Down In the Silos – a Follow-Up
A follow-up to yesterday’s article. It seems the SECDEF now has gotten wind of that recent not-so-stellar inspection within the USAF missile community.
He’s not pleased. And he’s now reportedly asking for details.
That doesn’t bode well for anyone involved. IMO that’s particularly true for those launch officers who got “benched” and for the unit’s chain-of-command.
I’m thinking the wing CO – as well as the affected squadron and flight COs, if a significant number of the “benched” launch officers were clustered in the same squadron or flight – might want to start working on their resumes. And I’d guess the officers who got “benched” might want to start thinking about alternate long-term career plans, too.
When the SECDEF personally starts asking for details about problems in your unit, if you’re the CO that is not a good thing. Ditto if you’ve done something personally to cause or contribute to the incident.
Frankly, I just don’t see senior USAF leadership as having the stones to tell the SECDEF, “Sir, we got this; back off and let us fix the problem.” That’s especially true after the nuke-related incidents in 2008 that led to several very senior USAF officials getting fired.
That would mean that “Big Air Force” is willing to own up to being partly responsible for the situation – years after they should have fixed things. I just don’t see that happening. Instead, I’m guessing they’ll look for someone to take the fall – whether it’s deserved or not.
Category: Air Force, Military issues
Something something….Rolls down hill……something something….hits the fan….or propeller in this case….or turbine….or exhaust port and splatters *everywhere*.
I see nothing good coming out of this for anyone involved.
Yeah, when the SECDEF has your number and it’s not an atta-boy, you might as well be looking for the closest Mickey-Ds or Burger King cause you’re getting either drive-in window or fries.
I’ve seen literally dozens of cases in the nuclear PROPULSION world where CO’s, ENG’s and DivO’s/CPO’s have had their careers cut well short by shortcomings in the propulsion plant.
I can’t imagine this would be a happy day for any of the AF folks involved.
“Folds also complained about unwarranted questioning of orders from superior officers by launch crews and failure to address superiors with the proper respect.”
…addressed them by rank and questioned whether the beef n bean burrito buffet was a good idea for breakfast?? j/k, would hate to be them right now
I’d love to be a fly on the wall when the benched officer was told that the SECDEF is looking into this personaly.
Yep Sparky. or, the CO,XO, Navigator AND Quartermaster when you run into something unexpected. I was on the Tautog.
IIRC, Frankenboat (aka USS San Francisco) lost 6-7 crewmembers when they tried to turn that seamount into an underground tunnel.
RM3(SS), I have this vision of a Soviet sub and a US sub doing emergency blows to the surface…and then the skippers exchange insurance info over the loudhailer or signal lamp… :o)
LOL! we must have had cheapo insurance. The sail had a 3 degree bend in it forever after. Made helmsman watch fun.
RM3(SS): I’ve read the published account of the USS Tautog’s collision mission. Don’t recall if you’ve ever said when you were on the boat. If you were on it later – you had the privilege to serve surrounded by some amazing history.
And if you were on the boat at the time of the collision – damn. Just damn. Huge hat tip to you, fella.
RM3–didn’t they call the USS Jacksonville “Banana Boat” for a similar reason? Something like a 4 degree bend in the boat. That thing was never right after they did depth charge testing on her.
All those sea stories… sometimes I really miss the Navy.
Oh, this is about the chairforce, right? Yeah, we might actually need those missiles some day. I know the Cold War is over, but there’s always the possibility that Chicago might become a target city again, and I’d have to move.
Hey Hondo-I reported aboard in 1973, a couple years after the incident. I did stand some helmsman/planesman watches and it was interesting trying to “drive” in a straight line. lol. Although the “USS Tagout” as we called her was famous for the 1970 incident, during our 1975 Westpac we had something happen that resulted in a few shortened careers too. If you read the Wikipedia page, it says we drydocked in Guam. there was a reason for that and it wasn’t to paint the boat. lol.
There was a copy of the sonar tapes onboard, I heard it-chilling.
RM3(SS): sounds like you might have had an “interesting” cruise or two also. Hope none of them were quite as exciting as the 1970 mission. (smile)
Glad to see you made it back. Even during routine training, that’s not always a given.
“Hey, what happens if I push this button?”
“Well, push it and we’ll find out.”
“Whoooooossssshhhhhhhhhhh.”
“Say, are we allowed to quit or do we HAVE to be fired?”
Why is the SecDef having to ask in the first place?
Did it take the USAF this long to create a coloring-book with the Crayola 64-color crayon box for the SecDef?
Once he’s done coloring, will Hagel know that “C” comes before “B” in “ICBM”?
I recall that the current SecDef has gone on record as favoring the elimination of all nukes in the US inventory.
I then recall the progressive dictum “Never let an emergency go to waste.”
Would Hagel be getting ready to shut down that base?
This is the same reason why my former Command wanted to sweep under the rug the battalion commanderS who sucked. Even when Soldiers point out blatant violations and abuse of the Army Values, their rank and position, etc. Lying thru their teeth, treating their Soldiers like crap to make themselves look better, doing illegal activities to enhance their career (yes, really).
“Well, IF I were to fire that battalion commander, it’d make ME look bad because I fired him on my watch. So, I’m not doing that, I’ll just let him continue to be a shitbag and then he’ll leave in a couple years, no worries.” (Aww, the Soldiers will survive, fuck them, I wanna make O-7!)