Provides Additional Details About New Nuclear Wing
This week, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates pointed to broad
initiatives within the Air Force he said are helping to return its
nuclear mission to "the standards of excellence for which it was
known throughout the entire Cold War."
Speaking at the Carnegie Institute for International Peace
Tuesday, Gates credited airmen with helping the Air Force recover
from problems that came to light over the past year regarding its
handling of nuclear weapons and related material. Those issues
involved a mistaken shipment of sensitive missions parts to Taiwan
in 2006, and an unauthorized transfer of munitions from Minot Air
Force Base, ND to Barksdale Air Force Base, LA in August 2007.
As ANN reported, Gates responded by ordering
the resignations of then-Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne and
then-Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley. Another 15 officers,
including six generals, received disciplinary action in connection
with the nose-cone shipment.
Gates said Tuesday he's confident in measures the new leadership
-- Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley and Air Force Chief of
Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz -- is taking to turn the situation
around. "The Air Force is now moving in the right direction," Gates
said, expressing confidence that headway will continue in what he
said "will undoubtedly be a long-term process."
Gates noted several measures that aim to, in Donley's words,
"refocus the nuclear enterprise."
That effort, described in the Air Force's recently released
"Nuclear Enterprise Roadmap" calls for a new Global Strike Command
and a Headquarters Air Force staff agency to handle nuclear assets,
a nuclear weapons center and a single process for inspections.
"This roadmap will enable the Air Force to effectively secure,
maintain, operate and sustain our nation's nuclear capabilities and
expertise," Donley said last week in releasing the plan. "It is the
foundation for reinvigorating the Air Force nuclear enterprise to
reestablish the confidence in our ability to provide nuclear
deterrence to our nation and our allies."
Donley told airmen at Oklahoma's Tinker Air Force Base the
roadmap "will provide focus to the nuclear mission so that it will
not get confused with other business, missions and functions across
the Air Force."
Gates said the standup of a new agency within the Air Staff
focused exclusively on nuclear policy and oversight is a positive
step in that direction.
He said the proposed Global Strike Command, which will bring all
the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missiles and
nuclear-coded bombers together under one organizational chain, also
will help to bring better focus to the nuclear enterprise. This
command will include 8th Air Force, with headquarters at Barksdale
and now under Air Combat Command; and 20th Air Force at F.E. Warren
Air Force Base in Wyoming, currently under Air Force Space
Command.
Gates cited other signs that the Air Force is taking action. The
Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM has been
"revitalized and expanded, with clearly understood chains of
command to prevent repeats of pass problems," he said.
In addition, he said the Air Force is undergoing a top-to-bottom
review of what items to place under the Nuclear Weapons Center's
control. Gates explained that many nuclear-related components --
including the nose cones that inadvertently were shipped to Taiwan
-- had been migrated into the regular Air Force supply chain during
the 1990s as a streamlining measure.
Gates also pointed to efforts within the Air Force to develop "a
stronger, more centralized inspection process to ensure that
nuclear material is handled properly." This measure, he said will
be bolstered by expanded training and career development for
security personnel assigned to nuclear duties.
Meanwhile, Gates said, he looks forward to recommendations from
a task force he formed to review the way the Air Force, and the
Defense Department overall, ensure proper leadership and oversight
of the nuclear enterprise. The so-called Schlesinger Panel, named
because it is chaired by former Energy and Defense Secretary James
Schlesinger, is expected to report its findings in December.