mhreadAir Force Global Strike Command's program to improve the morale of its airmen has already netted 350 recommendations and budgeted millions of dollars in improvements to missile wings in the service.

The force improvement program, which began earlier this year with Air Force and Defense Department officials seeking recommendations from Global Strike Command airmen at of all levels following multiple high-level incidents of cheating and commander firings in Global Strike Command earlier this year, has turned into a continuous look at possible changes in the command.

The cGlobal Strike Command outlined the most recent changes in a news story posted this week. The changes come from the outreach to airmen and were suggested during the improvement program. The changes , which include:

  • $10.1 million in funding has been approved to purchase new optics and $330,000 for collapsible rifle stocks and shorter barrels for security forces airmen, who asked for upgrades to their weapons.
  • Another $1 million has been budgeted to improve the training course at Camp Guernsey, Wyoming. Airmen asked for improved training, which now includes more "trigger time" and a convoy course focused on training to protect missiles in transit.
  • $300,000 in funding for new tools and equipment for maintainers.
  • An unspecified amount for , along with six new personnel authorizations per ICBM wing to stand up launch control center survivable systems team sections. WHAT ARE SURVIVABLE TEAM SECTIONS? WHY WERE THESE RECOMMENDED?

"The nuclear mission is the most important mission in the Air Force," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said in the release. "Were we backing that up with appropriate resources for people in maintenance with spare parts and modernization and all of the rest of it? Were we talking the walk or walking the talk? It struck me maybe we weren't doing a good enough job there, so I thought to myself 'we need some additional investments in people, facilities, maintenance, spare parts and so forth.' "

More than $200 million in funding has been budgeted for the force improvement program in fiscal years 2014 and 2015, with a total of $350 million in additional funding planned in the next five years.

The new changes come on the heels of other new programs for airmen in missile fields. For example, security forces airmen are already being outfitted with MultiCam uniforms and new up-armored vehicles. The command has created multiple new cross-service exchange programs and formed new Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarships for prospective new missileers. Last week, James presented the first round of Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medals to 25 airmen at the Global Strike Challenge at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.

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