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Final decisions this week on nuke missions

Air Force leaders have announced changes in the nuclear mission that will affect inspections, security, organization and warhead storage.

Meanwhile, the service’s generals continue to debate the merits of a servicewide reorganization to place all nuclear and bomber missions under Air Force Space Command and rename it Air Force Strategic Command.

The proposal, recommended by a Defense Department task force, was discussed at the Air Force’s Nuclear Summit on Sept. 18 at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C. A final decision is expected after the Corona leadership summit Oct. 1-4.

The changes are in response to a Sept. 12 report by the Task Force on Nuclear Weapons Management, headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, that ripped the Air Force’s handling of nuclear weapons and recommended fixes.

Inspections

The task force declared “something is clearly wrong” with the service’s nuclear inspection process, citing it as a primary cause for the erosion of nuclear standards.

The Air Force inspector general announced this summer a move to no-notice inspections for nuclear units, but service leaders took another step to shore up the inspection regime by paring down the policies and procedures used by the different agencies that carry out the inspections.

The IG proposed establishing a core team of inspectors that would augment major command IG staffs to perform nuclear surety inspections — which nuclear bases undergo every 18 months.

Schlesinger’s task force recommended boosting the level of nuclear experience on inspection teams, citing a precipitous decline in inspectors’ nuclear experience — from an average of 8.5 years in 2003 to an average of 4.9 years in 2007.

Following the Sept. 18 summit, officials didn’t specify whether the service would set a minimum requirement for the number of years an airman must work in a nuclear unit prior to becoming an inspector. But airmen assigned to an inspection team must show “superior performance in nuclear inspections,” service spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Aptekar said.

Service leaders also have delayed a final decision on a proposal to reduce the advance warning on “no-notice” inspections from 72 hours to one hour. The Schlesinger task force recommended the change, noting that “a nuclear crisis may not give us that much warning.”

Since the IG ordered the move to no-notice inspections, Air Force Space Command has given nuclear units 72 hours to prepare.

Security

The Air Force’s inspection regime is just one of many aspects of the nuclear enterprise blamed for the series of gaffes that have embarrassed the service over the past year.

Inspectors found a host of nuclear security deficiencies during a May inspection of the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., including one security forces airman who was playing video games on his cell phone while guarding nuclear weapons.

Officials will try to eliminate security lapses by boosting lead-in and follow-on mission-specific training for nuclear security personnel.

Details on what the training will entail have not been finalized, but it will be overseen by Air Education and Training Command.

Until now, that training was carried out by the nuclear units themselves once a security forces airman had completed tech school, Aptekar said.

Nuclear Weapons Center

When the Air Force revealed that ballistic missile components had been mistakenly shipped to Taiwan, where they remained for two years before the error was discovered, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Adm. Kirkland Donald, director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion, to investigate the incident. His team found multiple problems with the storage and maintenance of nuclear weapons and nuclear-related material.

The Schlesinger task force also addressed the incident, recommending that Air Force Materiel Command take over all nuclear acquisition and sustainment operations.

Air Force leaders have followed that recommendation — at least in part.

An expanded Nuclear Weapons Center will oversee all nuclear sustainment, including storage areas for nuclear weapons inside the U.S. But officials are still debating whether the center should oversee nuclear weapons deployed to Europe.

“Because of the unique relationship with NATO and host-nation roles and responsibilities, more analysis is needed before a decision is made to implement the action,” Aptekar said.

Nuclear HQ

At the Sept. 12 news conference to announce the findings of the Schlesinger task force, Gates said he still has concerns about “unity of command and not having one person accountable for the nuclear mission.”

In response to that concern, the Air Force will stand up a new Headquarters Air Force/A10 staff office that will “provide singular nuclear focus on nuclear matters.”

A commander has not been named, but one likely candidate is Maj. Gen. C. Donald Alston, who has directed the Air Force’s Nuclear Task Force since February.

Alston’s group has worked on the “nuclear road map” that will outline the Air Force’s strategic plan to correct its nuclear enterprise. A draft of the road map was reviewed at the summit, and the final plan will be unveiled after the Corona meeting in October.

“The road map details action plans to improve culture, structure and processes for the nuclear enterprise that were identified in external and internal reviews,” Aptekar said.