Col. Ronald G. AllenJr., began service as commander of the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in April 2016.
He was among 1.317 eligible colonels for promotion to the rank of brigadier general and at the end of December the U.S. Senate confirmed him for promotion to brigadier general in the United States Air Force.
“It’s a great honor to serve with someone of Col. Allen’s caliber and character,” said Col. Peter Bonetti, 341st MW vice commander. “I’m grateful to see the Senate confirmation. It’s an acknowledgement that Col. Allen’s senior leadership is vital to the Air Force and the United States.”
The wing’s 4.000 personnel defend the United States with combat-ready Airmen and nuclear forces. They are responsible for base support, maintenance, security and operation of 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles located throughout a 13.800 square-mile complex in central Montana.
Vamos a ver en este Post algunas particularidades del sistema de ICBMs Minuteman III, que quizá conviene recordar en los momentos actuales.
Más concretamente, vamos a ver algunos detalles de cómo y por qué se prueba periodicamente este sistema.
Como los lectores ya conocen, Minuteman III es la denominación de ciertos ICBMs ubicados en silos bajo tierra, que de manera permanente se encuentran dispuestos para ser lanzados en caso de un ataque a gran escala contra los Estados Unidos.
El sistema se prueba periodicamente mediante lanzamientos que se llevan a cabo por el 576 Escuadrón de Pruebas de Vuelo de la Base Vandenberg (California).
La misión principal de este escuadrón es triple:
Asegurar que el sistema esté listo para ser utilizado en cualquier momento
Asegurar que el equipo humano esté listo para utilizarlo en todo momento
Advertir a potenciales adversarios que el sistema defensivo funciona
En cada prueba, los misiles son transportados desde las bases de Malmstrom (Montana), Minot (Dakota del Norte) o F.E. Warren (Wyoming) hasta la base Vandenberg, si bien sus vehículos de reentrada carecen de carga nuclear: "Los vehiculos de reentrada usados en nuestros lanzamientos de prueba no tienen componente nuclear alguno en su interior" afirma el Capitán Joe Liles, Jefe de pruebas de lanzamiento. "Son virtualmente idénticos en características de vuelo, pero el material nuclear se sustituye por equipos de medición para recabar datos durante el vuelo."
Sin embargo, la misión de este escuadrón va más alla del mero lanzamiento de misiles: "Mucha gente piensa que nuestra única misión aquí es la de llevar a cabo lanzamientos de prueba, pero lo cierto es que los lanzamientos constituyen tan solo una cuarta parte de nuestra misión," afirma Liles. "Nuestra responsabilidad incluye probar cada pieza del sistema, sea cual sea. La testeamos, la evaluamos y emitimos un dictamen final recomendando o rechazando su utilización como parte del sistema."
Ahora bien, aunque el escuadrón es el responsable de las pruebas, el equipo humano que se encarga de lanzar los misiles proviene de la misma base que proporciona el misil de prueba: "Queremos que las pruebas sean lo más realistas posible, así que empleamos a las mismas personas que deberán utilizar el sistema, llegado el caso", añade Liles. "No sólo debemos testear el funcionamiento del sistema, sino testear asimismo la aptitud de las personas que deben manejarlo: Si el operador no está capacitado para usarlo, el sistema simplemente no funciona."
The Air Force's nuclear missiles have stood ready for war on short notice for more than 50 years.
Americans tend to assume the missiles are safe, but ¿Do they remember they exist? Let us look, in brief, at the Minuteman III missiles and their mission
The Air Force operates just one type of land-based nuclear missile, the Minuteman III. It is a class of weapon known as an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM. The U.S. has 450 of these missiles, each with a single nuclear warhead attached. The missiles are guided to a target by a self-contained navigation system that uses motion and rotation sensors to track and update the missile's position and orientation.
Each Minuteman 3 missile is based in its own underground silo "hardened" with concrete to withstand an enemy nuclear strike. At the heart of the silo are the men and women who command the missiles. They are called missileers and are junior officers - lieutenants and captains, typically ages 22 to 27. Two missileers operate an underground launch control center, which is responsible for 10 missiles. The missileers do 24-hour "alert" shifts, then hand off to a replacement crew. Because the missiles are meant to be ready for combat on short notice, the launch capsules are manned without interruption, 365 days a year.
There are three Air Force ICBM bases: Malmstrom in Montana, F.E. Warren in Wyoming and Minot in North Dakota. Each base operates 150 missiles, divided into three squadrons of 50 missiles each. The force is commanded by a two-star general who heads the 20th Air Force. He answers to a three-star general at Air Force Global Strike Command at BarksdaleAir Force Base in Louisiana who is responsible not only for the ICBMs but also for the B-2 and B-52 bombers that have a nuclear mission as well.
Minuteman III missiles are the third generation of Minuteman missiles. The first generation went into service in October 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis. The Minuteman II became operational in 1966, and the current version was declared operational at Minot in December 1970, according to an official Air Force history of the ICBM. No ICBM has ever been launched other than for testing. The Obama administration has decided to take 50 of the 450 Minuteman 3 missiles off active duty by February 2018, but it is committed to preserving their role as part of the "triad" of strategic nuclear forces, along with bombers and nuclear-armed submarines.
After a cheating scandal that led to the suspension of 34 missile launch officers overseeing nuclear weapons at Malmstrom Air Force Base, the Air Force has begun retesting the remaining crews at Malmstrom and two other bases. (Read more)
The 341st Missile Wing, headquartered at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., is one of three U.S. Air Force Bases that maintains and operates the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.
The 341st Missile Wing reports directly to 20th Air Force, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., and is part of Air Force Global Strike Command, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.
Mission
The mission of the 341st Missile Wing is to defend America with safe, secure, effective nuclear forces and combat-ready Airmen.
People
Approximately 4,000 people, including more than 3,300 active-duty and more than 700 civilians, comprise the 341st Missile Wing.
Malmstrom Air Force Base is also host to a tenant unit, the 819th RED HORSE Squadron, which accounts for nearly 500 personnel.
Organizations
The 341st Missile Wing is made up of a wing staff and five groups:
341st Operations Group
341st Maintenance Group
341st Mission Support Group
341st Security Forces Group
341st Medical Group
The 341st Operations Group consists of more than 500 operators, administrators, chefs and facility managers and is composed of three missile squadrons:
Operations support
Helicopters
Standardization and evaluation element
Each of the operations group's three missile squadrons are responsible for:
Five Missile Alert Facilities
50 Minuteman III ICBMs
The units of the 341st Operations Group include five squadrons:
10th Missile Squadron
12th Missile Squadron
490th Missile Squadron
341st Operations Support Squadron
40th Helicopter Squadron
The 341st Maintenance Group provides the maximum number of fully modernized, combat capable Minuteman III missiles and the command and control required to execute launch per higher command authority. The units of the 341st Maintenance Group include:
The 341st Missile Maintenance Squadron
The 341st Maintenance Operations Squadron
The 341st Munitions Squadron
The 341st Mission Support Group provides world-class support to enable the deterrent mission of the 341st Missile Wing, while preparing and deploying expeditionary combat support forces in support of the combatant commanders. The support group provides the war-fighting and peace-time support to the 341st Missile Wing. This includes:
Supporting 43 units and tenants
Resource protection
Engineering and construction
Disaster preparedness
Personnel administration
Communication services
Recreation facilities
Dining and lodging services
Worldwide contingency mobility forces
The units of the 341st Mission Support Group include:
341st Civil Engineer Squadron
341st Communications Squadron
341st Logistics Readiness Squadron
341st Contracting Squadron
341st Force Support Squadron
The 341st Security Forces Group, the largest security forces group in the Air Force, ensures the most stringent security forces' support to the largest intercontinental ballistic missile complex in the world through effective management of all war-fighting and peacetime security taskings assigned to the 341st Missile Wing. The units of the 341st Security Forces Group include:
341st Security Forces Squadron
341st Missile Security Forces Squadron
741st Missile Security Forces Squadron
341st Security Support Squadron
Tactical Response Force unit
The 341st Medical Group is responsible for all medical and dental care for nearly 15,000 beneficiaries throughout north-central Montana. The group's mission is to maximize 341st Missile Wing personnel health, fitness and readiness through comprehensive managed health care systems emphasizing health promotion and preventive medicine. The units of the 341st Medical Group include:
341st Medical Operations Squadron
341st Medical Support Squadron
Resources
150 Minuteman III missiles
8 UH-1N "Huey" helicopters
Malmstrom Air Force Base is also host to the 819th RED HORSE squadron
Malmstrom Air Force Base announced yesterday that the 341st Security Forces Group commander has been relieved of command.
Col. David Lynch was relieved of his duties Thursday 21st by 341st Missile Wing commander Col. Robert Stanley “due to a loss of confidence in Lynch’s ability to lead his group,” according to a news release.
Col. John Wilcox, Air Force Global Strike Command Security Forces Division director, will serve as an interim commander until a replacement is found. There is no timeline for selecting a new commander, according to the 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs Office. The missile wing received an unsatisfactory rating this month during a Nuclear Surety Inspection, but the wing continues to remain certified to perform its mission, according to the release.
The inspection happens every two years for bases that handle nuclear weapons. The release states Lynch’s removal is not related to MAFB’s recent Nuclear Surety Inspection failure. But it added: “However, as the 341 MW prepares for a re-inspection, Stanley must have full confidence in the leadership ability of his commanders.”According to Public Affairs, Lynch’s removal was not related to any misconduct. Lynch did not meet the expectations of wing commanders, Public Affairs said.
MAFB spokesman Capt. Chase McFarland said Lynch will “transition to retirement.”Lynch became commander of the 341st Security Forces Group in June 2012, after 37 years in the armed forces. He served in Grenada in 1983 and in Iraq in 2005 and 2010, according to the MAFB website. During a portion of an exercise in one of the 13 major graded areas unrelated to the command and control of nuclear weapons, a team did not demonstrate the correct procedures. The inspector general failed the team on that exercise, which resulted in the unsatisfactory rating.
According to the news release, the Security Forces Group has more than 1,200 personnel and four squadrons. It provides security protection for the 341st Missile Wing, 15 launch control centers and 150 intercontinental ballistic missile silos in 13,800 square miles of central Montana.
The commander of a nuclear missile wing that failed a surety inspection earlier this month likened the results to failing a complex physics problem by being off by a “fraction of a decimal point.”
Col. Rob Stanley, commander of the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., declined to say what part of the inspection the wing failed because doing so would give too much information to adversaries. The wing, which handles 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, failed because of tactical-level errors during one exercise during the inspection. The failed inspection comes about three months after the Air Force sidelined 19 missile officers from the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., after the wing was rated “marginal” on one aspect of the inspection.
Otro embarazoso tropiezo de la U. S. Nuclear Missile Force está generando nuevas dudas acerca del grado de pericia de la Fuerza Aérea para hacerse cargo de ese tipo de sistemas.
El jefe de las fuerzas nucleares, Teniente General James M. Kowalski, reveló ayer a la prensa que el Ala de Misiles 341 (Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, USA) obtuvo la calificación de "Inaceptable" en dos de trece áreas sometidas a inspección. En una de las restantes obtuvo la calificación de "Satisfactorio", y en las otras diez obtuvo la calificación de "Sobresaliente" o "Excelente".
El Ala 341 es una de las tres unidades que están al mando de 450 ICBM's Minuteman-III, y por eso está sometida a unos niveles de exigencia incomparablemente superiores a cualquier otra unidad militar. En este tipo de inspecciones los efectivos son sometidos a un grado de presión límite, para ver hasta qué punto son capaces de reaccionar adecuadamente en caso de emergencia. Si bien todas las alas de ICBMs están sometidas a multiples tipos de inspecciones, la llevada a cabo en Malmstrom la pasada semana giró en torno a protocolos de seguridad y control concebidos para asegurar que "ningun arma nuclear sea accidentalmente, inadvertidamente o deliberadamente armada o lanzada sin autorización presidencial."
