Air Force Flunks Another Nuke Inspection?

[darrels joy]

Air Force Flunks Another Nuke Inspection?
By Noah Shachtman December 13, 2008
Categories: Nukes

This isn't confirmed, yet. So take it with all the usual caveats. But we're hearing that a third Air Force nuclear team has flunked a critical test.

The 90th Missile Wing, operating out of F.E. Warren Air Force Base, is still in the midst of its "nuclear surety inspection," or NSI. But already, the wing has failed the test of its readiness to handle atomic arms, a source close to the test tells Danger Room. Problems with the "personal reliability program," which ensures that only the most highly-qualified, highly-trained individuals are working anywhere near a nuclear arsenal, doomed the wing's chances. Representatives from the 90th Missile Wing and from Air Force Space Command were not available for comment.

If confirmed, this would be the third Air Force nuclear unit to fail an inspection this year. In May, the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base flunked its test, when security personnel couldn't be bothered to stop playing videogames on their cellphones. Six months later, Malmstrom Air Force Base's the 341st Missile Wing, had problems with its weapons storage area and its personnel reliability program, which prevented the unit from passing its exam. A testing team returns in about two months, to take a fresh look at the missileers.

The NSIs have been much harder to pass in recent months, after a series of nuclear-handling screw-ups stung the Air Force. Last fall, the 5th Bomb Wing lost track of six nuclear warheads. Then, in March, the service discovered that it had inadvertently shipped four Minuteman nuclear warhead nosecone fuses to Taiwan, thinking they were helicopter batteries. By June, Defense Secretary Robert Gates had sacked the top civilian and military leaders of the Air Force. A total of 15 officers (including six generals) were disciplined, over the mishaps.

[Photo: USAF via Talkingproud.us]

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/1...rce-flunk.html