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3-star tours Minot, says B-52s still coming

MINOT, N.D. — An Air Force official says a shakeup at the top won’t change plans to bring another B-52 squadron to the Minot Air Force Base.

Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, the assistant vice chief of staff of the Air Force, visited the base Friday and spoke at a public meeting in Minot to outline a plan announced earlier this year to bring a second squadron of B-52s to the base.

The visit came a day after Air Force Chief of Staff T. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne were forced to resign. They were ousted after Defense Secretary Robert Gates cited embarrassing mix-ups involving nuclear weapons, including one in which armed missiles were mistakenly flown from the Minot base to Louisiana last August.

Klotz was commander of the intercontinental ballistic missile wing at the base in 1995 and 1996. He said Friday that B-52s that were to be retired will instead be upgraded, and the Minot base should see new personnel starting next year.

The new squadron is expected to increase the total number of combat-ready B-52s from 12 to 22.

Klotz also said the base’s 91st Space Wing will be renamed the 91st Missile Wing and those who work in the missile field will wear “pocket rocket” missile operator badges.

Other space wings that specialize in nuclear missiles also will be renamed, he said.