Saturday, October 20, 2007
Nukes over America follow-up
A follow-up to a story the Clarion covered last month; the Air Force accidentally flew six nuclear missiles on a B-52 right over the center of the continental United States, from South Dakota to Louisiana. This was in violation of a policy that goes back to the 1960's about not flying nukes over the United States. (duh.) It occurred during a decommissioning of some older missiles the military was replacing. An issue that is going to rear its head with increasing frequency in the coming years as America's Cold War arsenal ages.
The Air Force to their credit did a serious investigation. Four colonels have been relieved of duty, sixty-five other Air Force personnel were disciplined, and likely rightly so. If you read this article from the Washington Post you will be amazed how many checks these missiles were supposed to go through to make sure they were unarmed before being strapped to the wing of a B-52 bomber. At each stage the procedure was either lax or failed. Awful.
The latest Bush II Sec Def impressed the Democratic chairwoman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee with the breadth of his inquiry, so the Clarion guesses we can all sleep safely now. Close your eyes and back to bed America. Nothing to see here, nothing to worry about.
The mission of the 5th Bomb Wing, where the plane carrying the six nuclear weapons originated its flight, is providing combat-ready B-52 aircraft, crews and associated combat support for deterrence, crisis response, global power projection, major theater war and maritime operations and Air and Space Expeditionary Force deployments.
The Air Force to their credit did a serious investigation. Four colonels have been relieved of duty, sixty-five other Air Force personnel were disciplined, and likely rightly so. If you read this article from the Washington Post you will be amazed how many checks these missiles were supposed to go through to make sure they were unarmed before being strapped to the wing of a B-52 bomber. At each stage the procedure was either lax or failed. Awful.
The latest Bush II Sec Def impressed the Democratic chairwoman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee with the breadth of his inquiry, so the Clarion guesses we can all sleep safely now. Close your eyes and back to bed America. Nothing to see here, nothing to worry about.
The mission of the 5th Bomb Wing, where the plane carrying the six nuclear weapons originated its flight, is providing combat-ready B-52 aircraft, crews and associated combat support for deterrence, crisis response, global power projection, major theater war and maritime operations and Air and Space Expeditionary Force deployments.
Labels: Politics, technology
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