Rockets high: US Air Force investigating drug use by guards at missile base

[mick silver]

Rockets high: US Air Force investigating drug use by guards at missile baseSource: RT (https://www.rt.com/usa/336151-usaf-missile-airmen-drugs/)

The US Air Force is investigating 14 airmen for illegal drug use, possibly including cocaine. Most of them were assigned to the security detail of the unit responsible for one-third of all US intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
“Over a dozen” airmen, “mainly or entirely” members of the security force at the 90th Missile Wing, were suspended on Friday, unnamed Pentagon officials told AP. All are junior enlisted personnel.
“It came to light because one airman who had suspicion of drug activity by another reported that to his chain of command,” General Robin Rand, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said Friday.
The 90th is based at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base just outside Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is one of the three remaining missile wings of the Air Force’s Global Strike Command, operating Minuteman III ICBMs.
The security force’s job is to protect the missile silos from unauthorized access. Just last month, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work visited the base and observed a demonstration of how security would deal with a scenario in which armed intruders captured a missile silo.
The Air Force has previously investigated a number of “missileers” – officers in charge of actually launching the missiles should the order for global thermonuclear war be given – at Warren for drug use, as part of a push by then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to address “personnel failures” within the force.
That probe led to the discovery that a number of missileers had cheated on their proficiency tests at Malmstrom AFB in Montana, another Minuteman III facility. In the end, 79 officers were disciplined, and 15 of them were discharged from the military, according to the Air Force Times (http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/crime/2016/03/18/drug-use-nuclear-base-fe-warren-air-force/81963078/).


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[mick silver]

How Secure Are the American Nuclear Arsenals? Column: Society (http://journal-neo.org/category/columns/society/)
Region: USA in the World (http://journal-neo.org/category/locations/usa-in-the-world/)



http://journal-neo.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1387357516537-300x200.jpg (http://journal-neo.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1387357516537.jpg)Unfortunately, one must admit that the security of American nuclear arsenals today remains a truly troublesome matter. This means that not only US citizens, but the people of the world remain hostages of the reckless Washington’s policies. It’s sad but true that whole region can be subjected to chaos and destruction at the will of US authorities, as it has been repeatedly done to the Middle East and other areas of the world. What’s even worse, as Washington continues accumulating weapon stockpiles and nuclear warheads, one day we may wake up to witness the whole world being plunged in a nuclear winter due to the inadequate control over nuclear arsenals.Such grim predictions can be justified by the recently uncovered facts of the systematic drug use among the US military personnel of the Warren airbase (http://www.thedailyreporter.com/news/20160318/only-on-ap-airmen-at-nuke-base-probed-for-illegal-drug-use) in Wyoming, which provides storage to American nuclear arsenals. Recently the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) Robin Rand was forced to admit that there were habitual drug addicts among the officers of the 90th Missile Wing and Twentieth Air Force of the AFGSC. Those suspected of drug abuse have already been discharged at least for the period of the investigation.As you may know the Warren airbase has been entrusted with the responsibility to launch nuclear strikes against any possible menace to the US security at will. Therefore, Robin Rand was pretty much on point when he noted that “trained professionals” were entrusted with a grave responsibility that they were supposed to bear with honor. At least now we can decide whether or not we can sleep peacefully, while such people are holding the fate of the world in their hands.It must be underlined that this was not the first time when the US military strategic forces were accused of using drugs. Back in 2011 a massive scandal erupted (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sailors-discharged-drugs-idUSTRE79J8XA20111020%20) when over fifty American sailors were caught using synthetic drugs on a regular basis. Then it a total of 46 people were discharged from service on the USS Carl Vinson, which is also armed with nuclear weapons.Time and time again certain American soldiers have shown criminal negligence while handling nuclear devices. In 2013 came a report that guards didn’t seal the doors of a nuclear bunker at US military base, and a year later soldiers damages a Minuteman III (http://news.yahoo.com/air-force-admits-nuke-flaws-fixes-142433012.html) nuclear warhead in Colorado during a routine check. There’s a handful of other evidence on the inadequate security measures that the US authorities have put in place, while having no fear whatsoever that a nuclear disaster (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Almanac/Brokenarrows_static.shtml%20) may follow shortly afterwards.It curious that the case of the mishandling the Minuteman III nuclear warhead was committed by 320th Missile Squadron (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-missile-idUSKCN0V02O7) that is a part of the above mentioned 90th Missile Wing. As for General Robin Rand he hesitated to report this incident for over six months in direct violation of the instructions he was given only to label this case top secret afterwards to conceal the details from the public.The lack of discipline and the low morale of the soldiers at the Warren airbase in Wyoming has been extensively covered (http://journal-neo.org/2016/03/20/how-secure-are-the-american-nuclear-arsenals/%20http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2684493/The-problems-nuclear-Behind-scenes-US-army-bases-reveal-ageing-weapons-low-morale-missileers.html) by a number of Western media sources since 2014, but to this date the US military command has taken no steps to address the issue at hand. So why should anyone be surprised by the fact that officers across America got used to abusing drugs when they’re perfectly aware of the fact that their superiors are reluctant to bring them back to discipline.Therefore, instead of escalating the tensions around North Korea, while running the risk of getting stuck in a potentially nuclear conflict, the White House would be better off talking some sense in its own armed forces. It must able to provide the international community with evidence that it will not become the insignator of a nuclear war.Martin Berger is a freelance journalist and geopolitical analyst, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook (http://journal-neo.org/).
http://journal-neo.org/2016/03/20/how-secure-are-the-american-nuclear-arsenals/

[Neuro]

Reminds me of the rampant drug use among Soviet military forces following their retreat from Afghanistan in the late 80's. Then Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

[Cebu_4_2]

Drug use is very high across the board. Mostly opiates that flush out of the system in a day or two so drug testing is mute. The only drug that sticks around is weed is why the use of water based drugs.

[Neuro]

Drug use is very high across the board. Mostly opiates that flush out of the system in a day or two so drug testing is mute. The only drug that sticks around is weed is why the use of water based drugs.

Water bong is better? ;D

[Cebu_4_2]

Smoke still oil based and illegal because it is a plant.