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Minot bomb wing gets new commander Thursday

The unit that was at the center of the nuclear weapons debacle in August gets its new commander Thursday.

Col. Joel Westa is taking the reins of the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., two months after six nuclear warheads were mistakenly loaded onto a B-52 and flown from Minot to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. — the most embarrassing and alarming screw-up in recent Air Force history.

Westa, a B-52 pilot, most recently served as vice commander of the 36th Wing at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

The 5th Bomb Wing commander at the time of the incident, Col. Bruce Emig, and three other commanders were relieved of duty for what an Air Force investigation showed was widespread disregard for nuclear weapons safety standards by airmen at Minot and Barksdale.

The wing has been decertified from handling Advanced Cruise Missiles or nuclear warheads and suspended from any tactical ferry operations after a six-week Air Force investigation discovered an “erosion of adherence to weapons-handling standards” at Minot and Barksdale, the Air Force announced Oct. 21.

Five major procedural errors at Minot resulted in a weapons loading crew accidentally loading a pylon of nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missiles on the wing of a B-52 bomber. The mistake wasn’t discovered for 36 hours, long after the plane had touched down at Barksdale, said Maj. Gen. Richard “Dick” Newton, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements, and a former 5th Bomb Wing commander, who was tasked to brief the findings.

Since Aug. 30, some 65 airmen of varying ranks — lieutenant colonel and below — have lost their certification in the personnel reliability program, which the Air Force uses to oversee the character of airmen who handle nuclear weapons, said Lt. Col. Ed Thomas, an Air Force spokesman. The large-scale nature of the disciplinary actions points to the widespread nature of the problem.

Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne told the House Armed Services Committee on Oct. 24 that he believes the wing can be recertified and the tactical ferry program — which moves the missiles to Barksdale so they can be retired — can resume.

Wynne did not give a timeline for that recertification process.