Military: Morale in nuclear force might be suffering

WASHINGTON — Beyond the U.S. Air Force’s embarrassing suspension of 17 nuclear missile launch officers lie two broader questions.

Do those entrusted with the world’s most destructive weapons feel stuck in a dead-end career field, given the momentum toward more nuclear arms reductions? And is there a morale crisis among these officers?

This matters because the missiles — 450 of them standing in belowground silos, ready for launch at a moment’s notice — form a critical part of America’s nuclear defenses. There is little room for error. Although none has ever been fired in anger, the risk of accidental launch or unauthorized intrusion is real.

In a rare look inside the secretive world of nuclear missiles, The Associated Press reported this past week that the deputy commander of operations for the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota complained to his officers about “rot” within their ranks.

Similar incident

In a confidential email obtained by the AP, Lt. Col. Jay Folds wrote of 17 launch officers, 10 percent of his force, being removed from duty for what he likened to incompetence. They are being given remedial training, with the goal of being back on duty within two months.

“If you have this many officers who failed, then how do you explain that and who should be held accountable for their failure?” Robert Gates, a former defense secretary, said Friday. “I think those questions clearly need to be answered.”

When faced with similar questions during his Pentagon tenure, Gates fired the top two Air Force leaders in 2008. That followed a series of nuclear embarrassments, including the inadvertent transport of six nuclear-tipped missiles on a B-52 bomber, whose pilot did not know they were aboard when he flew from Minot to Barksdale Air Force Base, La.

Blaming leadership

Publicly, the Air Force insists that its missileers, as they are known within the service, are capable, trustworthy and committed.

But Air Force Secretary Michael Donley also acknowledged in congres- Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, left, and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh testify before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Thursday in Washington. CLIFF OWEN/AP sional testimony that when officers see “the national leadership” contemplating more nuclear reductions, “this does have a corrosive effect on our ability to maintain focus on this mission.”

He also said “critics or others” contribute to this when they suggest getting rid of the ICBM force entirely.

This touches on a sensitive problem for the Air Force, which is inclined to defend its nuclear turf even as President Barack Obama has made clear his view that it is time to end America’s heavy reliance on nuclear weapons.

Dead-end perception

Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, said at the same congressional hearing as Donley that it’s understandable that young missile officers may be demoralized by the realization that theirs is a shrinking field.

“You say, ‘My goodness, there’s only three (missile wings in the entire Air Force). There’s no opportunity there,’ ” Welsh said. “That’s actually not the case, but that’s the view when you’re” in one of those units.

Bruce Blair, a former missile launch officer and now a national security scholar at Princeton University, said Friday that morale has dropped in part because the ICBM mission that originated in 1959, deterring the Soviet Union from attacking the U.S. or Europe, is less compelling than it was generations ago.

“This dead-end career is not the result of shrinking nuclear arsenals, but rather because the Cold War ended decades ago and because so few senior commander jobs exist within the missile specialty,” he said. “Most crews can’t wait to transfer out of missiles into faster-track careers such as space operations, but the Air Force doesn’t make it easy.”