A gripping new Cold War memoir, Failure Not an Option: A Cold War Memoir from Nuclear Crisis to Senior Federal Law Enforcement Officer by Bob Hicks, is now available, telling the true story of how a skinny farm kid from Somerset, Texas rose to handle nuclear crises, chase corrupt defense contractors and help protect the United States from both foreign and domestic threats.
In plain, direct language, Hicks walks readers from dirt roads and rattlesnakes to missile silos, undercover operations and national security command posts, all under a personal rule he carried for life: failure is not an option.
A Cold War Crisis That Changed Everything
At the heart of Failure Not an Option is a real nuclear emergency at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in 1964, when a Minuteman missile’s reentry vehicle, containing a nuclear warhead, was blown off the missile deep inside an underground silo.
As a young nuclear weapons specialist, Hicks was called to the scene on a freezing night and asked to do what had never been done before. He descended into the missile silo alongside an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians, installed safety pins in the missile, assessed the damaged warhead and proposed a detailed recovery plan using a cargo net and crane.
“It was clear nobody had a script for what we were facing that night,” Hicks recalls. “We were in new territory. You don’t get to say ‘let’s just walk away’ when there is a nuclear weapon at the bottom of a hole under a live missile.”
That incident, and the successful extraction and transport of the damaged warhead, shaped his career, his reputation inside the Strategic Air Command and the title of the book itself.
From Somerset Dirt Roads to Top Secret Clearances
The autobiography reveals that Hicks had a modest upbringing and lacked any sort of social status. His childhood was spent in a house with many family members in Somerset, Texas, where he was exposed to gospel music, snakes, and farm work. The living conditions were poor, but the family was rich in the things that mattered; love, discipline and ethics.
The school Superintendent Bill James and the Future Farmers of America teacher Kenneth Taylor were central in shaping Hicks' character through their strict but fair teaching by insisting that integrity, effort and service are more important than grades or prizes. Those early lessons followed him into the Air Force.
“I wasn’t the smartest person in any room,” Hicks says. “But I knew how to work, how to listen and how to repair things when they broke. The Somerset community taught me that long before any uniform did.”
After almost missing the enlistment weight requirement, Hicks’ test scores and clean background pushed him into nuclear weapons maintenance training at Lowry Air Force Base. There, he fought through physics he had never seen in high school, mastered complex warhead systems and earned the trust needed for a top secret “Q” clearance.
From Nuclear Weapons Specialist to Senior Federal Law Enforcement Officer
Failure Not an Option does not stop in the missile fields. After years in nuclear weapons and bomb disposal, Hicks moved into the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), where he eventually became both a Chief Master Sergeant and a senior civilian Special Agent in Charge.
In these chapters, the memoir pulls back the curtain on:
- Undercover work with the FBI to expose defense contractors supplying faulty aircraft parts
- Fraud investigations that recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on major weapons programs, including Titan missiles and the B2 Stealth Bomber
- Responses to terrorism and security crises in Germany, including the Ramstein bombing and the Dozier kidnapping
- His role in coordinating national security ground responses during 9/11
“People think of national security as something handled in big rooms with screens and maps,” Hicks notes. “Most of the time, it’s a handful of people doing very unglamorous work, staying within the law, and refusing to look the other way when something isn’t right.”
The memoir shows how the same mindset that helped him stay calm in a missile silo later guided his decisions in complex investigations and crisis responses.
A Story for Families, Veterans and Citizens
Although Failure Not an Option is filled with technical details and high stakes moments, it is also a deeply personal book. Hicks opens with an apology and dedication to his wife Janet and their sons, acknowledging years of absence, missed moments and the cost of service on a family.
“I promised my family that when I could finally tell the story, I would,” he writes. “This book is part confession; part explanation and part thank you.”
The memoir will resonate with:
- Veterans and military families who understand long separations and classified work
- Readers interested in Cold War history, nuclear weapons and the inner workings of Strategic Air Command
- Those curious about OSI, federal law enforcement and how major fraud and security cases are actually built
- Anyone who believes character and courage can matter more than background or credentials
About the Author
Bob Hicks' distinguished service spanned four decades, from Strategic Air Command nuclear operations, rendering safe hundreds of explosive bombs and other explosive devices to senior federal investigations. His key achievements include years of undercover operations, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, counterespionage work, recovering hundreds of millions in defense contractor fraud, and leading OSI's largest command units. Inducted into the OSI Hall of Fame in 2013 for valiant achievements, the decorated veteran now enjoys a retired life in Texas focused on family and faith.
Media Contact
Company Name: Spark Leaf Publishing
Contact Person: Robert H. Bob Hicks
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Country: United States
Website: https://robertbobhicks.com/
