"Would you like to play a game?"
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 ...
Time to stock up on Thyrosafe
Sounds like a plan - a plan of fail. But, in the culture war, as in any war, there will be sunshine patriots.
It sounds to me like Obama is moving down the ranks with firing officers. He's replaced six Generals now, maybe seven?
And why this unit? Why the nuclear launch controllers?
-PJ
So speed the rot?
For the same reasons Stalin murdered most of his officer corps.
Agree.
Instead of Christians avoiding the military (or law or politics or any of the other professions that are rotting) they should sign up in large numbers and take over. This is how the lefties do this. They don’t cower in the corner. They overwhelm with numbers. They litigate for their positions. They propagandize for their views. And the media blitz would have you think everyone agrees with them.
I think we should call Airman O’Malley and Airman Rodriguez to the stand to find out what happened.
It’s a curious thing what happens to the seventeen officers. My guess is that their career is now shot. Some kind of legal episode will occur, and the AF might be in court explaining things.
But if you look over the past five years...the whole old-SAC group is screwing up left and right. It’s not the same type of atmosphere as it was in the 1960s/1970s.
I think you are right. We are doing exactly what our enemies dream of in their plans.
The Air Force wants out of the missile business anyway. They want to offload America’s nuclear deterrent to the Navy so they can spend money on space weapons. ICBM’s are expensive to maintain/upgrade and the money would be better spent on hypersonic kinetic kill vehicles like the Army is developing.
In 1985, I was an enlisted airman in Accounting and Finance. The Accounting and Finance Officer (AFO) was a prior-enlisted captain who had a missileer badge. He explained that after getting commissioned, he wanted to earn his masters degree ASAP, since it was a requirement for promotion to major. He chose to be a missileer because it was a job that offered him plenty of time to study. After earning his masters, he cross-trained into accounting and finance.
I did 6 years flying bombers in Strategic Air Command (STRATCOM, nowadays. . ). We had a zero-defects policy: Bust a checkride or a test, IMMEDIATELY get pulled and forced to re-certify from the starting point.
And a bust was a score of 85 or less on a test, on critical items (we referred to them as “Boldface”) anything less than perfect was a bust. . .
Bring back SAC!!!
“To Error is Human, To forgive is not SAC policy”
Anybody know the logo that accompanies that slogan?
"Would you like to play a game?"
Spoken like someone who had to endure some time there.
SAC used to launch on a regular basis with hydrogen bombs. We a still missing a few such bombs from various accidents.
SAC used to be the top dog in the USAF, but after 1989 it became the place that careers went to die.
I would guess that there could be more to this story, given the Social Actions and political correctness now apparently dictate policy. I would be surprised if any of the 17 were women, and NOT surprised if they were all Christians.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.