Earlier this month, ballistic missile Air Force crew members reportedly fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices in Minot, North Dakota.

Ballistic officers are behind locked doors with classified codes and devices that allow the crew to communicate with nuclear missiles.  The codes are changed periodically and are kept in secured containers, which have combination locks that can only be opened by the crew in a facility that is guarded by armed security forces. Air Force staff state the codes were no longer usable, since new codes had been installed in the missiles.

While this was only a procedural violation, it is another dark mark against a military service already under fire from Secretary Robert Gates.  Gates has been publicly critical of both the current Air Force leadership and future leadership regarding several issues, including the erroneous shipment of six armed nuclear cruise missiles from Minot across the country and the mistaken shipment to Taiwan of four Air Force fusing devices for ballistic missile nuclear warheads.

In an unprecedented move, Secretary Gates took swift action by removing the heads of the Air Force Hydra, (Air Force Secretary, Michael W. Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley) but his Herculean attempt did not get to the systemic problems in North Dakota.

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said, "I don't think this is an issue about the base - I think it's an issue about personnel," Dorgan said. "There have obviously been management and command problems at this base and the Air Force has made some command changes to respond to it."

North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven said the Minot base is getting extra scrutiny because of its embarrassing mistakes.

But Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.,  Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called the incident very troubling. "The new Air Force leadership, when confirmed, must take decisive and urgent steps to restore the culture of respect that our strategic weapons deserve and our national security demands," said Skelton.

To date, no one has been punished in the latest Minot incident involving sleeping crew members.

Gen. Norton A. Schwartz has been nominated to be the next Air Force chief of staff, and Michael Donley has been nominated for secretary.  Both have vowed to work to restore trust and confidence in the service, if Congress approves their nominations.

OhMyGov! wishes Schwartz and Donley all the best in their endeavors and certainly hope they are successful. Americans need to have faith in their government, especially the military services, during these times of crisis even more than ever.

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