Maybe Global Strike Isn't Needed?

摘要

Lt Gen James M. Kowalski has an impossible job. As the boss at the US Air Force's Global Strike Command (AFGSC) at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, Kowalski's mission, in formal language, is 'organising, framing, equipping and maintaining US intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear-capable bomber forces'. He owns America's B-52 Stratofortresses, B-2 Spirits and LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBMs. He owns what's now called the Air Force's 'nuclear enterprise.' 'Global Strike Command was activated in response to publicity citing breakdowns in nuclear discipline in the Air Force', said Kowalski in a 9 May speech. 'Nuclear operations require the highest standards of execution, compliance and critical self-assessment - standards that demand discipline and professionalism at all levels.' If you've been drinking the Kool-Aid - that's airman slang for swallowing the official line - you'll have heard that the USAF's system for handling atomic weapons suffered a massive breakdown in 2007 and that major surgery was needed.