Air Force missileers asleep on duty

[HackerF15E]

Seriously, can we just give the AF back to the Army already? How much more proof do we need that running a branch of the military like a business DOES NOT WORK?

This opinion of yours based on what? Have you served with the USAF? In what capacity?

Comments like that come off extremely ignorant.

Fact of the matter is that your "like a business" poke above is not only factually and spiritiually incorrect, but it also has absolutely no relation to the matter being discussed about the missile crew.

 

[Zissou]

A gentleman I see at work now and again is a Missile guy. Currently working at KSC.

Here is what he said (with his permission to post here):

"Yep, I saw this. If no one had said anything, no one would have ever known. Check plus for integrity and being willing to take the heat for your failures.

All in all, no compromise occured, it was a procedural violation, and those cremembers are in the hurt locker. It got reported internally, the proper chains were followed, and the right people were contacted. Not a good situation, but the system worked when individuals failed.

As a side note, they fell asleep with the codes inside of locked, sealed containers, inside of a secure facility. Should they have fallen asleep? No. Is it proven that no one had access to the superceded codes in that time period? Yes. Those three missileers will never be hired as evaluators or instructors, and that fourth missileer never should have let his buddies crash out like that. They're probably in for administrative punishment as well. Minot is in witch hunt mode, and they're going to get burned far worse than any flyer ever would." end quote


His informed opinion doesnt sound nearly as sinister as the news slant.

 

[SkywardET]

Can't wait for the blogs that say something like, "Don't look towards the security of Russian nuclear arms when we have such problems here."

I love watching people run with little tidbits and seeing how far they go.

 

[Huggy Bear]

The bigger question in my mind is why and how does this stuff keep getting to the press.

 

[eddie]

The bigger question in my mind is why and how does this stuff keep getting to the press.

... the internet

 

[Uncle Fester]

"The Internet? Is that thing still around?"

 

[Bevo16]

This opinion of yours based on what? Have you served with the USAF? In what capacity?

Comments like that come off extremely ignorant.

Fact of the matter is that your "like a business" poke above is not only factually and spiritiually incorrect, but it also has absolutely no relation to the matter being discussed about the missile crew.

 

[Tom]

... the internet

Maybe the occasional disgruntled force reduction member?

 

[OUSOONER]

If you see a 4 star snooping around in your shop wearing these, it's probably a good idea to be on your A-Game.

 

[A4sForever]

ACTUALLY ... that looks a LOT like my former B/N who couldn't "screen" for O-3, i.e., LT -- and went on to be a silo commander.

 

[FLYTPAY]

ACTUALLY ... that looks a LOT like my former B/N who couldn't "screen" for O-3, i.e., LT -- and went on to be a silo commander.

Still waiting on this story!!

 

[Mumbles]

...if anyone makes it through the Rapid City, SD area...(I did once when I was driving X-country), the museum at Ellsworth AFB has a tour of one of the old Minuteman III silos that I'd reccomend.

 

[HackerF15E]

No, you're missing my point entirely.

I'm well aware that the USAF has stepped on our crank quite a bit lately and in some very public ways. I'm completely f*cking embarassed at some of the things my service has done recently.

I fully agree that the topic of this thread is completely a valid target to throw spears at -- you'll note I'm not making any arguments in the defense of these dudes or what happened.

This has nothing to do with "glass houses".

What I am entirely against is driveby pot-shots that are just general USAF-bashing -- comments that are just factually incorrect, are based on neither actual evidence nor firsthand experience, and have conclusions that are so off base they might as well be on Mars.

If armada1651 wants to make a legitimate contribution to the discussion at hand -- or even provide evidence for a sidebar discussion about why he thinks the USAF is "run like a business" and why the DoD should "give the AF back to the Army" -- that would be fine. Otherwise, it's just verbal farting that does nothing to further the discussion. Even worse, when bullsh*t like that is tolerated and encouraged at this place -- a place where young and future Naval officers learn from older, more experienced officers -- it implicitly says that this kind of ignorance is okay. Don't get me wrong: I'm all for intra-service rivalries and friendly jabbing. I'm completely against institutionalizing ignorance.

In an age where the country is actively engaged at war...at a time when jointness is required because of the nature of operations...we ALL need to understand brother services such that we lose the service biases we are all raised with.

 

[armada1651]

If armada1651 wants to make a legitimate contribution to the discussion at hand -- or even provide evidence for a sidebar discussion about why he thinks the USAF is "run like a business" and why the DoD should "give the AF back to the Army" -- that would be fine. Otherwise, it's just verbal farting that does nothing to further the discussion. Even worse, when bullsh*t like that is tolerated and encouraged at this place -- a place where young and future Naval officers learn from older, more experienced officers -- it implicitly says that this kind of ignorance is okay. Don't get me wrong: I'm all for intra-service rivalries and friendly jabbing. I'm completely against institutionalizing ignorance.

You're right and I apologize for my comment. Obviously, I'm not remotely qualified to to discuss this and my opinion was based mostly on hearsay and not my own experience. There just seems to be an overload of AF scandals the past year, but upon looking at the article again, it seems Brett was right and this is more a case of the press blowing a fairly minor incident out of proportion. And I imagine the scandal overload is due largely to the aforementioned "witch hunt mode," which Minot particularly is currently in.

Again, sorry...I'll leave this discussion to those more knowledgeable.

 

[usmarinemike]

So this leads back to a little argument that I've had with others in the past...Entry level training, even for the Air Force should be an incredible shock to the individuals world. Some have made the exact argument that the missileers are not in need of the kick in the ass boot camp or OTS because they are recruited to be geeks in silos. How about a complete shock and destroy boot camp or OTS to instilll some damn discipline which seems to be lacking? How about some SHARED SUFFERING to establish some esprit de corps and unit pride? It doesn't have to be "close combat, stab your enemy in the throat and saw his head off" oriented. It just has to be CHALLENGING. Both simple discipline and simple unit pride would have gone a long way to solve all of these problems. ALL of these problems. Damn it pisses me off when my brothers in arms drop their spears.