Nuclear missiles and air mattresses....

[catnhatnh]

....When I out-processed from the Army in 1973, I was charged $13.00 for an air mattress I lost in basic training. In Uncle Sugar's world, if we signed out a "mattress, field type" one,...then later we had better account for it...
The Military is anal-like way past what you would believe...in the real (US continental) world a lost M-16 would cause a crisis and would be tracked to the last person who signed for it-and someone HAS signed for it...
Anyone who has dealt with military stores can verify the following: If it is worth over $10, it comes in a heavy duty storage case...from ammunition thru really expensive stuff, military items are well packed...
I worked on helicopter engines (T-53 and T-55) and can tell you they came in vacuum sealed, steel formed, custom shipping pods with attached paperwork packets.We signed for the engine before we could open the pod.Then we filed our paperwork when we put the old engine in the pod...
...So basically-neither the missile nor the warhead were laying around to be mounted casually to a southbound Buff...each should have separately been waiting in steel storage pods in which, if Louisiana was their final destination,they could have more easily have been loaded to a cargo plane and shipped -these bad boys were called from their cases,mated,and tied to a wing mount...and NOT by mistake.

[driver8]

1. I was in the Navy and worked with nuclear propulsion systems.

Every time we did any work on our propulsion plants, we had a work package that had to be followed to the letter. Also, all of our parts were certified "nuclear grade" and everyone who touched these parts was trained to handle them and had to sign for them. We could look at the paperwork and tell you where these parts were manufactured and who had handled them.

If we have to take such precautions for replacing a valve, you cannot tell me that there isn't required paperwork for nuclear missiles. There is a lot of shit that stinks with this story.

[TheWraith]

2. Of course not by mistake. They were meant for transport.

People keep getting only the "Nukes accidently flown to Louisiana" part of the story, but not the details on what actually happened.

What happened was that they were strapped on to a B52 to be flown to Minot AFB for decommissioning. There, for reasons unknown, they were not properly removed from the airplane before it headed home to Barksdale.

When you think about it, transporting nukes on a bomber is ideal. The pilots are already trained for it, no additional security is needed for a cargo area, and the plane has got the range.