Posted on 05/08/2013 2:25:33 AM PDT by markomalley
The Air Force stripped an unprecedented 17 officers of their authority to control - and, if necessary, launch - nuclear missiles after a string of unpublicized failings, including a remarkably dim review of their unit's launch skills. The group's deputy commander said it is suffering "rot" within its ranks.
"We are, in fact, in a crisis right now," the commander, Lt. Col. Jay Folds, wrote in an internal email obtained by The Associated Press and confirmed by the Air Force.
The tip-off to trouble was a March inspection of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., which earned the equivalent of a "D" grade when tested on its mastery of Minuteman III missile launch operations. In other areas, the officers tested much better, but the group's overall fitness was deemed so tenuous that senior officers at Minot decided, after probing further, that an immediate crackdown was called for.
The Air Force publicly called the inspection a "success."
But in April it quietly removed 17 officers at Minot from the highly sensitive duty of standing 24-hour watch over the Air Force's most powerful nuclear missiles, the intercontinental ballistic missiles that can strike targets across the globe. Inside each underground launch control capsule, two officers stand "alert" at all times, ready to launch an ICBM upon presidential order.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
This shouldn’t have been published and shouldn’t be further publicized. Making it public only serves to encourage enemies to strike.
The fish rots from the head down. I would no more let a son or daughter join today’s military than I would let them be a cannibal or cat burglar.
That’s right.
Someone else was put in their place the moment they were relieved, plus we have numerous nuclear missile submarines and bombers on alert. Our enemies know our procedures, they will not attack based on this.
If you read down into the whole mess...it gets interesting. First, a fair number of junior officers will now question their ranking officers, on any significant order. The ranking officers aren’t used to that kind of behavior.
Second, the ranking officers wanted the junior guys to report on each other....for violations. And the current trend and behavior....is not to rat on anyone. Again, the ranking officers aren’t used to that behavior.
Third, there were paperwork violations noted throughout an inspection, which the ranking officers are very upset about....because rules are rules.
If you ask me, the Air Force might want to look around, because it’s not just the junior officers doing this...same with junior NCOs, and junior airman. The society coming out of the past twenty years....has a different set of values. They aren’t going to do stupid stuff because it’s the general rule.
But would Obama allow retaliation? If our enemies are sure that there would be no retaliation, would they attack us?
I still believe Obama’s policies is going to get us nuked, either limited or full scale.
The whole country is turning to sh*t before our eyes; we can’t expect the services to be any different.
It speaks of a general lack of discipline.
The rules are there for a damn good reason. You don’t handle nuclear missiles based on whim or what a junior person feels like that day.
Certainly there is rot, throwing away procedures which have worked for decades is not the appropriate reaction.
Minot is cold but no colder then a dozen other places.
Civilians are rushing there to get some of the oil jobs.
Hopefully, of the 17 officers at least 1 or 2 were the Generals in charge. Making it public forces those in charge to actually make changes. The best disinfectant is sunshine.
“The society coming out of the past twenty years....has a different set of values. They aren’t going to do stupid stuff because it’s the general rule.”
Other than the two I raised I’m not sure I’d trust these folks to decide what is and isn’t stupid.
Once upon a time many years ago the 64th Aggressor Sq was having a string of dumb sh*t accidents. The Nellis Commander, MG Gene Fisher brought everyone home from TDY and gave them a speech. Someone recorded it and a transcript was made. It is very much like the email referenced here. Here’s a short excerpt:
I can tell you two years ago at a Commanders Conference the General said when the Aggressors arrive at your base, you ought to treat it like the plague. Boy, that’s a hell of an indictment, for a group of so-called professionals; for a group of people who are supposed to be able to fly airplanes better than anybody else in the Air Force...for a group of people who are supposed to be setting the standards, and getting their Commands air-to-air proficiency up, and knowledge of enemy tactics high. If you gotta tell an entire room full of Commander it’s like the plague when the Aggressors arrive. And we brief all the VIP’s that come in here that here’s our Aggressor force and we bring in only the most qualified people, right? We stand at this very podium and say “Only the best qualified aviators, do we allow in the Aggressors””...That’s bullshit! The best qualified people don’t jump out of airplanes...run into the ground. Our problem is we don’t have the best qualified...that’s our problem...and we’re gonna change that...we’re gonna make some drastic changes. Some of you sit’in in this room are gonna go, I guarantee you that. And we’re gonna be God-damned careful who replaces you. You lose control of an airplane in this business...you might just as well be thinking what your gonna do in your new job. It sure as hell isn’t gonna be flying fighters...in the Air Force. Is that a threat? Your God-damned right it is.
Reading all the way to the last paragraph will provide clarity for those who are unaware of how the missile officers have a dead-end career. It’s even much more so today than it was 50 years ago since the force has been concentrated to ND, WY, and MT. That’s not going to engender happy feelings from spouses with that limited mix of station locations. Some love those locations - I have a retired AF E-9 (non-missile) cousin that chose to stay in Cheyenne on retirement.
> This shouldn’t have been published and shouldn’t be further publicized. Making it public only serves to encourage enemies to strike.
My thought exactly, particularly in respect to recent events.
Thirty years ago...I knew an intel officer (three years in), who selected the missile officer field for four years. I asked him the logic. The AF was going to cover majority of his master’s degree cost, and then he’d move onto a PhD. As a missile officer, he had to stay on-site for the twenty-four shift, but there was barely three hours of real work...so he had tons of time to do homework and study for the tests. His plan was to wrap up the four years....do a one-year tour somewhere for the Air Force, and get out.
I bumped into an NCO who was a site-manager for sixteen years, and did his one-and-only overseas tour to Germany....to retire at the end of that tour. He only moved five times in his entire career, to include basic training.
There are advantages to the situation. But all of these sites are at the ‘end-of-the-Earth’, and you really have to enjoy spending four to six years in a pretty rural environment.
Christians across the board need to stand up and be heard. Take our govt and military back.
What is happening to my Air Force?
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