Trail of nuclear woes began at North Dakota base

Buried in the grasslands north and west of this small North Dakota city are 150 Minuteman 3 ballistic missiles, each tipped with a single nuclear warhead capable of destroying people and places halfway across the globe. Each is on “alert,” ready to be launched at a moment’s notice at all hours.

The trouble is not so much the Minuteman, although it passed its intended life span decades ago.

The trouble is the creaky equipment and facilities that keep the missiles armed, secure and ready for a launch order from the president.

The trouble also is the sagging morale of the men and women entrusted to operate the weapons.

The problems have accumulated: drug use, exam cheating, domestic abuse, security violations, training lapses and inspection failures. Last year one senior officer at Minot summed it up by lamenting the “rot” at the heart of the force.

It’s not just the Minuteman force, either.

The Air Force’s nuclear bomber force has not been immune from the morale, disciplinary, equipment and management problems suffered by the ICBM force.

The B-52 bombers are so old – and so expensive to replace – that they could be nearly a century old before they are retired. The bomber force includes the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot, a second B-52 wing in Louisiana and a B-2 contingent in Missouri.

These problems are not new, but they have stirred officials to promise new solutions.

Hagel flew to Minot on Friday immediately after he issued reviews of the nuclear force as a result of a series of Associated Press stories that outlined the problems at Minot and other nuclear bases and ordered sweeping changes.

“The internal and external reviews I ordered show that a consistent lack of investment and support for our nuclear forces over far too many years has left us with too little margin to cope with mounting stresses,” Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday.

The independent review called Minot “a special case.” It noted that Minot is the only base in either the Navy or the Air Force to host two legs of the nuclear force – ICBMs and bombers. It also has some of the coldest weather conditions encountered anywhere in the continental United States, creating special problems such as leaking hydraulic seals and more frequent failures by transport vehicles.

Retired Air Force Gen. Larry Welch, a co-author of the nuclear review, told reporters that during the Cold War heyday for ICBMs a Minot assignment was seen as a badge of honor. But he said that now “you find an extreme reluctance to accept an assignment to Minot which has some of the oldest maintenance facilities in the Air Force.

One could say the trouble started in Minot in August 2007 when six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles were flown across the country by mistake aboard a B-52 bomber. The air crew was oblivious and the people accountable for the weapons at their starting point at Minot did not know they were missing.

Arriving at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, the B-52 and its weapons sat on the tarmac for nine hours, unguarded, according to an account by Eric Schlosser in his 2013 book, “Command and Control.”

The following June, after yet another embarrassing nuclear foul-up, then-Pentagon chief Gates simultaneously fired the civilian and military leaders of the Air Force.

Gates said he believed the Air Force was finally fixing its problems. But in May 2013 AP revealed an internal email by a senior Air Force officer at Minot decrying “rot” in the 91st Missile Wing. He said it was “in a crisis right now” with lax discipline and a failure by some to take their nuclear duties seriously.

Nineteen launch officers were taken off duty for bad attitudes and weak performances in an inspection.

The AP published a series of additional stories documenting signs of weak morale, training gaps, security violations and leadership lapses, including the firing in October 2013 of Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, commander of the entire ICBM force.

Two months later an investigation report was released detailing the case against Carey. It said he had engaged in inappropriate behavior, including heavy drinking, rudeness to his hosts and associating with “suspect” women, while traveling in Russia as head of a US government delegation.