Continuing “Nuclear Kingdom” Issues
I’ve written before on issues with the management and command of our strategic nuclear forces here. And here. And here.
It’s not an issue that showed up yesterday, either. Jonn wrote about the fallout from similar problems 5+ years ago. And another TAH contributor, Old Tanker, has written about it again here recently as well.
Yeah, it looks as if there really are some serious and continuing issues in DoD’s “Nuclear Kingdom”. This Military Times article has additional details. IMO it’s worth reading.
My “gut feel” is that this really is a serious problem. And IMO, it’s one problem DoD really does need to fix pronto.
The last thing we need is a stolen or lost nuke.
Category: Military issues
…Part of the problem is that when the ‘Fighter Mafia’ came out on top after the end of the Cold War, they did their best to erase the old Strategic Air Command culture that did so much to insure near absolute compliance and safety with nuclear weapons and ops. A friend of mine once said that SAC’s motto should have been, “Your reward for perfection is no punishment”, and that is pretty accurate.
We did what we did (I was a munitions guy)out of duty, pride, and the stark knowledge that if we screwed up, people could die, the enemy would believe we could be beaten, and our people would lose faith in our abilities to actually defend them with safety and skill. Today, with an Air Force leadership that has almost zero interest in the deterrent force, an administration that is quietly considering eliminating the ICBM force, and a public (which provides our manpower) that believes “it can’t happen”, I’m starting to believe the unthinkable – a lost or stolen weapon, or worse, one that is needed and is unusable – is becoming possible.
Mike
Mike K: the former possibility (lost/stolen nuke) concerns me far more than the latter. Other than a general exchange, I’m pretty we have enough nuclear weapons to accommodate running across a single unreliable weapon, or even a few. And in a general exchange, it won’t matter much. As I recall, I believe that’s where the term and doctrine of “overkill” originated. (smile)
A single lost or stolen weapon, on the other hand, could be a true “game changer” in the wrong hands. That’s true even if the safeties worked and prevented unauthorized use as an explosive device – some of the materials involved are inherently pretty nasty stuff.
The real problem continues to be morale. Most missileers today see their career field as a dead end. When I joined the crew force, we had 6 missile wings and plenty of opportunities for follow-on assignments (15AF, SAC HQ, Vandy, NEACP, ABNCP, MUNSS, etc). 22 years ago, a crew dog could legitimately make a career of it. Today, their are only 3 wings and missileers have to cross-train if they want a career in the Air Force. Today, after a 4-year tour, most missileers either go into Space or, if lucky, cross-train into something completely different. We, obviously, should not lament the end of the Cold War and the reduction of our nuclear arsenal. However, that does not provide an excuse for the Air Force leadership to ignore the careers of those who still stand guard over these weapons.
If this is becaue the Cold War came to an end in 1989 and there’s no longer any perceived danger of nuclear warfare, it’s a big mistake. As someone who worked on nuclear weapons once said, ‘the genie is out of the bottle’ and lest we forget, Norkland and Iran are BOTH working on nuclear missiles.
So what makes the wigs at the top think a nuke war can’t still happen?
Are they really that naive?
If it cannot happen then move the weapons to Pantex, remove the pits and burn the fuel out of the missile bodies.
If it can happen then we (that is, the “royal we”) need to take care of the missile crews.
If someone else has a weapon then “cannot happen” makes no sense so every crew is precious.
With apologies to Sir Winston Churchill, Never have so few controlled the means to kill so many. With fewer missiles each weapon represents a bigger percentage of our deterrent force and each nuclear officer is more important than before — not less.
I look at it this way–look at the missile crews. Now look at the guys on boomers.
AF missile crews, Navy boomer crews.
There are a few significant differences between the two. And yet beyond the usual shitty chow/field day/training bitching, I don’t hear about too many MT’s or FTB’s getting burnout.
I suspect it’s because the Navy takes a bit better care of it’s sub crews, NHSparky. Plus, I’d guess you stay much busier. Missile duty – crew or security – is reputedly one of the most boring but chickensh!t-rule-encrusted duties in the military. (Disclaimer: never worked that, so I can’t say for certain whether or not that’s true from personal experience.)
Besides, ya ever been to FE Warren, Minot, or Malmstrom? Of the three, only Malmstrom is in an area that’s even remotely what I’d consider decent (and that would be a stretch, and only because of it’s proximity to the Rockies). They’re where they are for a reason – other than Alaska, they’re pretty close to the most remote areas (with respect to major population centers) you can find in CONUS.
Gertrude Stein’s quote about there being “no there there” is pretty damn apropos. Some people just can’t handle that.
At least you Navy types ended up based out of some reasonable areas. Not areas I in general particularly care for, but many do.
Is the Distant Early Warning system still in place? Or did that get tossed out with the end of the Cold War?
This becomes more and more like some nightmarish collapse of civilization depicted in sci-fi, as in ‘Hunger Games’ and going further back in speculative fiction, ‘1984’. I think it was the TV movie ‘The Day After’ that made it real. Oh, yeah – I have not forgotten ‘One the Beach’ or the Brit TV series ‘Survivors’.
Sorry, that should be ‘On the Beach’.
Even the ‘Mad Max’ movies weren’t so fair and far off.
@7–I’ve been by Warren. Lived in CO and WY as a kid. Yeah, a lot of eastern Wyoming (Gillette/Douglas area) is, to put it nicely, boring.
Ex-PH2: the DEW Line was replaced by a joint US-Canadian system, the North Warning System, and was deactivated in 1993. Some of the original DEW Line sites were incorporated into the NWS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DEW_Line_Sites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Warning_System
You think that the Cheyenne area is boring? Try NE MT/northern ND.
At least that part of eastern WY has trees near the streams and an occasional hill or mountain. NE MT doesn’t have much of either – I can remember that, as I lived there for 3 years as a kid. I’m pretty sure northern ND is the same (it’s been nearly 5 decades since I last traveled through northern ND, so I can’t remember for sure about northern ND).
Thanks, Hondo. I wasn’t sure.
The rate of precessional movement is 50.25 arc seconds per year. The winter solstice aligned with the first star (Serpens cauda) in Ophiuchus (the Serpentary) in 1942. The first controlled nuclear chain reaction was in the CP-1 reactor on Dec. 2, 1942, under the west side of Alonso Stagg Stadium at the University of Chicago.
If the timing is correctly calculated, the winter solstice will align with the last star in Ophiuchus (Serpens caput) in 2017. We have until about then, give or take a couple of years (2015 to 2019) to resolve our relationship with nature.
It’s just odd that when we should be making the most progress, we seem to be regressing. Look at what got elected. TWICE.
Pericles was right: the stupid will rule.