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Could the US even launch a nuclear missile if it wanted to? Critics point to growing alarm
UK daily mail ^ | 20 December 2014

Posted on 12/21/2014 5:51:32 PM PST by Jet Jaguar

Faced with one of its biggest challenges in years - repairing a troubled nuclear missile corps - the Air Force has taken an important first step by admitting, after years of denial, that its problems run deep and wide. Less certain is whether it will find all the right fixes, apply them fully and convince a doubting force of launch officers, security guards and other nuclear workers that their small and narrow career field is not a dead end. The stakes are huge.The nation's strategy for deterring nuclear war rests in part on the 450 Minuteman 3 missiles that stand ready, 24/7, to launch at a moment's notice from underground silos in five states. Some question the wisdom of that strategy in an era of security threats dominated by terrorism and cyberattacks. But whatever their role, those intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, will have to be safeguarded for years to come.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


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To: NonValueAdded

The WOPR?.....Well, okay as long is does not buy into that ‘put the X in the center square’ crap!


41 posted on 12/21/2014 7:30:38 PM PST by bobby.223 (Retired up in the snowy mountains of the American Redoubt and it's a great life!)
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To: The Great RJ

Most likely 0bama would order the missiles retargeted against targets in the US.


42 posted on 12/21/2014 7:41:48 PM PST by The Sons of Liberty (OK. Now How many votes do we need to IMPEACH and REMOVE the bastard?)
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To: wally_bert
How about one large Marine Corps with a naval contingent?

Well… the Constitution explicitly allows for monies to be raised for an Army and for a Navy... no Marine Corps or Air Force there.

43 posted on 12/21/2014 7:47:35 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: sten

I’m praying that we’re wrong.


44 posted on 12/21/2014 8:08:06 PM PST by GOPJ (Once the tiger claws you, the worst response is to pull his tail... freeper IronJack)
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To: Travis McGee

Every quarter we used to take a MM3 out of a silo, with its crew, load it with warheads used for testing (non-nuclear), and launch the suckers out of Vandenberg and into KMR. They never failed.


45 posted on 12/21/2014 8:27:36 PM PST by CodeToad (Islam should be outlawed and treated as a criminal enterprise!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

No, that was the day to day non-launch setting. The actual unlock codes, half of which were known only to one or the other launch crew member. Two crew members each dialed in their half when valid launch orders were received. Setting zeroes will do nothing. I was a missile launch officer, airborne missile launch officer and involved with nuclear command and control at various levels throughout my career.

By the way, the null setting for the code components was zeroes for many more than 20 years. Also, the split crypto code combinations are regularly changed.


46 posted on 12/21/2014 9:56:50 PM PST by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

Yeah. Red should be blue and blue should be red. Parties of the left have always been blue until the 2000 election. Unfortunately, we’re stuck now with red = Republican, blue = Democrat.


47 posted on 12/21/2014 10:04:40 PM PST by FredZarguna (I'm gonna take this counter top, and I'm gonna whop you on that side of your face with it.)
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To: OneWingedShark

Well there is that pen and phone option the wun says works....


48 posted on 12/22/2014 3:46:51 AM PST by wally_bert (There are no winners in a game of losers. I'm Tommy Joyce, welcome to the Oriental Lounge.)
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To: Jet Jaguar

The UFOs keep shutting them down.


49 posted on 12/22/2014 3:51:31 AM PST by Sirius Lee (All that is required for evil to advance is for government to do "something")
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To: PROCON

Thanks, great info to have.


50 posted on 12/22/2014 5:24:20 AM PST by 2001convSVT (Going Galt as fast as I can.)
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To: FredZarguna

That’s why it should be corrected at every turn.

Then again, with the GOP being what it is these days, the Democrats should be blood red and the GOP should be pinkish red. Only the Cruz wing is Conservative Blue.


51 posted on 12/22/2014 8:48:12 AM PST by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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