The Washington Post reported Thursday that the Air Force has decided to relieve from their commands at least five officers over the B-52 nuclear weapons incident in August. The action will affect officers at both Minot AFB, N.D., the base where the weapons were loaded, and Barksdale AFB, La., the base whose aircrew failed to catch the error and where the weapons sat on the flightline without special guard for hours, reports the Post’s Thomas Ricks and Joby Warrick. Enlisted airmen involved are to receive letters of reprimand. And, there could be judicial proceedings against one or more individuals. The Air Force was expected to brief Defense Secretary Robert Gates and make a public announcement today, but apparently service leaders are considering additional actions that might delay public release. There’s no public word yet, either, from the independent review initiated by Gates.
In written testimony to the Senate, the nominee to oversee the Air Force’s installations and energy enterprise endorsed the continued privatization of military housing and called for the department to think more during the acquisition process about how it will power new weapons systems when the logistics supply chain is…
