Air Force Crew Dozes Off With Launch Codes

3 Crew Members Holding Classified Code Devices Fall Asleep On Duty; Codes Not Compromised

(AP)  Three ballistic missile crew members in North Dakota fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering an investigation by military and National Security Agency experts, the Air Force said Thursday.

The probe found that the missile launch codes were outdated and remained secure at all times. But the July 12 incident comes on the heels of a series of missteps by the Air Force that had already put the service under intense scrutiny.

"This was just a procedural violation that we investigated," said Air Force Col. Dewey Ford, a spokesman at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "We determined that there was no compromise."

The lapse, which involved a crew based at Minot Air Force Base, south of the Canadian border, was serious enough, however, to prompt an investigation by the 91st Missile Wing, in conjunction with codes experts at the 20th Air Force, U.S. Strategic Command and the National Security Agency.

It also delivers another blow to the beleaguered Air Force.

Last month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a sweeping shake-up of the Air Force leadership, blaming them for failing to deal fully with a series of nuclear-related mishaps.

At the time, Gates said his decisions to sack the Air Force secretary and chief of staff were based mainly on the blistering conclusions of an internal report on the mistaken shipment to Taiwan of four Air Force fusing devices for ballistic missile nuclear warheads.

He also linked the underlying causes of that slip-up to the August incident in which a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown from Minot Air Force Base, south of the Canadian border, to Barksdale Air Force Base in the southern state of Louisiana.

No one has been punished in the latest Minot incident that involved sleeping crew members. A continuing review by Minot commanders will determine what, if any, actions will be taken against them.

Ford and other Air Force officials said the Minot-based crew had code devices that were no longer usable, since new codes had been installed in the missiles.

The three crew members, who are in the 91st Missile Wing, were in the missile alert facility about 70 miles from Minot. That facility includes crew rest areas and sits above the underground control center where the keys can be turned to launch ballistic missiles.

Officials said the three officers were behind locked doors and had with them the old code components, which are large classified devices that allow the crew to communicate with the missiles. Launch codes are part of the component, and the devices were described as large, metal boxes.

Ford said they were waiting to get back to base "and they fell asleep."

It is not clear how long they were asleep.

There are periodic, regularly scheduled code changes, and there was a crew of four on duty. One of the crew members was not in the room with the other three at the time they fell asleep, the Air Force said.

The investigation concluded that the codes had remained secured in their containers, which have combination locks that can be opened only by the crew. The containers remained with the crew at all times, and the facility is guarded by armed security forces.

Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan called the series of nuclear missteps involving Minot Air Force Base in his state, North Dakota, disappointing and unfortunate.

"This appears to me to be an incident in which codes were not compromised but some rules were broken, and those broken rules were reported," Dorgan said. "This does not appear to me to be equal to flying an airplane loaded with nuclear weapons halfway across the county; that was extraordinarily serious.

"I don't think this is an issue about the base. I think it's an issue about personnel," Dorgan said. "There have obviously been management and command problems at this base, and the Air Force has made some command changes to respond to it."

Col. Bruce Emig was ousted after the August flight of the B-52 bomber.

"The violation was reported and it required reporting, and the airmen did their duty to report it," Dorgan said, referring to the latest incident.

North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, who spoke with Air Force officials Thursday about the matter, said the Minot base is getting extra scrutiny because of its embarrassing mistakes.

"They told me procedural violations do occur periodically," he said.

But Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, called the incident very troubling. "The new Air Force leadership, when confirmed, must take decisive and urgent steps to restore the culture of respect that our strategic weapons deserve and our national security demands," said Skelton.

Gen. Norton A. Schwartz has been nominated to be the next Air Force chief of staff and Michael Donley to be secretary. During their Senate confirmation hearing this week both men vowed to work to restore trust and confidence in the service.

The 91st missile wing has control of several facilities, including 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles.

[meanbiker]

As far as what the Air Force does,you are an idiot. The Air Force is on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan doing the same jobs as the Army and Marines.

Posted by redbds

Go smoke some more crack like Obama.. Because you are AFU... when is the last time you saw the air force clear a building? Hump 3 mile to a fire fight..

[meanbiker]

Do you really expect anything more out of the fly boys and women.. Come on.. they aren''t the real military.. they are just geeks in a pretty uniform..

[vranger]

vrange,
Perhaps you should read the article.
Quote: One of the crew members was NOT IN THE ROOM (my caps for emphasis) with the other three at the time they fell asleep, the Air Force said.

While it could have been the fourth crewmember that found them asleep, the article doesn%u2019t say who caught them or how many others had access to the locked rooms.

I don%u2019t need to respond to your insults and name-calling; they clearly indicate your character and integrity, or lack there of.

********************************

It doesn''t matter if he was in the room or not if he was awake in the near vicinity. I only compare you to the Leno idiots because I get tired of people like you who can''t see the nose on their face, they''re so eager to criticize ANYTHING.

This is obviously a non-event. If it were a real security incident, it would be classified and studied, not put on the news for a spy or sabateur to learn security holes from. LOL

The only reason you see this article today is the that news people were unlucky (their opinion) not to have any disasters costing scores of lives to fawn over. Slow news day for them ... no major tragedies.

[libsluv2spit]

Of course they were sleeping.

They were trying to sober up before they got off duty.




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Posted by tuckerndfw at 12:35 PM : Jul 25, 2008
+ report abuse


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another nice liberal ''john kerry'' style prespective of our military staff...gotta love these liberals..and they moan that they care about our military.

[redbds]

Wrong. These guys have a duty to be the last line of defense, and they obviously don''''t take it seriously. I think there are lots of enlisted folks in Iraq and Afghanistan who''''d love to have the opportunity to trade up with their slacker Chair Force brethren.

The point of this article is that the Chair Force is a joke. The Army, Navy, and Marines don''''t clown around like this, making stupid mistake after stupid mistake. If a submariner fell asleep with the launch codes, they''''d be in Leavenworth prison. But in the Chair Force, it''''s perfectly fine.

Posted by diatreme at 11:28 AM : Jul 25, 2008

You obviously don''t know anything about this issue because you are ignoring the facts pointed out in the article. The codes were expired, they were inside a locked facility, and there was no threat of compromise. The issue is only that the officeres were sleeping on duty.

As far as what the Air Force does,you are an idiot. The Air Force is on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan doing the same jobs as the Army and Marines. The Army doesn''t clown around. Can you say Abu Grahaib (detainee mis-treatment) and Camp Bucca (mud wrestling). By the way the Air Force was called in to take over Camp Bucca after the Army screwed up there.

[Michael Arnold]

Great work, boys! Must have been the same slackers who were on the ball on 9-11.

Trillions of $$$ to "police the world" and no protection at home -- again.

[patriot12436]

jn
Excellent response, i agree , there is no need to become rude when making replies.

[patriot12436]

diatreme
You have never met a launch crew. They are highly trained and motivated. They know if they have to turn their keys millions of people are going to die.

[jn122736]

This comparison is blatantly shortsighted.

Firefighters are not likely to wake up to an emergency alarm and find their classified nuclear missile launch codes had been stolen while they were asleep.

************************************
**********

Neither were these officers. Read the story numbskull. In a locked building ... 4th officer present and not asleep ... I think you are a good candidate for a Leno street interview. LOL
Posted by vranger at 10:09 AM : Jul 25, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

vrange,
Perhaps you should read the article.
Quote: One of the crew members was NOT IN THE ROOM (my caps for emphasis) with the other three at the time they fell asleep, the Air Force said.

While it could have been the fourth crewmember that found them asleep, the article doesn%u2019t say who caught them or how many others had access to the locked rooms.

I don%u2019t need to respond to your insults and name-calling; they clearly indicate your character and integrity, or lack there of.

[newsjunky5]

Kind of like watching a drunk and hoping he can''t get his car started.

[retafmsgt]

This is another case of our over zealous media trying to sensationalize half-baked truths. The report conveniently omits the fact that these officers were sleeping in a highly secure controlled area with AWAKE armed security forces just yards away.

[redbds]

The bottom line here is that the officers were sleeping on duty. They were locked in a facility. By the way it is very likely that they were the only four personnel in that portion of the facility. That tells me that the forth person who was not asleep was likely the person that reported the incident. This is really a non-story. No compromise or potential for compromise of the codes.

[piercetheval]

...Hey Jetishan, don''t need no drugs, I just get Irie!

[mcdonaj3]

I guess I still don''t get it. What good would outdated launch codes do in a "real" emergency. Where were the current launch codes?

[vranger]

This comparison is blatantly shortsighted.

Firefighters are not likely to wake up to an emergency alarm and find their classified nuclear missile launch codes had been stolen while they were asleep.

**********************************************

Neither were these officers. Read the story numbskull. In a locked building ... 4th officer present and not asleep ... I think you are a good candidate for a Leno street interview. LOL

[jetlizhan]

piercetheval:

hey dude, ever heard of zanax?

[cessna172_]

Its very unfortunate that our military has become lax in certain areas of National security however you can''t launch a green light without the third leg of the triangle being confirmed . This is fact !

I hope everyone follows this anaology .

Boy, this sure is a comforting thought about our Air Force Base on the Canadian border. Loading up nukes to fly and having launch codes in the hands of sleeping airmen. And we wonder why people are so antsy about national security.

[nothappyatall]

"The probe found that the missile launch codes were outdated and remained secure at all times."

Oh yeah, we really believe THAT bullchit, right kids?
If that was true then it would be a total NON-news story. Fact is the codes WERE valid and were NOT secure, and only a matter of time before we have some serious accident as a result of idiots.

[jn122736]

Hmmm...

In every state and terriroty of the United States, there are many thousands of firefighters, on duty, but asleep, every night.

However, they are ready to respond to any emergency.

In some firehouses, there will be no calls, so the firefighters actually get to sleep.

In other firehouses there could be several or more calls, and the firefighters will not be able to sleep.

So, please pardon me if I say it is a big Y A W N, if U.S. Air Force missile control officers are sleeping while on duty.

What matters is that they would have been able and ready to respond during an alert. That is the basic bottom line. Had there been an emergency, they would have responded, promptly, just like any firefighter.

Posted by dakotaclark at 03:01 AM : Jul 25, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


This comparison is blatantly shortsighted.

Firefighters are not likely to wake up to an emergency alarm and find their classified nuclear missile launch codes had been stolen while they were asleep.