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AMC re-evaluates role in nuclear operations

Air Mobility Command is changing how it oversees nuclear-related missions, a shift brought on by the Air Force’s nuclear roadmap.

AMC headquarters has stood up a nuclear mission office and will review how the Global Strike Command will affect airlift and tanker duties. Those missions were not criticized by recent reviews of the service’s handling of nuclear components, but like the rest of the Air Force, AMC is centralizing oversight of its nuclear operations.

AMC took its most visible step Oct. 1 when it established the Nuclear Operations Division at AMC headquarters on Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

The division is to have a single office with a staff concentrating full time on the nuclear mission, said division commander Col. Jim Kirk.

“It’s a less known, but vital role,” he said.

The operations division used to be responsible for AMC’s nuclear role, among several missions, Kirk said. About 55 AMC headquarters staff members dealt with nuclear issues, but it was no one’s sole concern.

When the new division is fully up and running in the spring, nuclear issues will be the sole concern of about 20 staffers, Kirk said.

One of the division members already on the job is Maj. Brian Lewis, chief of the division’s airlift branch. Before arriving at Scott, Lewis was among a handful of AMC pilots certified to fly nuclear components, including warheads, between bases and other nuclear facilities.

Lewis said the nuclear airlift missions continue to be handled by the 4th Airlift Squadron and C-17 Globemasters at McChord Air Force Base, Wash. In addition to supporting Air Force missions, the squadron carries cargo for the Department of Energy and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Agency.

The 4th took on the mission in 1997 and today has about five air crews qualified to transport nuclear materials, Lewis said. Like their bomber and missile counterparts, the nuclear-qualified pilots and loadmasters must pass personal security screenings and operational evaluations to stay certified.

The crews’ nuclear role does not release them from flying conventional assignments; the C-17 aircrews continue to fly standard airlift missions and deploy when needed, Lewis said.

Not all nuclear roles at AMC are changing: The AMC inspector general office will continue to conduct inspections of AMC nuclear operations and the Tanker/Airlift Control Center will still schedule refueling bomber missions and shipping nuclear parts.

The tanker role in nuclear strike missions isn’t changing either, Kirk said. Instead of assigning a few tanker units to support Global Strike Command’s bomber flights, AMC will use the entire tanker fleet, including Guard and Reserve squadrons, to handle the mission.