US Air Force officers in charge of launching nuclear missiles have been punished twice this year for leaving open a blast door at their command posts, officials said.
The two-man crews, who control the launch keys for nuclear missiles, are forbidden from opening such doors at their underground ‘capsules’ unless both officers are awake to ensure strict control of the destructive weapons. ‘There were two cases in the last year where non-judicial punishment was given for a violation for leaving the blast doors open when they should have been shut,’ said Lieutenant Colonel John Sheets, spokesman for the military’s Global Strike Command. At Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota in April, while one crew member was napping, his counterpart opened the blast door when a cook came to deliver their meals, Sheets said. And at Malmstrom Air Force base in Montana in May, one officer left the door open when a maintenance team came do repairs, even though his fellow crew member was asleep.
The two-man crews, who control the launch keys for nuclear missiles, are forbidden from opening such doors at their underground ‘capsules’ unless both officers are awake to ensure strict control of the destructive weapons. ‘There were two cases in the last year where non-judicial punishment was given for a violation for leaving the blast doors open when they should have been shut,’ said Lieutenant Colonel John Sheets, spokesman for the military’s Global Strike Command. At Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota in April, while one crew member was napping, his counterpart opened the blast door when a cook came to deliver their meals, Sheets said. And at Malmstrom Air Force base in Montana in May, one officer left the door open when a maintenance team came do repairs, even though his fellow crew member was asleep.