Inside the Ring: Problems of U.S. Nuclear Forces Must Be Addressed

The U.S. has developed and deployed nothing new in the strategic nuclear force since the late 1980’s. If you’ve been following these developments, this is nothing new under the sun from the last five to ten years. The only thing that should be new news is the level of complacency, neglect and urgency needed to stem the tide — of which only a small chance of doing so remains possible.

The prevailing view in the United States is that Nuclear Weapons are Cold War Relics while it also believes its adversaries create new ones, collect and expand their collection like children do LEGOS for fun.

 

U.S. strategic nuclear forces, both weapons and personnel, are experiencing serious problems that must be addressed urgently.

That is a central conclusion of a new study called the “Nuclear Enterprise Review” that the Pentagon is expected to release next week, according to defense officials familiar with the study.

Fixing nuclear forces’ problems will require the investment of billions of defense dollars in modernizing systems and greater leadership attention to training and readiness for the thousands of military personnel who operate and maintain the world’s most powerful arsenal.

The findings were made by an independent review panel on nuclear weapons personnel that identified key leadership and management lapses within nuclear forces.

The review followed several troubling incidents involving nuclear forces and personnel, including a cheating scandal uncovered in January on proficiency testing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, home of 150 Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles. The scandal ensnared 34 troops.

2 Nuclear Commanders Fired, Another Disciplined

The purge continues while America continues to turn a blind eye.

 

The Air Force on Monday fired two more nuclear commanders and disciplined a third, fresh evidence of leadership lapses in a nuclear missile corps that has suffered a rash of recent setbacks, including the firing last year of its top commander.

The most senior officer to be relieved Monday was Col. Carl Jones, the No. 2 commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, in charge of 150 of the Air Force’s 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. He was dismissed “for a loss of trust and confidence in his leadership abilities,” and has been reassigned as a special assistant to the wing commander.

The actions Monday were confirmed to The Associated Press in response to an AP inquiry about an internal Air Force investigation of two commanders at the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, which also is responsible for 150 Minuteman 3 missiles.

It is unusual for disciplinary action to be taken against senior officers at two of the Air Force’s three nuclear missile bases on the same day. Officials said the timing was a coincidence. It extends a pattern of leadership failures in the ICBM force over the past year.

America: Nuclear Missiles Battle-Ready?

The United States currently has 4,804 nuclear warheads, 450 of which are located on Air Force bases in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. These 450 Minuteman 3 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (icbms) are supposedly in constant battle-ready mode.Worryingly, the equipment used to secure these missiles was built in the 1960s. The bases are still using computers that require eight-inch floppy disks. As one missileer stated, she had not seen such “technology” until she started working in the command center. One would think the world’s superpower would use the latest state-of-the-art technology to safeguard its deadliest weapons.

However, it is not the shrinking army and its lack of up-to-date technology that should worry the American public the most, but the sketchy personnel in charge.

In 2013, the Air Force relieved the two-star general in command of the 450 icbms. The general was suspended for “exceeding the limits of accepted standards of good conduct and proper behavior” while on an official trip to Moscow. He reportedly drunk during the four-day trip. Earlier in the week, a vice admiral who oversaw the military’s nuclear forces, missile defense and cyber warfare operations was also relieved of his duties because of a probe into his possible use of counterfeit chips at an Iowa casino.

Air Force security failed nuke test

WASHINGTON — Armed security forces at a nuclear missile base failed a drill last summer that simulated the hostile takeover of a missile launch silo because they were unable to speedily regain control of the captured nuclear weapon, according to an internal Air Force review obtained by the Associated Press.

The previously unreported failure, which the Air Force called a “critical deficiency,” was the reason the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana flunked its broader safety and security inspection.

The security team was required to respond to the simulated capture of a Minuteman 3 nuclear missile silo, termed an “Empty Quiver” scenario in which a nuclear weapon is lost, stolen or seized. Each of the Air Force’s 450 Minuteman 3 silos contains one missile armed with a nuclear warhead and ready for launch on orders from the president.

US Will Cut Deployed Nuke Missile Force by 50

And then there was 400 launch-ready on land — not counting the 336 (soon to be 280) from sea and those that can be deployed by 93 designated planes (soon to be 60). Russia is also nowhere near under the 700 deployed as the article states/whitewashes. A simple search through Google or even here will pull up articles that show they’re both modernizing and increasing their strategic nuclear force. Although not mentioned in the article, the same goes for China.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will keep its current force of 450 land-based nuclear missiles but remove 50 from their launch silos as part of a plan to bring the U.S. into compliance with a 2011 U.S.-Russia arms control treaty, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The resulting launch-ready total of 400 Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles would be the lowest deployed ICBM total since the early 1960s. The decisions come after a strong push by members of Congress from the states that host missile bases – North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana – to not eliminate any of the silos from which the missiles would be launched. Fifty silos will be kept in “warm” status – empty of missiles but capable of returning to active use.

‘Culture of toleration’ rampant at U.S. nuke base led to ‘rot’ worse than originally reported

It’s good to know America’s nuclear deterrence received a “D” grade boost as opposed to an “F” because it’s held up by cooks, facility managers and a ‘highly rated training program’ where cheating has been running rampant, as of late.

WASHINGTON — Failings exposed last spring at a U.S. nuclear missile base, reflecting what one officer called “rot” in the ranks, were worse than originally reported, according to Air Force documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Airmen responsible for missile operations at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., passed an inspection in March 2013 with a “marginal” rating, the equivalent of a “D” in school. But it now turns out that even that was only because of good marks received by support staff like cooks and facilities managers, as well as a highly rated training program. Launch officers, or missileers, entrusted with the keys to the missiles did poorly and, on their own, would have flunked, the records show.

Officials: Systemic personnel problems may exist within Air Force’s nuclear missile corps

WASHINGTON – Top U.S. defence and military officials worked Wednesday to figure out what systemic personnel problems within the Air Force’s nuclear missile corps have caused problems ranging from low morale to cheating and serious security lapses.

…

Officials are exploring whether there are cultural problems within the nuclear force that make crew members more willing and able to cheat on proficiency tests, Kirby said, the latest revelation in a growing morass of problems among the men and women who maintain and staff the nation’s nuclear missiles.

More nuclear missile officers accused in cheating probe

The number of nuclear missile launch officers under investigation for allegations of cheating has nearly doubled, a U.S. military official said Tuesday.

On Jan. 15, the Air Force announced that 34 nuclear officers were under investigation for either cheating on tests or knowing about the cheating ring and not reporting it.

Officers at US nuclear missile base suspended in illegal drugs case

Two officers whose hands were on the nation’s nuclear trigger have been suspended from duty for alleged possession of illegal drugs, Air Force officials told NBC News on Thursday.

The two ICBM missile launch officers are assigned to the 341st Air Wing at Malmstrom Air Force base in Montana and would be responsible for launching nuclear-armed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Once known as America’s ‘ace in the hole,’ US nuclear missiles are now a force in distress

 

WASHINGTON — The hundreds of nuclear missiles that have stood war-ready for decades in underground silos along remote stretches of America, silent and unseen, packed with almost unimaginable destructive power, are a force in distress, if not in decline.

They are still a fearsome superpower symbol, primed to unleash nuclear hell on a moment’s notice at any hour of any day, capable of obliterating people and places halfway around the globe if a president so orders.

But the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, is dwindling, their future defense role is in doubt, and missteps and leadership lapses documented by The Associated Press this year have raised questions about how the force is managed.

Military removes commander of nuclear weapons unit

MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. (AP) — The Air Force has removed the commander of a nuclear weapons unit at a Montana base following a failed safety and security inspection that marked the second major misstep this year for one of the military’s most sensitive missions.

Military leaders say the decision to relieve Col. David Lynch of command at Malmstrom Air Force Base stems from a loss of confidence. They say it is not the result of the failed inspection this month first reported by The Associated Press on Aug. 13.

Air Force nuclear missile unit fails key security test, in latest setback

The Chinese, Soviets, North Koreans and even Iranians make daily advances in both military tech and its capability — whereas the U.S. is now floundering and stumbling on a daily basis, even committing suicide via nuclear disarmament.

An Air Force unit responsible for dozens of nuclear missiles failed a recent safety and security inspection — a setback that comes just months after the Air Force temporarily sidelined 17 officers in connection with a prior inspection flop.

The latest failure was recorded by the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. According to Air Force Global Strike Command, the unit received an “unsatisfactory” rating during the inspection in early August after personnel made “tactical-level errors” during an exercise.

“This failure resulted in the entire inspection being graded ‘unsatisfactory,‘” a statement from Global Strike Command said.