Why is not the missing nuke mentioned?
We are to fear boxcutter holding highjackers, but NOT a missing nuke nor shot down satellites with hydrazine reportedly in it ?
Give me a break.
No specifics on the sanctions is given. No mention of the Congressional hearings. Hmmm.
The US never makes a real "mistake" and there is "nothing going here" All things are fixed, tickedy boo.
Now move long. Get back to work!!
Veeger
Bomber Wing Blamed for Gaffe Recertified
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Air Force wing blamed for an embarrassing mix-up last year in which a bomber mistakenly flew to Louisiana armed with nuclear missiles has passed a new inspection, the military said Thursday.
Minot Air Force Base's 5th Bomb Wing was recertified in the handling of nuclear weapons after the inspection, which followed months of retraining and the sanctioning or outright replacement of some airmen.
"Basically, the wing was graded and found ready to perform their strategic mission," said Maj. Tom Crosson, an Air Force spokesman.
The military called it an "unacceptable mistake" last year when a B-52 bomber was armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles in Minot and flown to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
Gen. John D.W. Corley, head of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Va., recertified the base on Monday, following a special weeklong inspection, said Crosson, a spokesman at Langley.
"I've never heard of (decertification) happening before," he said. But he said the sanction did not hamper the base's war-fighting capabilities.
"This is like a load that has been lifted off our unit," said Col. Joel Westa, the Minot Air Force Base commander. "It has really boosted morale here."
The inspection had been slated for January this year but was delayed to give airmen more time to train on weapons handling procedures, Westa said. Some senior airmen were brought in to replace those sanctioned, he said.
About 65 of the 3,700 airmen at the bomber wing were sanctioned, Westa said.
[ This, however is from the AP release at KTBS,
Officials said the mistake stemmed from a lack of attention to procedures. Some two dozen people were removed from their jobs, including an officer at Barksdale.
Well, maybe some were sanctioned and not removed. How terribly reassuring.
And then there were all those mysterious deaths .. HMMMM.]
The Minot wing's decertification last year cost Westa's predecessor, Col. Bruce Emig, his command, though he had been base commander for only a couple of months when the incident happened in August.
The missiles were mounted onto pylons under the bomber's wings, but the Air Force said there was never any danger to the public.
The Minot base, home to about 4,530 active duty military personnel, is the command center for 150 Minuteman III missiles, sunk in hardened silos, and is one of two B-52 bomber bases in the country.
(This version CORRECTS the number of base personnel to 4,530 instead of 4,800.)
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