It was the Associated Press headline heard around the world, “AIR FORCE NUCLEAR UNIT FAILS KEY SECURITY TEST” and in military terms, it brought discredit to the United States Air Force.

The opening paragraph of the story added more salt to the wound:

An Air Force unit that operates one-third of the nation’s land-based nuclear missiles has failed a safety and security inspection, marking the second major setback this year for a force charged with the military’s most sensitive mission, the general in charge of the nuclear air force told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

It wasn’t until the third paragraph of the AP story that “Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana” was even mentioned. With that mention, Malmstrom and its 341st Missile Wing just became the weakest link in the nuclear triad. That honor will last until the next base fails a nuclear surety test.  

It’s not the first failure for the 341st Missile Wing. The AP also reported, “The 341st also failed a safety and security inspection in 2008.” I wrote about that failure HERE.

For those of us who have worked on or around nuclear weapons during our military career, that failure means there will be 90 days of hell to pay until there’s a re-evaluation. For some officers, it’s a career ender – and it should be. They will take their inadequate leadership and frustrations out on the enlisted people and junior officers. The big thing is that someone screwed up. Screw-ups happen every day in the military – but when they happen with nukes, it’s big.

The AP is reporting today (August 14) “Another nuclear stumble by Air Force raises doubts” as it should. Frankly, something is wrong with the leadership starting at the three intercontinental ballistic missile bases and up the chain of command through the 20th Air Force, Global Strike Command, and all the way up to and including the Pentagon.

Fortunately, something really bad has not yet happened.

Now Malmstrom AFB personnel will have some training and some more training. After that they will have more training to ensure it does not happen again. Just about the time they think they are done, more training will be scheduled. Leave will be cancelled and, for the foreseeable future, life won’t be too much fun for those working in the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB – nor should it be.

The leaders will attempt to calm the fears of the civilians as they did in today’s Great Falls Tribune, which had the embarrassing headline above the fold (in their hard copy edition), “Base fails inspection” with the subtitle “Colonel: Citizens should not lose confidence; wing can do its job.”

Civilians (and reporters) will ask silly questions and the leaders will display their best military bearing and attempt to calm those fears. Groups that support the base will come out with their best talking points because the failure is a big deal.

As an added bonus it’s a chance for veterans of the Cold War (like me) to laugh at those reporters writing and reporting about the military. Their inadequacies shine brightly during these times. There are several reporters both locally and nationally who made me giggle with their reporting about the failure at Malmstrom AFB.

Finally, there’s some good news. Malmstrom AFB supporters should keep their chins up – At least the Air Force didn’t strap six nuclear missiles to a B-52 and fly them 1500 miles across the United States without them being noticed…

Jackie M. (Mike) Brown honorably served his country in the United States Air Force from 1981 to 1992 and also served as a military advisor to a U.S. senator from 1995 to 2007. His assignments while on active duty included Malmstrom Air Force Base near Great Falls, Montana.

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