serious morale & responsibility snafus w/ nuke missile techs

[tom d. friedman]

the secretary of defense is investigating serious morale problems & snafus with the usaf techs who hold the keys & are poised to hit the red buttons of our nuclear missile arsenals. nuclear missile duty has lost it's luster for duty in what was once an elite corp w/ esprit de corp, but is now reduced to new
era dominated security threats. it's rarely the 1st career choice for young officers these days. to realize that these airmen are using drugs / dealing in them, cheating on proficiency tests, sleeping on duty, & other derelictions of duty is beyond dangerous. training gaps, leadership lapses, inspection failures, deliberate violations of security rules, & domestic violence incidents are rife in what was once an elite corp & responsibility to the united states defense of it's citizenry. long 8 x 24 hour shifts per month of monotony in underground bunkers is taking it's toll. bottom line they must execute any order given to them by presidential order to launch icbm's at a moments notice. a coked or cracked out tech is holding the fate of our nation in their wasted, stoned hands & minds. the secretary of defense has proposed salary increase incentives, but that is only a "band aid".
the soviet vs u.s. "madd" philosophy is long over, but we still need these determents in an entirely new era of self defense, shrinking defense budget cuts etc.

[Enemy Ace]

There have been / are issues with many of the AF units that handle Nuclear weapons, including bomber elements.
IMHO the exacting regulations, rules and layers of inspectors that observe everything create a "check your brain at the door" environment that is difficult for anyone of intelligence to deal with day after day.
But what alternative is there when dealing with Nuclear weapons?
what solutions do you propose? personally I think that a missile assignment should be limited to 3 years and then rotate to different area of the AF to avoid the "drone burnout" syndrome.

[tom d. friedman]

amen!! & your avatar post or whatever is fitting as well, as to the red button.

[p51]

I'm not surprised at all. I was an Army officer and my brother retired from the USAF as an O-5, and pulled tours in GLCMs and Peacekeeper ICBMs (he even turned the keys on a 'Glory Trip' test launch and Vandy once). The things both of us saw on active duty, you just wouldn't believe.
He's told me some pretty hair-raising stories of back in the 'good old days' of SAC and pulling alerts.
It's funny when someone talks about how shocked they are that anything like this could possibly happen, I know right away they've never served.
Seen stuff done on the govt's dime that only someone else who's served in sensitive areas of the military would understand.
Regs and breaking the rules are one thing; they should be nailed to the barn door if they did all that stuff. But please, let's all not act like this kind of thing is all that big a surprise.
Reminds me of the old joke:
Q: What's the difference between the military and the Cub Scouts?
A: The Cub Scouts have adult leadership!