07-08-09 U.S. Air Force Opens New Command for Its Nuclear Operations

The Air Force today opens a new command that consolidates oversight of all of its U.S.-based nuclear bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.The Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, will be fully operational in about a year, the Air Force said. It is complemented by a strengthened Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center in charge of planning and executing long- term maintenance and upgrades of the nuclear inventory.The changes are the service’s latest that aim to correct flaws in its nuclear-weapons management after a B-52 bomber in 2007 flew across the U.S. carrying six cruise missiles mistakenly armed with nuclear warheads,and parts that arm nuclear explosives were erroneously shipped to Taiwan.Two reviews commissioned by Defense Secretary Robert Gates concluded no single senior Air Force official was responsible for the nuclear mission and that the task of maintaining the force was spread within four organizations.Three senior officers were relieved of command for their roles in mistakenly allowing the bomber to fly from North Dakota to Louisiana carrying armed nuclear warheads.The new command will focus on the nuclear mission with “passion and precision,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told reporters at the Pentagon earlier this week.The command will have an annual budget of about $4.2 billion a year that includes money for inspection and maintenance of nuclear weapons and the B-2 and B-52 bomber force.The command manages training of crews and modification of the B-2 to carry the new 30,000-pound conventional “bunker- buster” bomb,Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz told reporters at the briefing