Gates Seeks 2nd Inquiry of Bomber Mishap (nukes flown on the B-52)

[TexasLawyer]

Source: AP

Gates Seeks 2nd Inquiry of Bomber Mishap
By ROBERT BURNS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three weeks after the Air Force began investigating the mistaken arming of a B-52 bomber with nuclear weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked for an outside inquiry led by a retired general who once commanded the strategic bomber fleet, an official said Thursday.

In the embarrassing incident, a B-52 mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30. The missiles were mounted onto pylons under the bomber's wings, but the Air Force said there was never any danger to the public. The mistake, revealed publicly by the Military Times newspapers, was so serious that President Bush and Gates were quickly informed and Gates has received regular updates from the Air Force on progress in its investigation.

Gates's press secretary, Geoff Morrell, told reporters that the defense chief asked Larry Welch, a former Air Force chief of staff, to lead an inquiry into the implications of the incident. That is in addition to the existing Air Force probe headed by Maj. Gen. Douglas Raaberg, director of air and space operations at Air Combat Command, which is responsible for all Air Force bombers and fighters.

Morrell said Welch will lead a Defense Science Board task force to determine whether the B-52 incident has wider implications for the military. "Does this incident reflect a larger problem with regard to the security and transfer of munitions?" is the question that Welch's group will attempt to answer, Morrell said. <snip> "But I think he believes that in an incident of this nature, it's important to get to the bottom of it," Morrell said. "And he believes an outside set of eyes may be additionally helpful to, sort of, get a better sense of what went wrong and how to avoid similar mistakes in the future."



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j7YCKm_9zJpYqraBbMJnGNef8kJg

[truthisfreedom]

1. Somebody doesn't trust somebody?

[htuttle]

3. Bingo

The 'rogue element' possibility looks a little more probable when I read things like this.

[knitter4democracy]

9. My first thought on reading this, too.

I wonder just how inside the circle Gates really is.

[TomInTib]

2. "mistakenly armed"

Bullshit

Bullshit

Bullshit

I have been around nukes (and/or dummies). It would be easier to piss on George W Bush's shoes than it would be to "mistakenly arm" nukes on a B-52.

[TheWraith]

7. They don't mean "armed" as in "able to be used." They mean they had warheads in them. NT

[hootinholler]

10. I think Tom means that too. n/t

[daleo]

4. Maybe somebody was "sending a message"

With the misplaced nukes.

[ret5hd]

5. My question on all of this:

Where are they now, and why are they there (rather than somewhere else)?

And maybe this has already been answered and i just missed it.

What i mean is: It is my understanding nukes aren't moved willy nilly around the country. They are only moved with much planning, put where they are needed, and not over our airspace. Am i correct, or wrong?

If i am correct, and these were mistakenly (supposedly) moved, where are they now? Were they moved back where they were originally needed (as determined by much forethought and planning)? And if so, how were they moved? Over u.s. airspace? Or are they still in N.D., where they aren't needed, making all that forethought and planning useless?

[Sam Ervin jret]

6. Please TELL me they have NOT put on computer the access code keys without matching manual keys!

With all the break ins to our security by China around the time this happened and with the BUSH ability to F^%$ all things complicated (and not so complicated) up, one might wonder.....

Did they "simplify the access to and/or the ability to transfer our most strategic weapons? Is that possible? Anything is possible but....

It could be just a coincidence. I really hate coincidences.

But then there is Chechnya?

[TheWraith]

8. Nukes are indeed moved over US airspace.

The idea that they never are is something promulgated by people who are trying to make this into something sinister. And they were supposed to be in North Dakota (the warheads were, at any rate).

Anyway, I don't have the time right now to research your other questions, just had to answer that.

[NYC]

12. They are usually flown in cargo planes, not mounted under wings.

They went from North Dakota to Louisiana (Barksdale). I didn't hear anything about them leaving Barksdale. Nor did I hear why they would have been sent there in the first place.

Many unanswered questions.

[FogerRox]

14. 400 AGM-86B's are being converted to conventional warheads.

The AGM-86C Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missile (CALCM) was developed to increase the effectiveness of B-52H bombers, dilute an enemy's forces, and complicate the defe.nse of enemy territory. CALCM is the only air-launched, conventionally armed, long-range standoff missile deployed in the U.S. Air Force inventory. It is produced by modifying surplus nuclear-armed AGM-86Bs (ALCMs).

source:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/agm-86c.htm

[hootinholler]

11. Curiouser! n/t

[TexasLawyer]

13. Investigation 1 is taking much longer than expected

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Air Force query into B-52 incident to continue
September 15, 2007
By John Andrew Prime

Even though Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne wanted a report about an Aug. 30 B-52 weapons-loading mistake on his desk Friday, it will take a little longer to generate, his office says. "The investigation is ongoing and is expected to continue for at least the next several weeks," Jennifer Bentley, a spokeswoman for Wynne's office, told The Times on Friday.

<snip>

"We are committing the appropriate time and resources to ensure, beyond any doubt, that our munitions are safe, secure and absolutely reliable 100 percent of the time."

<snip>

http://rebellenation.blogspot.com/2007/09/air-force-query-into-b-52-incident-to.html