M.A.D.D. might be a good deterrent for drunken drivers. But what about M.A.D. – Mutually Assured Destruction; that’s the worst case scenario of drunken or drug-fueled destruction. The Air Force is investigating and has removed from their posts 14 airmen at a nuclear missile base in Wyoming for alleged illegal drug use, in some cases possibly including cocaine, defense officials said Friday. Pretty scary if you think about all that can and does go wrong when someone is under the influence.
Granted these were not individuals with their finger’s on the button, not the key-turners, but they were tasked with protecting the installation that is out in the middle of nowhere on purpose. The accused airmen at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, home of the 90th Missile Wing, were assigned to a 1,300-person security forces group who protect the base — and its nuclear missiles.
The 150 Minuteman III ICBMs (each with an explosive yield roughly eight times greater than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima, easily capable of destroying an entire large modern city) launched from their Wyoming silo’s, can reach any destination in the world within 35 minutes.
The probe is a fresh blow to a nuclear missile corps that has been under intense scrutiny for a string of lapses in training and personal conduct over the past three years.
In 2014, aver 90 nuclear missile officers were implicated in academic cheating scandals and drug rings. 11 Air Force personnel on six different bases have been implicated in the drug ring. Three of them were missile launch officers at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, according to the Washington Post.
In 2013, A top general in charge of all U.S.-based nuclear missiles was fired for going on a drunken bender and carousing with foreign women on a mission to Russia. The Air Force has had to push back against that incident, and additional reports that its nuclear missileers are burned out, cynical, and suffering historically low levels of morale.
