B-52 carried nuclear missiles over US by mistake

[MTK]

A little mistake

AFP: B-52 carried nuclear missiles over US by mistake: military

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US military said on Wednesday it was investigating an alarming security lapse when a B-52 bomber flew the length of the country last week loaded with six nuclear-armed cruise missiles.

[gibbsisgod]

Is it just me or is this information that should have been kept "top secret"? Do we really want our enemies to know we are that absent minded?

[MTK]

Originally Posted by gibbsisgod

Is it just me or is this information that should have been kept "top secret"? Do we really want our enemies to know we are that absent minded?

I think they're already well aware of it.

[gibbsisgod]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I think they're already well aware of it.

haha touche!

[dmek25]

I'm trying to figure out how Bill Clinton keeps screwing things up? you guys are right, this was definitely need to know info. and the public probably didn't need to know this

[RobH4413]

See, this kind of shit worries the hell out of me.

How are we just losing track of nuclear missles?!?! Not good! Not good at all.

[saden1]

Wait a minute, so if flying them over the U.S. is not allowed how do they get them from point A to point B? Transport them by ground? Fly them over Mexico and Canada?

Danger will always be present when it comes to transporting nuclear weapons.

[BleedBurgundy]

We didn't lose track of them, we just failed to live up to a cold war agreement not to fly them.

[Riggo44]

Some heads really need to roll for this one. That’s just asinine!

[That Guy]

no one lost track of them, but ammo or whatnot forgot to unload them.

no danger of going off, but in the 80s, the US had nukes flying all over the place, ready to drop, and we had a few accidents (spanish coast, iceland), so we agreed to stop doing that (to meet the quota of bombs in the sky back then, some of those b-52s may have been going up without being in 100% working order).

[BDBohnzie]

Does this mean someone gets to wear the "I'm With Stupid" t-shirt over their uniform next week?

[firstdown]

Its funny how everytime the US goverment makes a mistake people just say that the way things go in goverment but then the next day the same people are calling for the goverment to run the nations health care. This has nothing to do with which party is in controll because they both make tons of mistakes and seem to screw up most of the stuff they become involved in.

[BleedBurgundy]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Its funny how everytime the US goverment makes a mistake people just say that the way things go in goverment but then the next day the same people are calling for the goverment to run the nations health care. This has nothing to do with which party is in controll because they both make tons of mistakes and seem to screw up most of the stuff they become involved in.

Everyone has mental lapses. It's just that when you're job is to deal with NUCLEAR (or NUKULER) missiles on a daily basis, even the smallest lapse is a big deal. The only thing I don't like about the system is that it's generalized as "The US Gov't dicked this up." It should be General Smith, Colonel Johnson and Sgt Jackson dicked this up and they have all been reduced in rank... I don't understand why private citizens are responsible for their own actions but service members get to hide behind the red, white and blue shield. A little personal accountability would go a long way to fixing some of our problems.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy

Everyone has mental lapses. It's just that when you're job is to deal with NUCLEAR (or NUKULER) missiles on a daily basis, even the smallest lapse is a big deal. The only thing I don't like about the system is that it's generalized as "The US Gov't dicked this up." It should be General Smith, Colonel Johnson and Sgt Jackson dicked this up and they have all been reduced in rank... I don't understand why private citizens are responsible for their own actions but service members get to hide behind the red, white and blue shield. A little personal accountability would go a long way to fixing some of our problems.

apparently you've never been in the air force... there is nothing but accountability. it's preached along with attention to detail every single day. i'm pretty sure the people who goofed up and the people that let them goof up, and the people who saw the mistake and didn't report it will all get to fill out paperwork and have personal "meetings" with their commanders.

[BleedBurgundy]

Originally Posted by That Guy

apparently you've never been in the air force... there is nothing but accountability. it's preached along with attention to detail every single day. i'm pretty sure the people who goofed up and the people that let them goof up, and the people who saw the mistake and didn't report it will all get to fill out paperwork and have personal "meetings" with their commanders.

No, I've never been in the air force, but I was in the Navy for 6 years, 3 of which I served at a joint command in Iceland with the Air Force. I know how it is. My post was regarding the fact that you will hear that "someone" in the A.F. or US Gov f'd up. You will not hear specifically "Jim Bob" screwed up. The accountability I am referring to is public scrutiny of the individual, not the internal repercussions (which are admittedly severe).

If you look at the post previous to mine, you'll see what I'm talking about. While there are a large number of things wrong with our country, the federal government is no more screwed up then the constituents they serve, IMO. When you say the AF or the Fed Gov are a bunch of idiots you lose sight of the fact that it is the few individuals involved in this lapse that are to blame, not the system nor the infrastructure. All of the necessary rules and safeguards were in place, the individuals simply didn't follow the guidelines. To me, it brings unneccessary discredit on the organization which encompasses a large amount of people (perhaps yourself?) that are doing their duty much more than competently. Maybe this is all semantics anyway, but I feel there is an important distinction to be made.