May 10th marked my 20th year serving in the US Air Force’s nuclear community. Two decades into the job as a missileer, I have a reasonable understanding of strategic nuclear deterrence. Acknowledging nuclear weapons remain a clear existential threat to America is the first step in understanding the relevance of nuclear deterrence. Bottom line up front-nuclear weapons can kill tens of millions of Americans in a matter of minutes. Nonetheless, a serious and ongoing debate continues about the relevance of nuclear weapons in the 21st Century.