Air Force: Nuke Blunder “Unacceptable”

70 Disciplined After Nukes Mistakenly Flown Over U.S.; 5th Bomb Wing Decertified From Wartime Mission

(CBS/AP)  In its first explicit confirmation that nuclear-armed missiles were erroneously flown across the United States in late August, the U.S. Air Force called the episode an “unacceptable mistake” of a sort that had never happened before.

Three commanders were relieved of duty, and an additional undisclosed number were disciplined in connection with an Aug. 29 "Bent Spear" incident.

The Air Force said Friday it has punished 70 airmen, with 4 commanders relieved of duty, following an investigation that found widespread disregard for the rules on handling such munitions.

“We are making all appropriate changes to ensure this has a minimal chance of ever happening again,” Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne told reporters Friday.

He spoke at a Pentagon news conference after Defense Secretary Robert Gates was briefed on the results of the Air Force's six-week investigation into the Aug. 29-30 incident, one of the worst known breaches of nuclear weapons-handling procedures in decades.

“Bent Spear” is a Pentagon term referring to a nuclear weapons incident that is serious but without a threat of detonation.

Appearing with Wynne was Maj. Gen. Richard Newton, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations, who attributed the episode to an “unprecedented string of procedural errors” beginning with a failure by airmen to conduct a required inspection of the missiles before they were loaded aboard the B-52 bomber that flew from Minot Air Force Base, near the Canadian border, across several states to Barksdale Air Force Base in the southern state of Louisiana.

"There has been an erosion of adherence to weapons-handling standards at Minot Air Force Base and Barksdale Air Force Base," said Newton

The missiles were supposed to be taken to Louisiana, but the warheads were supposed to have been removed beforehand.

A main reason for the error was that crews had decided not to follow a complex schedule under which the status of the missiles is tracked while they are disarmed, loaded, moved and so on, one official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

The airmen replaced the schedule with their own "informal" system, he said, though he didn't say why they did that nor how long they had been doing it their own way.

"This was an unacceptable mistake and a clear deviation from our exacting standards," Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne said at a Pentagon press conference with Newton. "We hold ourselves accountable to the American people and want to ensure proper corrective action has been taken."

Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, said she believed the Air Force had done a thorough investigation, but the findings were "a warning sign that there has been degradation" of attitudes toward the handling of the weapons.

"These are not just rules that people dreamed up ... just so they could check off the boxes," she said. "This is fundamentally important to the security of the country and the world."

Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists was among those skeptical that the August flight represented an isolated incident.

He said a decline in Air Force standards for nuclear weapons maintenance and security was documented by the government a decade ago. In recent years, he said, Minot and Barksdale have both gotten poor marks during inspections routinely required for certification.

"Part of the reason is that after the end of the Cold War, and the disappearance of the Soviet nuclear threat, the nuclear career was not very sexy - it was not the way to go if you wanted to"
advance in the military. A shortage of people with the right skills, training and mentality followed, something the Air Force has worked to improve, he said.

Newton acknowledged that the Air Force needs to "restore the confidence" lost among the American people after the August incident, which raised questions about the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal.

“This was a failure to follow procedures, procedures that have proven to be sound,” Newton said.

Highest ranked among those punished were four officers who were relieved this week of their commands, including the 5th Bomb Wing commander at Minot, Col. Bruce Emig, who also has been the base commander since June.

Some 65 airmen have been decertified from handling nuclear weapons. The certification process looks at a person's psychological profile, any medications they are taking and other factors in determining a person's reliability to handle weapons.

Newton said the 5th Bomb Wing, which operates B-52s has been “decertified from its wartime mission.”

He added that the problem was isolated but resulted from problems at both air bases.

After arriving at Barksdale, the B-52 sat on a runway for hours with the missiles before the breach was known; 36 hours passed before the missiles were properly secured, officials have said.

Newton avoided repeated questions on what extra security would have been required if crews had known the nuclear weapons were on the plane. But another official later said privately that security was increased as soon as the nuclear warheads were discovered.

The Air Combat Command ordered a command-wide stand-down instituted base by base to set aside time for personnel to review procedures, officials said.

The incident was so serious that it required that President George W. Bush and Gates be quickly informed.

Wynne prefaced his remarks about the B-52 incident by saying that in publicly confirming that nuclear weapons were involved he had authorized a one-time exception to U.S. policy, which states that the location of nuclear weapons will never be confirmed. He said he made this exception because of the seriousness of the episode and its importance to the nation.

The weapon involved was the Advanced Cruise Missile, a "stealth" weapon developed in the 1980s with the ability to evade detection by Soviet radar. The Air Force said in March that it had decided to retire the Advanced Cruise Missile fleet soon, and officials said after the breach that the missiles were being flown to Barksdale for decommissioning.

Associated Press Writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.

[lewiston14]

erasmus6

I truly hope not. In the next year I truly hope the government does not drag us into another cold war. Nuclear war has one common denominator Nobody wins everybody looses. You would think they would have figured that out by now. Here%u2019s one for the conspiracy people. News reports that 6 new B52%u2019s landed in England and were moved to hangers. Two days later they took off back to the US but nobody has said a word. That would keep the world guessing. Perhaps even simpler just fly those 6 bombers to England and just park them. Planes move around all the time but im willing to bet it would cause some concern to some countries with less then stellar backrounds.

[erasmus6]

"The question remains how the media got this information." posted by lewiston14

Exactly. It makes me think that they let it leak for a reason. I mean really, why would they want the rest of the world to know that they are that stupid unless there was an ulterior motive.

"...by saying that in publicly confirming that nuclear weapons were involved he had authorized a one-time exception to U.S. policy, which states that the location of nuclear weapons will never be confirmed. He said he made this exception because of the seriousness of the episode and its importance to the nation."

Hmmmm, that''s a joke. The U.S. thinks nothing of keeping secrets, so why tell this?

"The weapon involved was the Advanced Cruise Missile, a "stealth" weapon developed in the 1980s with the ability to evade detection by Soviet radar."

Now this statement makes me think that there was a reason for letting it out, perhaps as a message to Russia?

[Krazcarl]

OK what I want to know is there any other unaccounted for nuclear weapons if it can happen once it can happen twice. You''d think others would find that interesting but no argue politics media rights one of those bad boys goes off that will be the least of our worries. The sap on the hill hasn''t even ordered a immediate inventory to my knowledge.

[lewiston14]

Posted by Andor3
But the flip side is somewhere there were 6 nukes missing and unaccounted for--for hours. They weren''''t where they should have been and they weren''''t officially on the airplane. Someone should be asking about that!

Andor3 you are correct. 6 boomers getting out of the barn there should have been a mob scene of security there. I did not mean to just focus on one point. Everybody should have known but I don%u2019t think this was the case and even if one little guy knew something was wrong he may not have wanted to say anything for fear of getting slapped hard.

Posted by erasmus6

The point is that your media gives away TOO MUCH information

Erasmus6

You are also correct. The question remains how the media got this information. One would hope they don%u2019t just let the media walk around military bases especially nuclear ones snapping their fill. Somebody opened their mouth. As many have pointed out the media can be a 2 edge sword. On one side checks and balances on the other side internal security.

[rodville-2009]

When incidents like this happens...it''s easy to blame the people that "work the trenches"! The fact is, in every operations the military is involved (peacetime and/or war time) there are enormous volumes of planning docs and technical orders that needs to be followed. What needs to be looked at in here is how the leadership handled THE SCHEDULE and "who ordered what"

There are always SCHEDULES to follow and when these SCHEDULES falls behind...the LEADERSHIP is not happy. Personnel are asked to "make sure" they meet these schedule...so what happens is they take short cuts! These jr NCO''s and "trench folks" are put under a lot of pressure to meet unrealistic expectations...and when it gets public they are the first ones to be blamed!

[vet_sk]

This should show everyone what bad shape our military is in now after the debacle of Iraq.

Where were the senior NCO''s with the charge to look over the nukes - the ones who would yell and scream to keep the standards; well folks, they are long gone. Replaced by knucklehead NCOs who think keeping the military standards is keeping a clean, kept uniform.

I missed dinner several times in Iraq because there was not time between end of mission and getting back to my chew to change so I could get entry to the mess hall. These are the new military standards - they have no idea how to prioritize.

It is so rediculous that people are getting out for those reasons. It is only funny the first time. Officer are under the same rediculous standards, by the same rediculous NCOs.

Our generation, the parents of the current troops would never allow this to happen.

It is just a game to them - like Halo to them. Expect a lot more of the same.

And people think that somewhere in the military they would stop Bush? The military is primarily religious zelouts who love Bush. A general would have little support if he decided not to allow an attack on Iran. So we can''t count on that. It is hopeful, but we can''t.

[lovecat1]

AS ONE WHO HAD WORK WITH SENCITIVE MATERIAL.
WHERE WAS THE CONTROL ELEMENTS, IN THE NUMBERS REQUIRED FOR MOVEMENT OF SUCH CRITICAL MATTER.
THERE ARE LOAD PLANS AND PROCEDURES FOR MOVING THESE TYPES OF ITEMS.EVERYONE FROM THE LEAST MAN TO THE HIGHEST MAN, HAD TO HAVE KNOWN OF THESE PROCEDURES...
THE MEDIA IS A CHECK AND BALANCE POINT FOR OUR CITIZENS..THANK YOU

[fascistusa]

The Corporate "Media" is ONLY for The Elite. The Mega-Rich. They information WE THe People are told is FALSE/Distorted/Misinformation.

Half the Comments on here are Government Shills supporting the FAKE Story.

King Cheney ordered a NUCLEAR ATTACK on Iran.

That''''s The Truth on this Story. This was no "accident". The Air Force REVOLTED and told him NO.

The story is a COVER UP.

You Thinkers out there... and I know it''''s very, very FEW:

Morals and Dogmas (Albert Pike). Iron Heel by Jack London. Brave New World. It Can''''t Happen Here. The New World Order by HG Wells (1940). 1984 Orwell. Fahrenheit 451. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (1957). Fight Club. V for Vendetta.

Network (1976). Brasil (1985). The Matrix Trilogy. V for Vendetta. Shooter (2006).

Pink Floyd''''s The WALL.

WAKE THE *** UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Krazcarl]

Hey fellas it''s not about the media if not for the media we would have never known the problem is that 6 nuclear missing and no one would knew I''ve heard rumors of military hardware on the black market like you need a machine gun to hunt dear but thought it a isolated incidents that never would make it to the bomb stage, I for one thank the media betcha they''ll be more careful now, the troubling thing that no one is asking is there any other unaccounted for nukes I believe outside inventory is in order I''m concerned. I say again 6 nuclear warheads got off base and no one knew, As earlier posters have stated you could drop one and pick it up later or have waiting retrieval team. I now have no faith in our nuclear guards I would imagine a great deal of money could be made and with out a dought they would be in unfriendly hands I find that TROUBLING

[imnho]

It seems that a bad attitude coupled with complete disreguard for procedures caused this anomaly. It looks like a few professional heads are rolling, with more to come. It seems that the base commander failed to set the proper tone and his sobordinates just followed there leader over the edge of the cliff. They are ppresently finding out that it is a long way down and the rocks are very hard.

[erasmus6]

j-whitman

"Think about it,,, unless it becomes public knowledge through an active media vice a controlled & silenced one, the problem would just get worse"

I agree that a story should be told, I just don''t agree on how much is revealed. And I don''t agree that it should be made so easily available for the rest of the world to hear it. YOUR news is put out there for the whole world to see everyday whereas here, it isn''t so "out there", if you know what I mean.

I live in Canada, and here, we hear the stories but the media does not feel the need to spew every nitty gritty detail. We get the facts that we need and that is it. There isn''t this obsessive need to get out every detail and in so doing putting our country and people in danger. In fact, there are times where the media will do the right thing and tell the people that they are not going to report any further details as it may cause more harm than good. In other words we don''t give out too much information so that it gets into the wrong hands, such as terrorists etc.

"But I don''''t see how you can say "We don''''''''t have that kind of obsession here." It''''s everywhere in this country, our fasination with fame & bling.."

Again, I live in Canada, and we don''t have the same obsession with celebrities as the U.S. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

[j-whitman]

erasmus6,,, I agree the obsession with celebrities is ridiculous.... But I don''t see how you can say "We don''''t have that kind of obsession here." It''s everywhere in this country, our fasination with fame & bling..
. There is way too much of that in our media instead of reporting the injustices & problems in our government that we as voters do need to be kept informed on.

[j-whitman]

erasmus6,,, Think about it,,, unless it becomes public knowledge through an active media vice a controlled & silenced one, the problem would just get worse

[erasmus6]

"What? Like a guy walk''''n around wit his dork out his trousers?" posted by booyaw78

Was your comment referring to mine about "Toolmangler"?

[andor3]

NavyRetired2 raises a really great point, and maybe the biggest question of all:
"After spending 20+ years safeguarding sensitive classified material, I cannot simply believe that 70 people lost the chain of custody on 6 nukes."

So everyone seems to focus on the crew thinking they should have somehow known they had nukes not duds.

But the flip side is somewhere there were 6 nukes missing and unaccounted for--for hours. They weren''t where they should have been and they weren''t officially on the airplane. Someone should be asking about that!

[erasmus6]

"You can''''t blame the media, just the politics of the military allowing the situation & lack of attention to training to become that bad.." posted by j-whitman

The s-c-r-e-w up is the fault of the military, yes, but the media when reporting things, gives away too much information. I can remember many times reading stuff where the media has basically told the world where all the weak spots are in the U.S. and there has been other things that I can''t remember right now. Also not long ago the media reported Prince William snorting Vodka and that it was not widely known about that in the U.S. HELLO, now that the media has spilled their guts, all the kids in the U.S. and anybody else that didn''t know about it do NOW.

The media in the U.S. is out of control. You just have to look at the obsession with celebrities to see that. It is ridiculous. We don''t have that kind of obsession here.

[j-whitman]

erasmus6,,, You can''t blame the media, just the politics of the military allowing the situation & lack of attention to training to become that bad..
.. I was involved in a Bent Spear incident back in the early 80''s & understand how they work & can occur..
.. It''s lax proceedures when you ignore the rules...... It''s a problem that prevails throughout our govenment as well as in the work place & schools.. Look at our White House & Congress for another example on how bad it gets.
--- The degeneration of American Ethics ---

[gracchus1]

fascistusa,

You are the winner! You nailed it right on the head! Too bad some others on this and other threads fail to see that.

[txhorns512]

The US Air Force is still the number one Air Force on the planet. And they have some of the most competent and disciplined personnel...that said, they also make mistakes.

[booyaw78]

What? Like a guy walk''n around wit his dork out his trousers?