Chain Reaction

[Parche]

August 30, 2007

All of which makes the transport of nuclear weapons in combat position on a combat plane so newsworthy.

On August 30, for the first time since 1968, nuclear warheads in combat position were carried by an American bomber. Numerous international treaty provisions were violated in the process.

That Thursday, a B-52H Stratofortress flew from Minot AFB in North Dakota to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana while carrying twelve cruise missiles. Either five or six of those missiles were armed with nuclear warheads.


Cruise Missiles

The missiles on the B-52 were AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile units, specifically designed to be launched from wing pods of B-52H planes.

A total of 460 units were manufactured by Raytheon. A total of 394 units are currently maintained by the Air Force. Apparently, 38 are to be modernized and upgraded in Fiscal Year 2008 and the other 356 are to be decommissioned pursuant to the 2002 Moscow treaty.

Raytheon has publicly announced the AGM-129 missiles are to be modified to accomplish a "classified cruise missile mission". This has widely been interpreted to mean conversion to bunker-busters, most likely for use in Iran. This widely accepted explanation is being used to explain why armed cruise missiles are being flown in American airspace.


Nuclear Warheads

The AGM-129 was specifically designed to deliver a W-80 nuclear warhead. The W-80 weapon has a variable yield capability, of 5 to 150 kilotons. For comparison purposes, the bomb used on Hiroshima was 13 to 15 kilotons, or equivalent to 13,000 to 15,000 tons of TNT explosive.


News Stories and Flawed Explanations

The story of the B-52 flight was first reported by Army Times, owned by Gannett, on Wednesday September 5. Gannett relied on information provided by "anonymous officers". The story was picked up by Yahoo Wednesday morning, published by USA Today and The Washington Pos, and then quickly spread.

In response, the Pentagon quickly spread an official explanation.

The Air Force admitted to an inadvertent error: The intent was to transport ACMs without weapons. According to military officers, the nuclear warheads should have been removed before the missiles were mounted on the pylons under the wings of the bomber.


In the words of the Pentagon:

"There was an error which occurred during a regularly scheduled transfer of weapons between two bases. The weapons were safe and remained in Air Force control and custody at all times."

For almost the first time in the history of the nation, the military has publicly and promptly admitted it "made a mistake". This in itself is truly astounding.

To reinforce the military's claim that a mistake was made, a system-wide stand-down was ordered for September 14.

That official explanation was quickly explained away. The mistake was made intentionally, so a "deliberate leak" of a secret operation could occur.

The CIA and the Office of Counter-Terrorism in the State Department explained that Barksdale AFB is a "jumping off point" for re-supply of the Middle East.

The "deliberate leak" was intended to serve as a veiled warning to Iran. This deliberately misleading explanation is evidently intended to lead the public or Iran or both to logically conclude the missiles are bound for Iran.

Bluntly, State and the CIA converted a whistleblower leak by true American patriots into a deliberate leak by official Washington, to scare Iran.

By this means Washington has led the public to forget or overlook the real issue.

To begin, the multiple official explanations reek to high heaven. They collectively read suspiciously like flimsy cover stories concocted in hasty desperation. And no amount of pretty lipstick will be able to make the official explanations pretty.


Transportation Violations

More conflicting explanations followed. These missiles are part of a group scheduled to be decommissioned. This would explain why they were shipped out of North Dakota.

But the missiles were not transported on their way to decommissioning. Missiles are normally decommissioned at Davis-Monthan AFB at Tucson. Nuclear weapons are decommissioned at the Department of Energy's Pantex facility near Amarillo, Texas, accessed through Kirkland AFB in New Mexico.

And military policy requires minimization of the number of flights made with nuclear weapons aboard. So the weapons should not have been mounted on the missiles, flown to Louisiana, un-mounted and flown to New Mexico.

The mode of transportation is also a major issue not defused by official explanations. Per standard operating procedures, or SOPs, both missiles and nuclear warheads are transported primarily by air, in specially modified C-130s or C-17s. Under no peacetime circumstances do military SOPs allow transport of nuclear weapons mounted in cruise missiles mounted in combat positions on combat planes.

Department of Defense Directive Number 4540.5, issued on February 4, 1998, regulates logistic transportation of nuclear weapons.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread302187/pg1

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I have a funny feeling about 14September, and my inner feelings are seldom wrong.
With the announcement of an AirForce 'Stand down' on that day, the recent transport
of 6 cruise missile warheads from Minot AFB to Barksdale without anyones knowledge?

I was stationed at Minot AFB a while back, and actually guarded Minuteman 3 missiles, you
dont get to that point of 'missing' warheads with all of the security that is invovled.
When transported, warheads of any kind, security is tighter then a drum, you have at least
a Lieutenant in charge of the operation, and several security police with M-16's M-203 grenade launchers and M-60 machine guns, guarding every space surrounding the warhead.
Something is not right about this story, Air Force nuclear warheads just dont travel by themselves.
I hope I am wrong about this feeling, but there is something sinister going on.
:nuke: :nuke: :scared: :scared: :hi:

[kansasblue]

1. What is an AirForce 'Stand down'?

?

[kansasblue]

3. here's somethings I've found

http://www.iafc.org/displayindustryarticle.cfm?articlenbr=30340

What is a Stand Down?
A stand down is a method used by the military to correct an issue that has been identified as a problem throughout its ranks. This stand down is to raise the level of awareness toward firefighter safety and call attention to the unacceptable number of deaths and injuries plaguing fire departments.

[kansasblue]

4. Stand down is military terminology to cease activities or refrain from normal duties. T

[peacetheonlyway]

2. Can you Explain more about the Sept. 14th Stand Down Order?

I'm a very concerned citizen and I trust your judgement as a former Minot AFB serviceman.

thanks soo so much for the information and the post.

I have followed this closely. 2 other points of Information.

#1 this week Israel began bombing suspected nuclear and military sites in Syria showing that indeed the war with Iran is well begun
#2 The Russians reactivated flight pattenrs not used since the 1960's (Cold war) to remind the US that they are not amused if we go into Iran.

*** I'm just waiting for it all to begin and wish I knew how to stop it.

[Parche]

5. Stand Down

ACC orders commandwide standdown Friday

By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 10, 2007 17:38:42 EDT

On Sept. 14, flight lines will be very quiet at Air Combat Command bases.

The entire command — about 100,000 active-duty airmen — is standing down training flights and many other operations as part of a command-wide safety day.

Command boss Gen. Ronald Keys ordered the Sept. 14 safety standdown in the wake of the Aug. 30 nuclear incident at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in which six cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads were loaded onto a B-52H and then flown to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., without anyone on the ground or bomber realizing the nuclear weapons were on the plane. It was not until the B-52H was parked at Barksdale that ground crews discovered the cruise missiles were carrying real warheads.

Command spokesman Maj. Tom Crosson said wing commanders would determine how their units review operations and safety procedures and checklists.

Just how serious Keys takes the lapse of regulations at Minot is reflected in the fact that the safety stand-down is the first commandwide safety day in recent memory. In the past, the command has singled out specific types of aircraft for safety days and in 1997 the Department of Defense held a departmentwide safety review day.

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That means probably no flights, no air training, just ground training.

Emergencies would still be taken care of
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I dont know of this ever happening in the Air Force, oh they have had accidents, but nothing like this.
We went out in the field even if it was 100 below zero temp, or 100 above in the Summer
and you never messed with a warhead convoy, up to 30-40 security police and 1 commanding officer
usually a LT, 1 helicopter also. :hi:

[jimshoes]

6. There is so much about this story

that even the average lay person can see it's smellier than putrified shark meat. No one has an "accident" loading nuclear weapons. Someone recieved orders to load those missiles. Not too many people have authority to give that order. Have all the weapons been accounted for and where are they now? Did the president give the order to move those weapons? Did cheney go behind george's back and order it? Who's really running the show around there anyway?