U.S. AIR FORCE CHANGES IN NUCLEAR FORCE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Air Force Secretary Outlines Changes for Nuclear Force

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2014 – Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James today outlined new incentives and measures designed to change the culture of the service’s nuclear force.

Following a cheating scandal involving intercontinental ballistic missile launch officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, and the subsequent relief of nine officers, a commander’s retirement and 91 other airmen receiving discipline, James touched on ways the Air Force has begun to address “systemic issues.”
“I do think this is more than a single issue,” she said in remarks at a Defense Writers Group breakfast. “As I’ve said before, I do think we need some holistic fixes for the nuclear force. This is not something that happened in the last year or two, or even 10. It’s probably been happening gradually over the last 25 years.”
The secretary said while there are likely no quick fixes to resolve these issues, there are measures she and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III can implement now.

“Let’s talk money,” James said. “Money is not everything, but money’s important. So right now, in [fiscal year 2014], just in the last few months, we have redirected $50 million -- $50 million, by the way, is the most that the Global Strike Command said they could reasonably spend in [the fiscal year].”

Money should be spent reasonably, she said, so in addition to $50 million, $350 million more will be redirected to the nuclear mission over the next five years. The money will go to sustainment infrastructure and to some of the “people issues,” the secretary added.

There could be more to come, James said, but this is what officials have decided so far.

Another issue being addressed is undermanning in the nuclear force, the secretary told the defense writers.

“When you’re undermanned, that means the existing people have to work harder,” she said. “That impacts morale and it could impact other things as well. We have, right now, already directed 1,100 additional people are going to be inserted into the nuclear force to get those manning levels up.”

They principally will be in the field, she said, and the Air Force is going to 100-percent manning in the eight critical nuclear specialties. Air Force officials have lifted some of the ongoing servicewide manpower reductions to add people back into the nuclear force, she added.

Along with those adjustments, the secretary noted, she has called for elevating the Global Strike Command commander’s position to the four-star level and that the related major general position on the Air Force staff be made a lieutenant general position.

“We want to up the rank of the nuclear forces within the Air Force,” she said. “Rank matters in the military, so that’s another thing that we’re doing.”
Additionally, James said, the testing environment that produced the cheating scandal has been revamped, and the inspections environment will also see changes.

“It had become this zero-defect mentality, where even the smallest of the small kinds of errors could cause an entire failure,” she explained. “That wasn’t a healthy environment.”

In the fall, James said, the Air Force also will introduce a variety of new financial incentives for the nuclear force “to kick it up a notch,” including offering accession bonuses for new officers’ ROTC scholarships and incentive pay.
James also noted 20th Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein, has issued a series of directives to the field designed to start to shift the culture.
“Now, you know memos don’t shift culture,” she said. “Leadership and time eventually shifts culture, but this is a start. This is designed to stop the micromanaging, to push down to the lower levels [and encourage] decision-making.”

All of that will help, James said.

“We didn’t get here overnight, and we’re not going to fix it overnight,” she added.
It will take persistent focus, leadership and attention for years to come, she said.
“With all of what I’ve just said, I’m certain that additional resources are probably still in order,” James said. “We’re going to have to talk about those resources as we get into the next [program objective memorandum] cycle.”

James said she believes the U.S. nuclear mission is a national mission for the entire Defense Department, not just the Air Force.

“So I’ll be talking to the deputy [defense] secretary, the secretary of defense [and] the senior leaders of DOD to see what we can do about this,” she said.

THE U.S. NUCLEAR ENTERPRISE: CAPABILITY AND CREDIBILITY

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
Kehler Lauds Capability, Credibility of Nuclear Enterprise
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2013 - Sweeping improvements across the U.S. nuclear enterprise since a 2007 incident have increased the focus on the nuclear mission and raised the bar in terms of standards and performance, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command told reporters today.

"In general, I feel much more comfortable today with the level of attention," Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler said during a Defense Writers Group breakfast roundtable. "I am very confident in the capability and credibility of the forces. And I am very, very confident in our ability to continue our deterrence mission."

Kehler was deputy commander of Stratcom during the August 2007 "Bent Spear" incident in which nuclear-equipped missiles were mistakenly transported nearly 1,500 miles on the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress bomber.

Revelation of the incident -- defense officials emphasized at the time that the weapons were never unsecured and never at risk of detonating -- led to personnel dismissals, organizational changes and heightened performance requirements.

"A lot has changed in the last six to seven years," Kehler said. "A lot has changed organizationally, ... in terms of the intensity of the focus on the nuclear part of our mission, ... [and] in terms of the assessment and evaluation that we put on the units that are involved in all of this.

"And as we say, perfection is really the standard when we talk about nuclear weapons," he said.

Among the changes was the Air Force's standup of Global Strike Command, with a singular focus on the nuclear mission and the standards applied to those involved, he said. The Navy underwent its own top-to-bottom review of its nuclear operations and activities.

The increased focus on nuclear-related units and activities has paid off in better performance levels, Kehler reported.

The general recalled his own experience with these "hard looks" during his earlier years within the nuclear force. "These are not easy evaluations to pass," he said. "And they have gotten harder."

Stratcom's nuclear deterrence mission remains critical to the United States, Kehler noted, injected with a renewed focus and sense of urgency by the president's 2010 Nuclear Posture Review and the national defense strategy.

"We recognize the Cold War has been over for 20 years," he said, but he noted President Barack Obama's pledge to maintain a "credible deterrent force" for both the United States and its allies and partners.

That deterrent is based on the triad of ballistic missile submarines, intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-capable heavy bombers and the associated aerial tankers, and the assured warning and command-and-control system that interconnects them.

Kehler called modernization of the nuclear enterprise "essential."

"We find ourselves in the position today where most of the platforms and virtually all of the weapons are well over 20 years old, and, in some cases, substantially over 20 years old," he said.

"Life extensions are due on the weapons, [and] modernization is due on the platforms ... and the nuclear command-and control system," said Kehler, noting that some of these efforts already have been deferred for almost 10 years.

Asked about morale within the nuclear force, Kehler said it's generally good. "It is not an easy job," he added, noting the intellectual intensity of the nuclear mission.
Kehler visited the Global Strike Command headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., earlier this month, to emphasize the importance of that mission to the men and women charged with carrying it out every day.

"The skills that we have for the nuclear-deterrence mission will be needed as far into the future as I can see," he said. "As long as we have nuclear weapons, it's our job to deter nuclear attack with a safe, secure and effective force. That's what we're here for."