Air Force Strips Officers Of Authority To Oversee Nukes

[The Cysko Kid]

After a series of colossal fuck-ups, including one where an aircraft was mistakenly loaded with 6 nuclear weapons and flew across the country, and one where some nuclear missile componants were shipped to Taiwan, the air force has stripped 17 officers of their command at the 91st missile wing, Minot AFB North Dakota. Scary shit...what's the status of the rest of our nuclear weapons? How about Russia? Pakistan?

 

http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2013/may/08/us-airforce-nuclear-missiles

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Seems to be an Air Force problem.

[The Cysko Kid]

Yeah but when it involves misplacing nuclear weapons its everyone's problem

[FairHooker11]

the airmen who screwed up and loaded 6 nukes at Minot headed for Barksdale are now baggage handlers at MSP airport,

 

and still screwing up - getting luggage on the wrong flights...

 

Minot AFB Flight NCO was demoted also- He is working the ticket counter.....

 

But really - the officers sleeping at the switch for the ICBMS are more worrisome

[calfoxwc]

This is really concerning. The screwups can be fixed. But the underlying cause needs to be looked at.

 

Two other missile wings had "excellent" appraisals. This one tanks? Look at the dirtbags up the chain of command.

 

I'd met a few of these dirtbags back in the day. Good thing I never had to serve under them. They would never be able

 

to live a civilian life they were so screwed up with authority, so they thought.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/09/hagel-demands-answers-on-rot-at-nuke-missile-base/

In his email, Folds lamented the remarkably poor reviews the launch officers received in a March inspection. Their missile launch skills were rated "marginal," which the Air Force told the AP was the equivalent of a "D" grade.

In response, the Air Force said the problem does not suggest a lack of proper control over the nuclear missiles but rather was a symptom of turmoil in the ranks.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/09/hagel-demands-answers-on-rot-at-nuke-missile-base/#ixzz2SvaR2gbc

Hagel himself, before he was defense secretary, signed a plan put forward a year ago by the private group Global Zero to eliminate the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missiles and to eventually eliminate all nuclear weapons. At his Senate confirmation hearing he said he supports President Barack Obama's goal of zero nuclear weapons but only through negotiations.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/09/hagel-demands-answers-on-rot-at-nuke-missile-base/#ixzz2SvabjoXB

Welsh's civilian boss, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, suggested a silver lining to the trouble at Minot. The fact that Minot commanders identified 17 underperformers was evidence that the Air Force has strengthened its monitoring of the nuclear force, he said. And he stressed that launch crew members typically are relatively junior officers -- lieutenants and captains -- with limited service experience.

It is the duty of commanders, Donley said, to "ride herd" on those young officers with "this awesome responsibility" of controlling missiles capable of destroying entire countries.

Donley noted that he is particularly sensitive to any indication of weakness in the nuclear force because he took over as Air Force secretary in October 2008 after his predecessor, Michael Wynne, was fired by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a series of nuclear embarrassments. Donley was charged with cleaning up the problem.

It appeared the Minot force, which is one of three responsible for controlling -- and, if necessary, launching -- the Air Force's 450 strategic nuclear missiles, is an outlier.

The Air Force told the AP on Wednesday that the two other missile wings -- at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., and at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo. -- earned scores of "excellent" in the most recent inspection of their ICBM launch skills. That is two notches above the "marginal" rating at Minot and one notch below the highest rating of "outstanding." Each of the three wings operates 150 Minuteman 3 missiles.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/09/hagel-demands-answers-on-rot-at-nuke-missile-base/#ixzz2SvawQH2d