Category: US Air Force

Somebody really screwed up over this:

A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

The incident was so serious that President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were quickly informed and Gates has asked for daily briefings on the Air Force probe, said Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell. He said, "At no time was the public in danger." […]

The plane was carrying advanced cruise missiles from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a Defense Department policy not to confirm information on nuclear weapons.

The missiles, which are being decommissioned, were mounted onto pylons on the bomber’s wings and it is unclear why the warheads had not been removed beforehand.

The Air Combat Command has ordered a command-wide stand down on Sept. 14 to review procedures, officials said. They said there was minimal risk to crews and the public because of safety features designed into the munitions.

In addition to the munitions squadron commander who was relieved of his duties, crews involved with the mistaken load — including ground crew workers — have been temporarily decertified for handling munitions, one official said. [Pauline Jelinek, AP] (HT: Nomad)

I’m not in the Air Force, but to be fair this does seem a bit overblown because I would assume planes have taken off from US soil before and flown with nuclear weapons on board.  Somebody in the Air Force can correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m sure it is going to be dealt with and already people already being held responsible for it. 

For those of you that have never seen this, it is something to see.

The precision in the way they are parked is impressive.
It’s difficult to comprehend the size of the "Bone yard" and the number
stored there.

Of course the important thing to remember is that they are all capable
of being returned to service if the need ever arises.

If you are ever in the Tucson area, the weekly tours of the bone yard
are still given through the Tucson Air Museum, located just south of
Davis Monthan AFB.

Both the museum and the boneyard are very popular attractions in the
Arizona desert.

It is difficult to comprehend the number of military aircraft in dead
storage until you see these photographs!

Even if you have seen this before, look again.

The 3rd largest Air Force in the world is sitting on the ground here.

It’s the only unit in the U.S. Air Force that actually makes a profit.

The Osan Shakedown Scandal leader’s light 2 year sentence will stand according a US Air Force general after doing all of this:

Davis pleaded guilty to running illicit police undercover operations, accepting gifts and cash from club owners, maintaining illicit sexual liaisons with bar girls, breaking the U.S. military’s curfew that the town patrol had the duty of enforcing, being drunk and disorderly, having sex with women who were not his wife, illegally possessing weapons, illegally keeping an off-base apartment, using racial and ethnic slurs, filing a leave request with false information as to his intended destination and maintaining an improper relationship with a subordinate airman.

He is lucky he didn’t get caught doing BAH fraud as well because he might have actually done some real time.