A squadron that oversees more than 2,000 nuclear warheads in New Mexico has been stripped of its nuclear responsibilities, according to the major command that oversees the unit.No specific incident led to what Air Force Materiel Command describes as the decertification of the 898th Munitions Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and all nuclear warheads remain accounted for, command spokesman Ron Fry told Air Force Times.“There is no risk to security, safety or health,” Fry wrote in an e-mail.AFMC commander Gen. Donald J. Hoffman took the action Jan. 27 at the request of Brig. Gen. Everett Thomas, commander of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, which was put in charge of sustainment and surety as part of the service’s massive nuclear reorganization last year.The 898th maintains the Kirtland Underground Munitions Maintenance and Storage Complex, one of two central storage sites for Air Force nuclear weapons, and falls under the center, also at Kirtland.“The decision to decertify was not made lightly,” Fry wrote. “Decertification was the right action to take in order to give the unit time to identify and implement necessary changes.”Neither Thomas nor Hoffman could speak to Air Force Times by last Friday, according to Fry.The decertification allows the squadron to delay a nuclear surety inspection scheduled this month for its parent wing, the 498th Nuclear Systems Wing. The 498th, along with the 377th Air Base Wing, also at Kirtland, failed nuclear surety inspections in November for problems with personnel reliability, maintenance operations and nuclear weapons security.An initial nuclear surety inspection, which the 898th must pass to handle nuclear weapons again, will be scheduled in “the coming months,” according to Fry.In preparation for its inspection, the 898th has “begun an in-depth process of root cause analysis,” Fry said. “The unit continues to address every aspect of the mission, which includes documentation, maintenance processes, management and technical skills.”Every time a unit fails a nuclear surety inspection, a major command’s commander must decide whether to decertify the unit. The problems identified at the 898th crossed Hoffman’s “acceptable threshold,” said a senior Air Force nuclear official, who agreed to speak with Air Force Times on the condition of anonymity.“In most cases,” the official said, “units retain their certification.”Five senior noncommissioned officers were reassigned when the squadron was decertified, Fry said.“All five individuals have been placed in positions to use their talents,” he said.In October, the Air Force sacked Col. Joel Westa and Col. Christopher Ayers after their nuclear wings at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., failed nuclear surety inspections.The official warned not to directly correlate a failed nuclear inspection with the ousting of a commander. An “exceptional action” such as that is based on a broad range of factors, the official said.Thomas told Air Force Times in an interview last month that he accepts full responsibility for the failed inspections. Lt. Col. Eric Moore is commander of the 898th and Col. Richard M. Stuckey leads the 498th. Moore took command in 2008.As of Feb. 3, AFMC had not specified publicly which unit had taken over the 898th’s nuclear duties.“AFMC is working with officials at the Nuclear Weapons Center to ensure appropriate steps are taken to continue the mission of the squadron,” Fry wrote.In 2007, airmen from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., took over the mission of the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air after it was decertified by Gen. John D.W. Corley, then head of Air Combat Command.The 5th, the most recent unit to be decertified, stayed off the job for eight months after its airmen mistakenly loaded six nuclear warheads onto a B-52 that flew to Louisiana in 2007.The 898th handpicks the airmen who maintain the nuclear weapons storage complex, which the Federation of American Scientists estimates is the nation’s largest nuclear repository, with more than 2,000 nuclear warheads. Airmen in the 898th also travel to maintain nuclear weapons stationed at bases across the service.The complex is a vast arrangement of secure underground chambers, said Hans Kristensen, director of the federation’s Nuclear Information Project.The Air Force often stores nuclear weapons at the storage complex before they are dismantled at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, the nation’s only plant that disassembles nuclear warheads from intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.Related reading— Weapons center chief takes inspection blame
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