Originally posted by HGArmorer: Why in the f*^# would they arm a B-2 from Whiteman, at Barksdale with a missle from Minot. Come on people, think about wtf you are saying then don't say anything. It's apparent that not many of you have an f'ing clue how 8044 works. But from what has happened I guess the Minot Weapons guys don't either.
Well, geez....thanks for the profanity lesson. So you know a bit more about this than the average person does. If you're so smart, why are you still an E5 after 6 years in the AF Honor Guard?
Originally posted by Grimmity: OK, first of all firing the Munitions Squadron Commander is a cop out. While he is the owner of the account on paper, the SINGLE FOCAL POINT for the asset is the BASE COMMANDER. He is the only person that has the authority to release nukes for any reason. If they are being moved for maintenance or any other reason HE knows about it. Hell, there are quite a few organizations on the bae that would have known about this movement. Just getting them to the jet in the first place is one HUGE headache. As far as decerting the crews.... COME ON! Your telling me they didnt know what they were handling? BULLS***!! IT IS PRETTY FREAKING OBVIOUS when you are working with the real deal. There needs to be some serious investigation into this one. Sounds like we only got one little piece of the puzzle.
-... Entry-level PERSONNEL if they were experienced they would have had Osama Bin Laden's name on them and Zeroed-In right on target. Naturally. Makes for good practice.
I served back in the SAC days from 1976 to 1981 as a B-52 Crew Chief. I stood real, hard, nuke alert. We loaded weapons for practice and for execises. What happened, should not, cannot, happen!!!!!!!....But it did. There are so many proticals as to custody and securety that were busted, that the MMS SQ commander being fired is just the start. Were is the 2 man policy, where is the chain of custody? Every nuke is signed for, they aren't just loaded and forgotten. Where were the guards that are supposed to be around each weapon? This is such a extreme breakdown in nuclear surety and control. THIS IS WHAT WE FEARED ABOUT THE RUSSIANS AND THEIR PROGRAM!!!!! However we feel on their use and whom they should be used on, this is not a trivial matter. How few other failures would it have taken to put nuclear material out in the public, IE, someone mistakenly putting a "deactivated" cruise missle out in the surplus market for whomever to buy. they probably couldn't make it go "BANG", but the material could easly be remanufactured to a lower grade weapon. Think about it. Beverly C, MSGT, AKANG RET.
This isn't the first time a weapon of mass destruction has made an unauthorized departure from a government facility. The anthrax in the post-9/11 anthrax attacks was traced to the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick MD. I hope the mishandling of the nukes gets a real investigation unlike the one for the anthrax which appears to be deliberately stalled in order to keep the anthrax attacker available for another terrorist attack.
I forgot this in my anger over this incident, yes we have flown nukes over the US in peacetime, and they are usualy transported by air because it is much more secure. To transport by road is a very intensive process. While I was at March AFB, we had to notify all police agencys, close roads just to transport from our WSA to the main base and back. I flew in an escort helo,(with a reaction team) while they moved a missle and the convoy was long and lots of cops, local and security forces. I don't know what differnces beween a conventional cruise missle and a nuke one as they were just coming into service then. They were protyping the nuke ALCM then. But there should some differences between types and the Air Crew should have noted this when they preflighted if there were any. More of my $ worth og opinion, Beverly C MSGT, AKANG RET
I'd be surprised if after a short period of time for it to blow over, you hear anything about this. Having had some time to mull it over, it would not surprise me if the flight with the missiles was intended to be leaked to the press in order for the news to find its way to the powers that be in certain ME nation(s) that might have been needing a little shakeup. Guess we'll never know.
