Air Force: Human Error Damaged Nuclear-Armed Missile in Silo

[bananas]

Source: Associated Press

Errors by three airmen troubleshooting a nuclear missile in its launch silo in 2014 triggered a "mishap" that damaged the missile, prompting the Air Force to strip the airmen of their nuclear certification and quietly launch an accident investigation, officials said Friday.

In a statement released to The Associated Press, the Air Force declined to provide key additional details or a copy of the report produced last November by the Accident Investigation Board, saying the information was classified and too sensitive to be made public.

Under the Air Force's own regulations, Accident Investigation Board reports are supposed to be made public. The Air Force did release a brief summary to the AP after it repeatedly sought answers for more than a year. The summary said the full report was classified on Nov. 9, 2015, by Gen. Robin Rand, who took over as commander of Air Force Global Strike Command in July 2015.

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The Air Force's own legal office says the purpose of an accident investigation is to provide a publicly releasable report of the facts and the circumstances of the accident. An Air Force order dated April 14, 2015, is explicit about this.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/air-force-human-error-damaged-nuclear-armed-missile-36457552

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What could be so bad they have to cover it up like this?

[bananas]

1. Key Findings in AP Nuclear Missile Corps Probe

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/key-findings-ap-nuclear-missile-corps-probe-36460660

Key Findings in AP Nuclear Missile Corps Probe
By the associated press
Jan 22, 2016, 8:04 PM ET

Over the past two and a half years, The Associated Press has documented evidence of security problems, low morale and other troubles in the nation's nuclear missile corps.

—In April 2013, 19 launch officers in the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, were taken off duty and given weeks of remedial training after being found unfit to perform. The wing's deputy commander of operations complained of "rot" in the force. The officer in charge of crew training and proficiency was fired.

—The 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, failed a safety-and-security inspection. Nine days later, the officer in charge of security forces was relieved of duty. The unit passed a do-over in October.

—An internal Air Force review of the Malmstrom inspection, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that the inspection failed because security forces did not respond adequately to a simulated hostile takeover of a silo housing a nuclear missile. The Air Force implemented numerous corrective measures, mainly designed to increase and improve security forces training.

—Twice, the Air Force punished officers involved in separate incidents of opening the blast door of their underground launch control center while one of the two launch officers was asleep, in violation of Air Force rules.

<snip snip snip>

[bananas]

3. Whatever is being covered up must be something far worse than anything in that list.

Whatever is being covered up must be something much worse than anything in the long list of items AP wrote about in their investigative reporting series.

There is something seriously wrong with our nuclear deterrent.

[PersonNumber503602]

5. They loaded the missile upside down.

Apparently no one read the "pointy end faces up" warnings printed on the side.

[Doc_Technical]

2. Google-"arkansas titan missile accident"

Google- "unauthorized transfer of nuclear weapons"

[Wilms]

4. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Nuclear Weapons (HBO)

[Peace Patriot]

9. K&R 1,000x!

Best line: I(I) see (C) nuke coming at me...oh, shit (BM)!

In so many words.

[Wilms]

10. Gary Larsen

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. Broken Arrow incidents

Also

In honor of Rudolph Herzog’s excellent A Short History of Nuclear Folly, we built this handy “Nuclear Folly Locator,” so you can browse the strange and sometimes horrifying nuclear accidents discussed in the book. In the map below, we placed pins marking just a few of the many “broken arrows” and lost bombs listed in the book, as well as notable test and disposal sites. Some might be near you. How reassuring!

http://www.businessinsider.com/list-of-broken-arrow-nuclear-accidents-2013-5?IR=T



A Short History of Nuclear Folly. MAD SCIENTISTS, DITHERING NAZIS, LOST NUKES, AND CATASTROPHIC COVER-UPS


RUDOLPH HERZOG

http://www.mhpbooks.com/books/a-short-history-of-nuclear-folly/

[Major Nikon]

7. Sounds like another dreaded incidence of the "no-blow" fuse

Back when I was in the USAF, it was pretty common to find a "no-blow" fuse in a tech's toolbox. The "no-blow" was a word play on the slow-blow fuse. It was nothing more than a piece of #6 copper wire cut to the exact dimension of a normal cartridge fuse. The idea behind it was when you had a circuit that was continuously blowing fuses, you inserted the "no blow" fuse which would either help you find the high current source or simply burn up the entire offending circuit entirely, sometimes with disastrous results. We had a tech who just about destroyed an operational radar system which required weeks of maintenance to replace several burned out wire harnesses.

[bobthedrummer]

8. K&R + Failure Shuts Down Squadron of Nuclear Missiles (Marc Ambinder 2010)

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/failure-shuts-down-squadron-of-nuclear-missiles/65207

There are lots of "accidents" and "incidents" that rarely are reported beyond the locality, then comes the blackout of news.

[bananas]

11. Air Force withheld nuclear mishap from Pentagon review team

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/air-force-withheld-nuclear-mishap-from-pentagon-review-team-1.390209

Air Force withheld nuclear mishap from Pentagon review team
By ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press
Published: January 23, 2016

WASHINGTON — In the spring of 2014, as a team of experts was examining what ailed the U.S. nuclear force, the Air Force withheld from them the fact that it was simultaneously investigating damage to a nuclear-armed missile in its launch silo caused by three airmen.

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Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said Saturday the fact that the Hagel review group was not told about the accident "raises questions about what other accidents and incidents may have been overlooked by that investigation."

<snip>

The amount of damage to the missile — $1.8 million, according to the Air Force — suggests that the airmen's errors might have caused physical damage, Kristensen said. If so, he said, it could have been categorized by the Air Force as a "Bent Spear" event, which is an official reporting code word for a significant nuclear weapon incident. The Air Force refused to reveal how it categorized the Juliet-07 accident.

"By keeping the details of the accident secret and providing only vague responses, the Air Force behaves as if it has something to hide and undermines public confidence in the safety of the ICBM mission," Kristensen said.

<snip>