Friday, January 24, 2014

Hagel calls for review of US nuclear force



Hagel calls for review of US nuclear force
January 23, 2014, 05:55 pm
By Jeremy Herb
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday called for a wholesale review of the U.S. nuclear forces in the wake of a series of scandals involving nuclear officers.

Hagel ordered two reviews of the personnel operating the nation’s nuclear weapons, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters Thursday, in response to the Air Force’s recent cheating and drug scandals.

Kirby said that Hagel’s office and senior leaders at the Navy and Air Force would conduct an internal review and action plan over the next two months, along with an independent review of personnel issues.

The reviews are being taken after 34 Air Force officers were caught cheating on a nuclear proficiency test, which was uncovered during a separate investigation into drug use among officers in charge of launching nuclear missiles.

Kirby said that Hagel remains confident in the safety and security of the nuclear arsenal, but said that a “series of individual failures such as those we have recently witnessed give him pause.”

“To the degree there are systemic problems in the training and professional standards of the nuclear career field, the secretary wants them solved,” Kirby said. “To the degree leaders have failed in their duties, he wants them held to account.”

Both Hagel and Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James recently toured bases in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota where intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are operated.

The Air Force has struggled before with its nuclear forces.

In 2008, the Air Force secretary and chief of staff were both fired by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates following a series of missteps, including a B-52 bomber flying across the country mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.

Kirby said Thursday that 481 Air Force missile officers had been re-tested after the cheating allegations. He said that the pass rate was at 95 percent and 22 had failed. Those who failed would be retrained and re-tested. 

Chuck Hagel
Chuck Hagel is the secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration, and was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Note: Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Michael P.C. Carns was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and a general for the U.S. Air Force.
John A. Gordon was a general for the U.S. Air Force, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Richard L. Lawson was a general for the U.S. Air Force, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Joseph W. Ralston was a general for the U.S. Air Force, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Brent Scowcroft was the lieutenant general for the U.S. Air Force, and is the interim chairman; for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Charles F. Wald was a general for the U.S. Air Force, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Herbert M. Allison Jr. was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and an officer for the U.S. Navy.
Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. was an admiral for the U.S. Navy, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Charles R. Larson was an admiral for the U.S. Navy, and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Sean O'Keefe was the secretary for the U.S. Navy, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Norman W. Ray was a vice admiral for the U.S. Navy, and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
R. James Woolsey was the under secretary for the U.S. Navy, is an advisory board member for United Against Nuclear Iran, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and a board member for the International Crisis Group.
Leslie H. Gelb was a board member for the International Crisis Group, and an advisory board member for the United Against Nuclear Iran.
Igor S. Ivanov is a board member for the International Crisis Group, and a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a board member for the International Crisis Group, a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Sam Nunn is a co-chairman & CEO for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and a co-author for A World Free of Nuclear Weapons.
William J. Perry is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and a co-author for A World Free of Nuclear Weapons.
Eugene Habiger is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and was a general for the U.S. Air Force.
Michael P.C. Carns a general for the U.S. Air Force, and was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Chuck Hagel was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), is the secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration.




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