Missile crew falls asleep with nuclear code device: air force

AFP ^ | July 24, 2008 | AFP

[JRandomFreeper]

I'd go a step further and say give it back to the Army. I served active from 1980-1984 and reserve from 2002-2008. It's gotten sloppy (They took me back, forgoshsakes). Give it back to the pro's.

Shoot, move, and communicate are lifelong lessons.

USAF damned sure doesn't need to be in the IT world, pretending to lead.

/johnny

[zot]

Why not? Minot!

What are they going to do to these guys, sent 'em to Minot? Oh ...

[ASOC]

You are not alone. With a very reduced force, overseas deployments and the usual hassles, thing are not good for the Force right now. I just finished a contract gig on the local air patch - everyone was either coming off of or going on deployment.

Vehicle dispatchers as convoy guards, Space Pigs (sorry, but I just gotta) as force protection (but not for USAF) and on and on.

And the personnel cuts / no promotions are killing any notion of service as career for a lot of folks.

So, ya, the Force is in the crapper right now.

But they still deliver beans and bullets worldwide....

[cva66snipe]

It's been over a decade in the making. The military is operating on 1996 End Troop Strength levels. The downturns began under Poppy/Cheney. By 5 months into Clinton's tern things were a royal mess. The so called adults and help many said was coming never showed up. Part of the reason being the same bunglers from the Nixon/Ford/Carter era's were put back into positions they were incompetent at to begin with. Each party cheered their own POTUS appointments for Sec of Def etc but none were fit for the positions.

Reagan was perhaps the only POTUS in recent history to understand that delegating responsibilities meant selecting knowledgeable and qualified leaders for key positions. Most appointments after Reagan by all POTUS to defense related key positions in the civilian sector have been corporate back scratching deals.

Unfortunately I don't see it changing even if by some miracle the GOP won both houses again because Stooges like Warner enabled Poppy and Clinton's bad ideas on cuts as well as Juniors. The chickens are coming home to roost and the bill for negligence is coming demanding payment in full.

[Alas Babylon!]

Sigh....

I think it’s no coincidence that these problems started up right after I retired.

I’ll go find my bdu’s... I think they’ll still fit. Got any black Kiwi polish?

[Alas Babylon!]

And freezin’s the reason!

[ops33]

I always liked Lincoln wax and buffed with my wife’s old nylons. Really put a shine on the low quarters!

[pfflier]

You’ve got to have been there to know that!

[Fundamentally Fair]

I know that moving from the Marine Corps to the USAF (Reserves, no less) must have been a hell of a culture shock. True, we don't operate like the Marines...in many areas we probably should.

I don't want to get down on the USAF Reserves, 'cuz they do get the job done. They do some things that are very different from the active duty though. One thing is calling everyone by their first name. You won't see a SSgt calling a Major "Pete" or "Willy" in the active. Promotions in the Reserves are different too. Basically, if there is a vacancy, you can move into the slot and take the grade. You have some folks that have little or no active time, and it shows.

[El Gato]

One of the problems these days is that way way way too many minor things are getting all blown out of proportion by the press. It was a long long way from what these guys did to nuclear weapons on the loose. Send them to training, extra duty - the military used to know how to handle minor stuff like this.

True, but in this case, even with such a minor infraction in their record, they'll be on the list in the coming RIF as the DemonRats give us another "peace dividend", and cut the numbers yet again. Even McCain might cut the Air Force numbers, just as the Bush administration has (~40,000). (That doesn't count the numbers of folks who are off doing Army type work, escorting convoys instead of keeping 'em flying)

[El Gato]

The facility had racks for crew members to lie down. (How odd, since both the on-coming and off-going crews would have nuclear code component thingys and not be permitted to sleep anyway.)

Nothing odd about it. This procedure is only done very infrequently. Normally the crew is only two guys. The Launch Control facilities are often a long distance from the main base. I don't know what the current schedule is, but back in the dark ages the crew would travel to the site, which might take several hours, then do a "tour" in the hole, then come topside to sleep while another crew manned the hole. Then they'd do another tour, after which they'd travel back to the main base. Weather and road conditions permitting.

At another time the tours were 24 hours, and one of the two could catch a few zzz's on a cot in the hole itself, once the basic tasks had been accomplished, and they were not on a heightened state of alert.

This was a special task, changing out the code device, not a normal day in the LCF.

[Captain Rhino]

Thanks for the info. I had gotten the mistaken impression that this was just a normal rotation of watchstanding sections (to use a Navy/Marine Corps term).