US Air Force sets up new command for nuclear forces

Space War ^ | 08/09/2009 | AFp

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The US Air Force on Friday launches a new Global Strike Command responsible for nuclear forces after two major mishaps raised doubts about the supervision of the country's atomic weapons. The opening of the command marks a shake-up that followed the botched handling of nuclear weapons and the subsequent sacking of the air force's top civilian and military leaders last year.

The command, located at Barksdale Air Force base in the southern state of Louisiana, will combine nuclear-capable B-52 and B-2 bombers as well as the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force -- which had previously been under the Air Force Space Command in Colorado.

"We needed to refocus on the nuclear mission and not lose sight of that," Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley told reporters ahead of Friday's ceremony.

He said there had been some "painful lessons" but the new command would "reinvigorate our nuclear enterprise."

An outside panel headed by former defense secretary James Schlesinger concluded that the US Air Force had for years given the nuclear forces a lower priority and failed to manage the mission with rigor.

The panel found "an unambiguous, dramatic and unacceptable decline in the air force's commitment to perform the nuclear mission and, until very recently, little has been done to reverse it."

[Islaminaction]

I am surprised that Obama is allowing this.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Ping

[rightwingcrazy]

The Eye of Sauron currently has fixed its horrible gaze on our nation’s health care.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

1. Obama is evil
2. Obama is a closet Islamic terrorist
3. Obama is an out in the open communist
Therefore there has got to be something more to this. Maybe Obama is fixing up this branch of the military before selling it to the Chinese ... or the Iranians ... or the North Koreans.

Maybe that's why Bill REALLY went to NK!

[neverdem]

thanks, bfl

[Smokin' Joe]

Ayup. Put them in a nice, nukeable location where there is a chance of hurricanes. Makes lots of sense. Our enemies will only have to look at a weather map.

[puppypusher]

Just remaking the wheel.They need to reactivate the Strategic Air Command.SAC specialized in the Nuclear strike roll and did it's job in a professional manner.

SAC should never have been deactivated in the first place.But is was the price of the Peace dividend following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.

[bmwcyle]

I agree.

[Grizzled Bear]

The pentagon planned this change long before the election.

[Grizzled Bear]

Barksdale has had strategic bombers since the old “SAC” days. It’s in the “Ark-La-Tex” region, which is not prone to hurricanes.

[Smokin' Joe]

Neither is Colorado nor Nebraska. In fact, a tad further away. I figured maybe the Minot nukes were sent down to Barksdale as a message to Ahm-a-nutjob...that seemed pretty unlikely as screwups go.

[M. Dodge Thomas]

If our military got this sloppy, imagine what it's like in Pakistan.

[rbg81]

Yup. SAC had a very distinct culture. A lot of that was gradually lost after SAC merged into Air Combat Command (ACC). For the most part, the Fighter mafia ran ACC.

[PIF]

The Peace Dividend was Bill C’s first step in his attempt to unilaterally disarm the US. The phrase was a lie from beginning to end.

Since his rein, the US military Pentagon planning has become more and more incompetent, because more and more socialists have risen in the officer corps.

And fewer and fewer dollars relative to the economy are being spent on defense, and more and more of what were defense dollars have been and will continue to go to entitlement programs, until at some point nothing will remain for defense.

[mbynack]

We use to joke about the cycle of events in the military. It's been about 18 years since the AF eliminated the Strategic Air Command. They were responsible for the nucs back in the cold war. Now they're essentially recreating it.

The Air Force eliminated their cyber command a year or two ago and a couple of months ago the Pentagon announced a new cyber command.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

[TXnMA]

SJ, better check your geographic knowledge (or lack thereof...)

I live near Shreveport/Bossier (Barksdale).

1. For many decades, Barksdale has been a major nuclear force (B-52) center.

2. The last several hurricanes that tore up the Gulf coast brought us nothing but much-needed rains (and less-needed refugees -- some of whom have squatted here...)

[AFPhys]

When I was in it, SAC was HIGHLY competent. In fact, most of the exercises we ran showed that the command was MORE capable and rapid in responding than the “nominal” expectations. Personally, I never met a single crew member, maintenance man, higher officer, or security personnel who did not perform in a highly professional manner.

[El Gato]

SAC is Back!

That last is SAC patch, used until 1951.

The new Global Strike command trains, equips and maintains the Air Force Components of Strategic Command, a unified command which occupies (some of) the former SAC facilities at Offutt AFB, near Omaha. But as you can see that the Strategic Command Shield also borrows heavily from the old, post '51, SAC shields.

[El Gato]

The Air Force eliminated their cyber command a year or two ago and a couple of months ago the Pentagon announced a new cyber command.

What they really did was establish a provisional command, but then decided not to make it a "permanent major command, but instead to move it under Space Command, where the missile portions of the new Global Strike Command had been.