| inbluevt | Date: Thursday, 2013/10/24, 6:40 PM | Message # 1 | DMCA |
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Air Force officers entrusted with the launch keys to long-range nuclear missiles have been caught twice this year leaving open a blast door that is intended to help prevent a terrorist or other intruder from entering their underground command post, Air Force
officials said.
The blast doors are never to be left open if one of the crew members inside is asleep - as was the case in both these instances - out of concern for the trouble an intruder could cause, including the
compromising of secret launch codes.
Transgressions such as this are rarely revealed publicly. But officials with direct knowledge of Air Force intercontinental ballistic missile operations told The Associated Press that such violations have occurred, undetected, more times than in the cases of the two launch crew commanders and two deputy commanders who were given administrative punishments this year.
The blast door violations are another sign of trouble in the handling of the nation's nuclear arsenal. The AP has discovered a series of problems within the ICBM force, including a failed safety inspection, the temporary sidelining of launch officers deemed unfit for duty and
the abrupt firing last week of the two-star general in charge. The problems, including low morale, underscore the challenges of keeping safe such a deadly force that is constantly on alert but is unlikely ever to be used.
The crews who operate the missiles are trained to follow rules without fail, including the prohibition against having the blast door open when only one crew member is awake.The officers, known as missileers, are custodians of keys that could launch nuclear hell. The warheads on the business ends of their missiles are capable of a nuclear yield many times that of the U.S. atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945.
"The only way that you can have a crew member be in 'rest status' is if that blast door is shut and there is no possibility of anyone accessing the launch control center," said Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. He is responsible for the entire
force of 450 Minuteman 3 missiles, plus the Air Force's nuclear-capable
bombers.
More
This April 15, 1997 file photo shows an Air Force missile crew commander standing at
the door of his launch capsule 100-feet under ground where he and his
partner are responsible for 10 nuclear-armed ICBM's, in north-central
Colorado. Twice this year alone, Air Force officers entrusted with the
launch keys to nuclear-tipped missiles have been caught leaving open a
blast door meant to help prevent a terrorist or other intruder from
entering their underground command post and potentially compromising
secret launch codes, Air Force officials told The Associated Press. The
missiles stand in reinforced concrete silos and are linked to the
control center by buried communications cables. The ICBMs are split
evenly among “wings” based in North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. Each
wing is divided into three squadrons, each responsible for 50 missiles.
(AP Photo/Eric Draper, File)
Message edited by inbluevt - Thursday, 2013/10/24, 6:43 PM |
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