341st Missile Wing commander confirmed for promotion

Col. Ronald G. Allen Jr., 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.

Minuteman III: Algunos detalles que pocos conocen

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."

A look at the Minuteman III

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 Barksdale Air 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.

ICBM Launch from Vandenberg AFB

An LGM-30 Minuteman rocket, also known as a Minuteman III, was successfully launched today from Vandenberg Air Force Base,  at 3:01 PDT.

• The letter “L” in “LGM” indicates that the missile is silo-launched
• The “G” indicates that it is designed to attack ground targets
• The “M” indicates that it is a guided missile

Under a full moon, the rocket lifted off from Launch-Facility 10 (LF-10) which is Minuteman rocket launch silo complex at Vandenberg. The unarmed weapon was topped with a dummy warhead — typically a re-entry vehicle equipped with sensors to gather reams of data.

Another Minuteman test is scheduled for early Thursday 26th. Both tests are part of an ongoing program to collect data about the reliability and accuracy of the nation’s Minuteman 3 weapon fleet. A task force for both launches includes members from the 90th Missile Wing, F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., and 91st Missile Wing, Minot AFB, N.D., officials said. They handle chores associated with readying and launching the weapons. The 576th Flight Test Squadron, which is based at Vandenberg, installs all the test-unique equipment on the weapons.

The ICBM was named Minuteman after the Revolutionary War’s Minutemen who were able to respond quickly to a threat during the war with England. The missile can be prepared and launched in minutes after a valid launch order has been issued and plans are to keep the missile in service until 2030. There are currently 450 Minuteman III missiles in silos located in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.

Unit that failed nuclear missile inspection raring for second chance

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.