By Michael Sirak

A series of unacceptable procedural breakdowns and human errors led to the unauthorized transfer of six nuclear weapons across the United States heartland during a flight of a B-52H bomber aircraft in late August, senior Air Force officials said Friday.

“This was an unacceptable mistake and a clear deviation from our exacting standards,” Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne, said during a briefing with reporters Oct. 19 in the Pentagon. “We hold ourselves accountable to the American people and want to ensure proper corrective action has been taken.”

Wynne briefed reporters, along with Maj. Gen. Richard Newton, assistant deputy chief of staff for Operations, Plans and Requirements, on the findings of the six-week Commander Directed Investigation of the incident commissioned by Air Combat Command.

Wynne said he was briefed on the report Oct. 17 and reported on it to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Friday.

The incident involved a B-52 that was transferring 12 Advanced Cruise Missiles during a mission Aug. 29 and Aug. 30 from Minot AFB, N.D. to Barksdale AFB, La, for consolidation and eventual elimination as part of the Air Force’s planned drawdown of its fleet of this particular nuclear-capable, air-launched cruise missile. While the bomber was meant to ferry two pylons, each with six missiles, without nuclear warheads to Barksdale, the breakdown in the process led to the aircraft actually carrying one pylon with six of the missiles still hosting the nuclear front ends, Wynne acknowledged during the briefing.

“Normally it is our policy neither to confirm nor deny whether there were nuclear weapons involved,” the secretary said. “In this particular instance, I am going to make an exception–a one-time exception. You know that we would not be this upset with ourselves, nor be striving to restore confidence if this did not involve nuclear weapons.”

Newton said the errant nuclear transfer was “a serious and unprecedented incident.”

“Of the countless times our dedicated airmen have transferred weapons in our nation’s arsenal, nothing like this has ever occurred,” he said. “This was a failure to follow procedures, procedures which have proven to be sound. It involved a limited number of airmen at two bases.”

“Our investigation found that there has been an erosion of adherence to weapons handling standards at Minot AFB and at Barksdale AFB,” he continued. “We have acted quickly and decisively to rectify this.”

He said the investigation identified five procedural breakdowns on Aug. 29 in the handling of the cruise missiles at Minot that led to the six nuclear-tipped ones incorrectly being loaded on the B-52. He attributed these breakdowns to lack of attention to detail, lack of following procedures and lack of discipline. The errant shipment was not discovered until the aircraft landed at Barksdale, where airmen followed the proper procedures, he said.

So far, as a result of the incident, the Air Force has relieved the wing commander at Minot, along with the maintenance group commander at that base, as well as the operations group commander at Barksdale, Newton said. Minot’s munitions squadron commander was relieved shortly after the incident.

For privacy reasons, Newton said the Air Force would not discuss the names of the individuals.

Further, Newton said, four specific actions have been taken at the group and squadron level, for individuals at the rank of lieutenant colonel and below. And some airmen have been decertified from handling, guarding or moving sensitive weapons, either temporarily or permanently, he said.

“The commander of Air Combat Command carefully considered individuals at all ranks and levels for accountability,” Newton said.

Air Combat Command has also tasked Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, commander of 12th Air Force, to independently assess the culpability of those involved, Newton said. The general has the authority to convene a general court martial, so he may take additional actions if he deems them necessary, he said.

Newton also said the Air Force has suspended the tactical-ferrying missions of the cruise missiles to Barksdale.

Beyond the Command Directed Investigation, the Air Force is taking steps to review its policies and procedures for handling nuclear weapons, Wynne said.

“I want to assure everyone that additional decisive actions are being taken to aggressively examine and implement corrective measures at all levels of our Air Force,” he said.

These include limited nuclear surety inspections being carried out at every nuclear-capable unit, and the chartering of a blue-panel review to examine all aspects of nuclear weapons policies and procedures, Wynne said.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has also asked the Defense Science Board to review nuclear procedures, and Congress has requested a top-to-bottom review of Pentagon and Department of Energy nuclear procedures, Wynne noted.

“We are making all appropriate changes to make sure that this has a minimal chance of ever happening again,” Wynne said. “But we would really like to ensure that it never happens again.

“Nothing in military procedures is more important than ensuring the control and custody of our weapons,” he continued. “We will determine areas that need to be held to higher account and hold those accountable who fall short of our standards. We are determined to understand exactly what mistakes were made and what changes are needed to ensure that they will not be repeated. We know America counts on us and through our steady, unwavering resolve and actions our Air Force will live up to the expectations of our nation.”