Article of the day for August 29, 2016
The Article of the day for August 29, 2016 is 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident.
In a nuclear weapons incident on 29–30 August 2007, United States Air Force warheads were not protected by mandatory security precautions. Six AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles, each loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were mistakenly loaded onto an Air Force B-52H heavy bomber at Minot Air Force Base and transported to Barksdale Air Force Base. The nuclear warheads in the missiles were supposed to have been removed before taking the missiles from their storage bunker. The missiles with the nuclear warheads were not reported missing and remained mounted to the aircraft at both Minot and Barksdale for 36 hours. After an investigation, four Air Force commanders were relieved of their commands, and nuclear weapons operations at Minot were suspended. In 2008, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff of the Air Force General T. Michael Moseley were forced to resign, in part over this incident. In response to recommendations by a review committee, a new Air Force Global Strike Command assumed control of all Air Force nuclear bombers, missiles, and personnel.
In a nuclear weapons incident on 29–30 August 2007, United States Air Force warheads were not protected by mandatory security precautions. Six AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles, each loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were mistakenly loaded onto an Air Force B-52H heavy bomber at Minot Air Force Base and transported to Barksdale Air Force Base. The nuclear warheads in the missiles were supposed to have been removed before taking the missiles from their storage bunker. The missiles with the nuclear warheads were not reported missing and remained mounted to the aircraft at both Minot and Barksdale for 36 hours. After an investigation, four Air Force commanders were relieved of their commands, and nuclear weapons operations at Minot were suspended. In 2008, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff of the Air Force General T. Michael Moseley were forced to resign, in part over this incident. In response to recommendations by a review committee, a new Air Force Global Strike Command assumed control of all Air Force nuclear bombers, missiles, and personnel.
