Air Force query into B-52 incident to continue

[TexasLawyer]

Source: Gannett

Air Force query into B-52 incident to continue
September 15, 2007

By John Andrew Prime

Even though Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne wanted a report about an Aug. 30 B-52 weapons-loading mistake on his desk Friday, it will take a little longer to generate, his office says. "The investigation is ongoing and is expected to continue for at least the next several weeks," Jennifer Bentley, a spokeswoman for Wynne's office, told The Times on Friday.

The incident occurred after a munitions crew at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota left nuclear warheads on six Advanced Cruise Missiles on a 2nd Bomb Wing bomber that returned to Barksdale Air Force Base.

"Although there was never any public danger, the munitions transfer error that occurred was unacceptable and a clear deviation from our exacting standards," Bentley said. "We are committing the appropriate time and resources to ensure, beyond any doubt, that our munitions are safe, secure and absolutely reliable 100 percent of the time."

Air Force Times, a fellow Gannett publication, broke the story Sept. 5. Within hours, the commander of the munitions squadron at Minot was relieved of all duties and the crews that loaded the missiles were decertified from such work.

Read more: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070915/NEWS01/709150343/1060/NEWS01

[angstlessk]

1. "continue for at least the next several weeks" OR until we can kill all people

who can testify as the the real incident.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Please. The Air Force isn't going to kill anyone. This is paranoid bullshit.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. No, it won't actually be the Air Force......

[TheWraith]

13. Agreed. Making a statement like that is the worst kind of tin-foil trash. NT

[iaviate1]

14. How about innocent Iraqis?

Do they count as somebody?

[TwilightGardener]

15. ????--if you want to go off-topic and start shit about the Air Force role

in warfare and civilian deaths, then why not fucking start your OWN thread about it, instead of haranguing me about something I wasn't fucking alluding to?

[Plucketeer]

16. The Air Force of today....

.... sure ain't the Air Force I was so proud to serve in in the '60s. It makes me wretch to realize it's been turned into the Chapel of the Clouds.

[TwilightGardener]

17. Yep--that I agree with. My husband is an AF officer, and he can tell

you all about it. :(

[InkAddict]

21. Maybe, but their contract analysts are atheist scientists and

agnostic groupies for the scientists, unless they all found Jesus too after 9/11. Perhaps that keeps everyone's wings level. O8)

[iaviate1]

27. The topic is the Air Force killing people...and you started it.

You conveniently want to dehumanize and forget about all of the innocent civilians we are killing and displacing. I'm sorry you don't want to hear it, but that's too bad.

[Speaker]

3. The government that wants me to keep my pistol in a safe....

Can't keep track of its nukes.

[ashling]

4. Maybe they should ask

Dr. Strangelove.

[TexasLawyer]

5. Details on the investigative report from a different article:

The mistake was so serious that President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were quickly informed, Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell said. Gates has asked for daily briefings on the Air Force inquiry.

Late Wednesday, the Air Force issued a statement acknowledging a "situation involving the transfer of weapons" had occurred, appointing a major general to investigate and deliver his report by Sept. 14, announcing the weapons squadron commander had been fired and ordering all of Air Combat Command to review procedures. The statement doesn't use the word "nuclear."

"All evidence we have seen so far points to an isolated mistake," says the release from Lt. Col. Ed Thomas of the office of Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne.

"ACC has directed a command-wide stand down to review processes at all of our bases. Though this incident involved elements of only two of our wings, we believe we should take an opportunity for all units to review their procedures."

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070906/NEWS01/709060315/1060/NEWS01

[TexasLawyer]

6. 10 hours sitting on the runway?!?

Air Force secretary being briefed on why B-52 flew nukes over U.S.
Created: September 14, 2007 03:16 PM

The week after a B-52 mistakenly loaded with nuclear weapons was flown to Barksdale Air Force Base, the secretary of the Air Force was to meet with officials at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., today to review procedures for handling nuclear weapons.

Michael Wynne's visit comes amid an ongoing investigation into why the B-52 bomber from Minot was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads last month and flown across several states to Bossier City.

The B-52 sat on a runway at Barksdale for 10 hours before it was discovered that six of the cruise missiles under its wings had nuclear warheads attached, Pentagon officials told members of Congress.

"Secretary Wynne takes the recent breakdown in the munitions system very seriously and is committed to ensuring munitions processes are safe, secure and absolutely reliable," a statement from Minot said.

<snip>

http://www.ktbs.com/news/Air-Force-secretary-being-briefed-on-why-B-52-flew-nukes-over-U.S.-4982/

[Earth_First]

7. Five warheads? Six warheads? Five warheads? No...SIX warheads...

Broken Arrow anyone?

If anyone recalls, the media and 'official' numbers that were released took several revisions in order for an official public report.

The fact that five (...or) six warheads were left unattended for 10 hours only leads to more speculation...

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tchunter]

9. If you're refering to missing nukes the term isn't broken arrow its "empty quiver"

a broken arrow is a nuclear incident that does not carry the risk of starting a nuclear war

[TexasLawyer]

10. The version of the story just after it happened ...

We were told that the bombs were unaccounted for for just the 3 1/2 hour flight time. So if this second report is correct, the bombs went missing for the 3 1/2 hours PLUS 10 hours sitting undiscovered on the runway.

The original plan was to transport non-nuclear Advanced Cruise Missiles, mounted on the wings of a B-52, to Barksdale as part of a Defense Department effort to decommission 400 of the ACMs. It was not discovered that the six missiles had nuclear warheads until the plane landed at Barksdale, leaving the warheads unaccounted for during the approximately 3 and one-half hour flight between the two bases, the officers said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2007-09-05-b-52_N.htm

[Eagle_Eye]

12. They need a little extra time to work on the cover-up

[0rganism]

18. need to double-check those labels

[hedgetrimmer]

19. Interesting that the Air Force is being infiltrated by the evangelicals!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/06/national/main919947.shtml


CBS Evening News

Sept. 16, 2007 11:04pm


Air Force Sued Over Religion
A.F. Academy Graduate Alleges Religious Intolerance


(AP) A New Mexico man sued the Air Force on Thursday, claiming Air Force Academy senior officers and cadets illegally imposed Christianity on others at the school.

The suit was filed in federal court by Mikey Weinstein, an academy graduate and outspoken critic of the school's handling of religion.

Over the past decade or more, the suit claims, academy leaders have fostered an environment of religious intolerance at the Colorado school, in violation of the First Amendment.

Weinstein claims that evangelical Christians at the school have coerced attendance at religious services and prayers at official events, among other things.

more....

[InkAddict]

20. Sonic boom jolts northwest Ohio county

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/gen/ap/OH_Sonic_Boom.html

FOSTORIA, Ohio — People in a part of northwest Ohio now know why their windows shook Thursday morning from what they thought was an explosion.

Turns out it was a sonic boom.

The 180th Fighter Wing confirms that a pilot took an F-16 fighter jet out for a test flight after technicians finished some work on it at Toledo Express Airport. The test required the plane to be throttled up to supersonic speeds, resulting in a boom heard all over Seneca County southeast of Toledo.

Officials with the 180th say when conducting such tests, pilots try to keep the disruptions down by flying to areas not heavily populated.

GETTING THE FEAR IN BEFORE THE STANDDOWN?

[pinniped]

22. In Twilight Zone, there was an accidental nuke detonation....

and people went into their bunkers.

This time they will probably blame Iran.

[The Pundit]

23. This is just a concidence right?? ?Right?? RIGHT??

Since the story broke 7 days ago, about the missing nuke\clandestine operation from Minot, we have the following (for those who are paying attention):

1. All six people listed below are from Minot Airforce base
2. All were directly involved as loaders or as pilots
3. All are now dead
4. All within the last 7 days in 'accidents'

http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=10465
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070915/BREAKINGNEWS/70915012
http://www.kxmc.com/News/161562.asp
http://www.kxmc.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=140988
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/07/20/news/state/136489.txt
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/9679367.html

Silly me, seeing more than there is to this story. I guess this is just another coincidence.

But no doubt now that there will be more coincidences in the near future because as I have stated before, you need about fourteen signatures to get an armed nuke onto a B-52, and they may have told their wives and friends.

[Geostudent]

26. You make 4 assertions...

Sadly, the only one that is true is that all those folks are now dead.
Airman First Class Todd Blue, is from Minot and is now dead. (from first link)

The second link is from Saturday. The deaths are so new that the folks are not even identified by name, but some how you know who they are, that one is from Minot,and finally what his job was at Minot Air Force Base? The article even states the two that died ares stated to be from the local AF base in Louisiana.

The third link is a rehash of the first, same guy.

The fourth link is about an Air Force from guy from Minot who died. Congratulations, you found other AF death from Minot.
Jul 5 2007 6:42AM
Associated Press
Oops, sure you missed that. He died 2 months before the incident.

The fifth link falls to the same problem; it happened months before.

The sixth link is a story about another AF guy found dead, another tragedy. Problem is the guy is not from Minot, but from Hulburt Field, part of Elgin AF Base. http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/8903

I am sure all these false assertions from you are just coincidence.

[The Pundit]

24. Maybe it's nothing, just a coincidence, right?

Since the story broke 7 days ago, about the missing nuke\clandestine operation from Minot, we have the following (for those who are actually paying attention):

1. All six people listed below are from Minot Airforce base
2. All were directly involved as loaders or as pilots
3. All are now dead
4. All within the last 7 days in 'accidents'

http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=10465
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070915/BREAKINGNEWS/70915012
http://www.kxmc.com/News/161562.asp
http://www.kxmc.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=140988
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/07/20/news/state/136489.txt
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/9679367.html

Silly me, seeing more than there is to this story. I guess this is just another coincidence.

But no doubt now that there will be more coincidences in the near future because as I have stated before, you need about fourteen signatures to get an armed nuke onto a B-52, and they may have told their wives and friends.

[goforit]

25. Was the administration caught in another mihop in the making? Sloppy again!