 configuration: twelve independent widely dispersed launch sites comprised the missile squadron. In June 1962, the first operational sites for the Atlas F ICBMs were accepted by SAC and in September the squadron was declared operational. In the following month during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 550th received orders to maintain all 12 missiles on alert status. The Atlas F was the final