24 March 2014

ICBM and Nuclear Bomber Commanders Eyeball

Thermonuclear Monarchy: Choosing Between Democracy and Doom, Elaine Scarry (published 2014-02-24).W. W. Norton & Company.

During his 1974 impeachment proceedings, President Richard Nixon told reporters, “I can go into my office and pick up the telephone, and in 25 minutes 70 million people will be dead.” His statement was a stark—but completely accurate— description of presidential power. Since the invention of atomic weapons, the United States has had a presidential first-use policy: it was in place , but not yet codified into a single, formal written doctrine, during the presidencies of Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford, and then became codified during the presidency of Jimmy Carter in Presidential Directive 59, which has continued in force through the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and is in place today. Many people in the United States think of the country’s nuclear weapons as retaliatory “defense” weapons. But the first-use policy presumes what its name states, that the United States will use them first. The effort that a president would have to exert to execute a first-use strike is minimal, as President Nixon’s statement accurately records. ...

Documentary evidence of our population’s collective, nearly tour-de-force ability to abstain from mentioning aloud our own nuclear weapons exists in the period leading up to and through the 2003–5 phase of the war in Iraq. Day by day over 400 days, American newspapers and journals were laden with statements about whether Saddam Hussein’s Iraq certainly did, probably did, probably did not, or certainly did not own a nuclear weapon, but among these tens of thousands of articles, one looks in vain for even a solitary allusion to our own vast nuclear arsenal, to the fact that we own in addition to 3100 Trident I and Trident II warheads designed for our Ohio-class submarines (with a total blast power of 273,000,000 tons of TNT), land-based ICBM nuclear warheads with a total blast power of 503,000,000 tons of TNT, and air-based nuclear warheads for the B-2 and B-52 bombers equaling 410,000,000 tons of TNT.

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2014-0485.htm  Ballistic Missile Submarine Commanders Eyeball  March 24, 2014

Air Force Global Strike Command LT. GEN. STEPHEN WILSON Lt. Gen. Stephen W. "Seve" Wilson is Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, La. He is responsible for organizing, training, equipping and maintaining all U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear-capable bomber forces. The command's mission is to develop and provide combat-ready forces for nuclear deterrence and global strike operations to support the President of the United States and combatant commanders. The command comprises more than 23,000 professionals operating at various locations around the globe. The command's six wings control the nation's entire inventory of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, B-2 and B-52 bomber aircraft.

INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE FORCES

20th Air Force MAJ. GEN. JACK WEINSTEIN Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein is Commander, Twentieth Air Force, Air Force Global Strike Command, and Commander, Task Force 214, U.S. Strategic Command, Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo. General Weinstein is responsible for the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile force, organized into three operational wings with more than 9,600 people.

91st Missile Wing COLONEL ROBERT VERCHER Colonel Robert J. Vercher is the Commander, 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. where he leads more than 1,600 Air Force Airmen in support of the nation's land-based intercontinental ballistic missile force. The wing operates, maintains and secures 150 Minuteman III ICBMs, 15 missile alert facilities and 150 remote launch facilities covering an 8,500-square mile area in central North Dakota. The wing also maintains and operates eight UH-1N helicopters in support of missile field security. The wing provides global deterrence and defends America with the world's premier combat-ready ICBM force.

341st Missile Wing COLONEL ROBERT W. STANLEY II Colonel Robert W. Stanley II is Commander, 341st Missile Wing, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. The wing's 4,000 personnel defend the United States with combat-ready Airmen and nuclear forces. They are responsible for base support, maintenance, security and operation of 150 Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) located throughout a 13,800 square-mile complex in central Montana.

90th Missile Wing COL. TRACEY L. HAYES Colonel Tracey L. Hayes is the Commander of the 90th Missile Wing, Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo. She provides strategic nuclear deterrence through the operation, maintenance, security and support by over 4,200 military, civilian and contractor personnel operating 15 missile alert facilities and 150 Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, constantly ready to launch at the direction of the President of the United States.

NUCLEAR-CAPABLE BOMBER FORCES

Commander, 8th Air Force: Maj. Gen. Scott A. Vander Hamm Maj. Gen. Scott A. Vander Hamm is the Commander, Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic), Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and Joint Functional Component Commander for Global Strike, U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Neb. "The Mighty Eighth" serves as the air component headquarters to USSTRATCOM for strategic deterrence, global strike, and operates USSTRATCOM's Joint Air Operations Center. The Joint Functional Component Command for Global Strike plans and executes strategic deterrence and global strike operations for USSTRATCOM. General Vander Hamm also commands Task Force 204 which oversees the Air Force nuclear bomber and reconnaissance activities in support of USSTRATCOM.

2d Bomb Wing – Barksdale AFB, Louisiana (B-52H) COL. ANDREW J. GEBARA Colonel Andrew J. Gebara is the commander of the 2d Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, La. He is responsible for providing combat-ready B-52H aircraft, crews, and associated combat support to conduct global operational taskings. Additionally, as Barksdale's installation commander, he supports 40 tenant units, including Headquarters, Air Force Global Strike Command; Headquarters, 8th Air Force; and the Air Force Reserve Command's 307th Bomb Wing. He promotes the welfare of more than 11,400 military and civilian personnel, 6,300 family members and 25,000 retirees.

5th Bomb Wing – Minot AFB, North Dakota (B-52H) COLONEL ALEXIS MEZYNSKI Colonel Alexis Mezynski is commander of the 5th Bomb Wing, Minot Air Force Base, N.D. He is responsible for providing combat-ready B-52H Stratofortress aircraft, crews, and associated combat support for deterrence, crisis response, global power projection, major theater war and maritime operations and Air and Space Expeditionary Force deployments. He also serves as the installation commander.

509th Bomb Wing – Whiteman AFB, Missouri (B-2) BRIGADIER GENERAL GLEN D. VANHERCK Brig. Gen. Glen D. VanHerck is the Commander, 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. He is responsible for the combat readiness of the Air Force's only B-2 wing, including development and employment of the B-2's combat capability as part of the Air Force's Global Strike Task Force. His command provides logistics support for the Air Force Reserve 442nd Fighter Wing; Missouri Air National Guard 131st Bomb Wing; Air Combat Command 20th Reconnaissance Squadron; Missouri Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 135th Aviation Unit; and the Navy Reserve Maritime Expeditionary Security Division 13. He manages flying assets in excess of $46 billion and an annual operations and maintenance budget of $147 million.