Citing Dangerous ‘Personnel Failures,’ Hagel Orders Full Review Of US Nuclear Force

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — With public trust and safety at stake, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered immediate actions Thursday to define the depth of trouble inside the nation’s nuclear force, which has been rocked by disclosures about security lapses, poor discipline, weak morale and other problems that raise questions about nuclear security.

It amounted to the most significant expression of high-level Pentagon concern about the nuclear force since 2008, when then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the top uniformed and civilian officials in the Air Force following a series of mistakes that included an unauthorized flight of nuclear-armed cruise missiles across the country.

Hagel had recently said he was considering what may lay behind problems in the nuclear Air Force — many revealed by The Associated Press— but his chief spokesman said Thursday that the defense secretary concluded urgent remedies were needed.

“To the degree there are systemic problems in the training and professional standards of the nuclear career field, the secretary wants them solved,” the spokesman, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said. “To the degree there are gaps in our understanding or implementation of those standards, he wants them closed. And to the degree leaders have failed in their duties, he wants them held to account.”

Read more: http://www.artesianews.com/2014/01/23/ap-news/united-states-ap-news/thursday-january-23-2014/

[jakeXT]

1. Time for this one

[FiveGoodMen]

2. Wouldn't you prefer a nice game of chess?

[TwilightGardener]

3. Welp, some heads might roll. Although it didn't really work the last time--

Gates fired the top two Air Force staff and the problems have remained.

[kiranon]

4. IMHO, Air Force went downhill after right wing Christian religion established

itself within the Air Force Academy. Religiosity rather than competence became the standard for promotion and "excellence". In essence, the Air Force has a leadership problem in its officer class.

[TwilightGardener]

5. My husband was a career AF officer, and never saw cheating or drug use

among colleagues in his field. The problem is that the missile force is sort of where they stick officers when they don't qualify for other fields--and they know it. That doesn't mean they're dumb or lower-quality, just that it's sort of a catch-all for people who don't fit into better (basically, more valued or more technical) career fields.

[Lurks Often]

6. The problem lies with the "pilot culture" of the Air Force

If you aren't a fighter pilot, you're a second class citizen, if you aren't a pilot, you're a 3rd class citizen, if you aren't in a rated position (non-pilot flying duties), you're a 4th class citizen. The Air Force, in private, still thinks it can win wars without the other 3 branches of service, a mindset not shared by the Army, Navy or Marines.

Until SecDef breaks the Air Force of the above mentality, things like this will continue to happen. I have come to the conclusion that the Key West agreement making the Air Force a separate branch of service was a HUGE mistake.