Posted on 10/15/2009 5:26:52 PM PDT by sonofstrangelove
The US Air Force said on Thursday the commander of a nuclear wing had been sacked after his unit failed a safety inspection, trucks carrying missile parts crashed and officers under him fell asleep with launch codes in hand. Colonel Christopher Ayres, commander of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, was removed Wednesday "due to loss of confidence in his ability to command," Air Force Space Command said in a statement.
The Air Force has tried to improve its handling of the country's nuclear arsenal after a series of mishaps and blunders led to the sacking of the service's top civilian and military leaders last year.
"We must uphold the highest standards within the nuclear enterprise," said General Robert Kehler, head of Air Force Space Command, who approved the firing.
The removal of the wing commander came days after an Air Force investigation blamed "driver error" for an August accident in which a truck carrying parts for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) went off the road and tipped on its side.
In the bizarre accident, the driver had become distracted by "a large insect" that landed on his back, the Air Force said.
Another truck carrying an ICBM rocket booster crashed last year, the Air Force Times reported.
The 91st Missile Wing, which oversees 150 Minuteman II ballistic missiles, also failed an inspection by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in 2008, Captain Toni Tones, a spokeswoman for Air Force Space Command, told AFP.
The wing passed a second inspection this year, she said.
In another embarrassing incident, three Air Force officers at the wing fell asleep in July 2008 while in possession of classified components containing missile launch codes for ICBMs. The three officers were disciplined over the incident, Tones said.
(Excerpt) Read more at spacewar.com ...
I hate to tell everyone this but if what I have seen in the Air Force, leadership is SERIOUSLY LACKING!
Not sure why it matters..Obama is working on putting China and Russia in charge of our nukes anyway.
Oddly enough, Colonel Ayres was replaced by a Brigadier General named Jack Ripper.
Precious bodily fluids alert...
No, it was a GIANT METAL INSECT!.
Seriously, the mission of nuclear deterrance in the USAF was taken over by the fighter mafia. All old SAC weenies know fighter pilots have big egos and little brains.
No, Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper, JR. I think his old man had some kind of an accident in the bathroom back in the 60’s.
parsy, who don’t care it if hairlips everybody on Bear Creek
***...replaced by a Brigadier General named Jack Ripper.***
Ever notice how much Jack D Ripper looked like General Curtis LeMay?
“his unit failed a safety inspection, trucks carrying missile parts crashed and officers under him fell asleep with launch codes in hand.”
Scary. I suspect the relieved commander’s replacement is going to keep the men rather *busy* in the coming days. Maybe they’ll find out just how many toothbrushes it takes to scrub an ICBM? ;)
Big mistake to merge the old TAC and SAC into Air Combat Command back in the mid-90’s. Hopefully, the new Global Strike Command will help resolve some of these problems.
Don’t count on it.
good. those things are dangerous. that’s the whole idea. besides the obvious loss of life if a fire or other accident happened, the politics of this country are fragmented enough that an accident might lead to political destruction of the nuke program. the iww would love to use such a catastrophe for their own ends.
It matters because if there is a nuclear incident serious enough, world pressure will strip us of our major deterrent to attack by adversary nuclear armed countries....North Korea for one.
Where do they send you if you screw up at Minot? An Alaska DEW site?
/johnny
Ping.
Just WOW. I can’t believe that THREE fell asleep at ONCE, with classified docs in their hands! LOL. Were thay all on DRUGS?
No worries, I'm sure the Russkies and ChiComs aren't taking any notice.
Does anybody wonder what 'discipline' the Chinese would have for their commanders if this happened? Hmmmmm?
Let's just be done with this farce - email the launch codes to the ChiComs with a CC to the Russkies. THis movie is getting BORING and long.
No worries, I'm sure the Russkies and ChiComs aren't taking any notice.
Does anybody wonder what 'discipline' the Chinese would have for their commanders if this happened? Hmmmmm?
Let's just be done with this farce - email the launch codes to the ChiComs with a CC to the Russkies. This movie is getting BORING and long.
No worries, I'm sure the Russkies and ChiComs aren't taking any notice.
Does anybody wonder what 'discipline' the Chinese would have for their commanders if this happened? Hmmmmm?
Let's just be done with this farce - email the launch codes to the ChiComs with a CC to the Russkies. This movie is getting BORING and long.
Jack Ripper, P.O.E.
I’m thinking that Colonel Ayres simply wanted to get out of Minot, where cold weather was perfected.
Well, boys, we got three engines out, we got more holes in us than a horse trader’s mule, the radio is gone and we’re leaking fuel and if we was flying any lower why we’d need sleigh bells on this thing... but we got one little budge on them Rooskies. At this height why they might harpoon us but they dang sure ain’t gonna spot us on no radar screen!
Colonel Ayres more than likely will be riding a desk pending retirement. Getting out of Minot isn’t the only thing he’ll be leaving.
My uncle was at the SAC base there years ago. One winter someone started ringing their doorbell each morning, but when they answered the door no one was there. After about a week of this their neighbor across the street said “how did you teach your cat to ring the doorbell?”
The Pentagon, where else?
Or Retirement
~~PING!
Important related comment here
Air Force Generals Controlling Nuclear Missiles Removed
self ^ | 10/16/09 | self
Posted on Friday, October 16, 2009 12:42:46 AM by STD
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2363690/posts
This is extremely unnerving. I was being flip about it yesterday(remembering some major snafus at that command in recent years), but in light of the new information and the fact that the Navy trident guy has been removed too..something is up. It’s not good either.
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