Monday February 2, 2009, 10:06 am

-snip

Air Force brigadier general dies of gunshot wound 28 Jul 2008 An Air Force brigadier general died of a gunshot wound that likely was self-inflicted, a spokesman said Monday. Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Tinsley, the commander at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, suffered a gunshot wound to his chest late Sunday night and was pronounced dead within a half hour, said Col. Richard Walberg, who assumed command at Elmendorf after Tinsley's death. "To the best information, it's possible it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Walberg said at a news conference. The weapon was likely a handgun. His previous 22-month assignment was executive officer to the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael "Buzz" Mosely, who in June resigned under pressure in an agency shake-up. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ousted both Mosely, the Air Force military chief, and Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne, the agency's civilian head, holding them accountable for failing to fully correct an erosion of nuclear-related performance standards. One concern was a cross-country flight in August 2007 of a B-52 carrying armed nuclear weapons.

US missile alert crew falls asleep on the job 25 Jul 2008 It was 9.30 in the evening. The crew of three air force members decided to rest a little and within 15 minutes they were fast asleep. They awoke several hours later. The only problem was that the room in which they were snoozing was the missile alert facility at Minot air force base in North Dakota. Directly beneath them was the underground control centre containing the keys that can launch ballistic missiles, and in their care were metal boxes containing the secret codes that allow the nuclear button to be pressed. The incident is the latest in a series of foul-ups and poor ratings for the Minot air force base. Last summer a B-52 bomber was loaded with six air-launched nuclear missiles and flown, unbeknownst to its pilots or crew, across America.

Air Force says officers fell asleep with nuke code --July 12 incident was at Minot AFB, location of other incidents 24 Jul 2008 Three Air Force officers fell asleep while in control of an electronic component that contained old launch codes for nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, a violation of procedure, Air Force officials said Thursday. It is the fourth incident in the past year involving problems with secure handling of components of America's nuclear weapons. The incident occurred July 12, during the changing out of components used to facilitate secure communications between an underground missile-control facility and missile silos near Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, according to Col. Dewey Ford, a spokesman for the Air Force Space Command in Colorado.

Air Force declares lost B-52 crew dead 24 Jul 2008 In a solemn statement early Wednesday, 2nd Bomb Wing Commander Col. Robert Wheeler bore bitter news of tragedy to Barksdale Air Force Base and the surrounding community. The Air Force and Coast Guard have given up hope any of the six crew members of a Barksdale B-52 that crashed Sunday north of Guam are alive. Five of the lost airmen were assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing. The only other base in the world at which B-52s are permanently assigned is Minot Air Force Base, N.D. Its 5th Wing has been peppered for years with 2nd Bomb Wing personnel, and vice-versa, and it has not been unusual over the years for a commander or a vice commander to move from the 5th Wing to the 2nd Bomb Wing.

Air Force Finds Lax Nuclear Security 02 Jul 2008 Most overseas storage sites for U.S. nuclear weapons, particularly in Europe, need substantial improvements in physical security measures and the personnel who guard the weapons, according to a newly available Air Force report. The Blue Ribbon review of nuclear security was conducted after it was discovered that a B-52 bomber had flown across the United States, from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, with neither the pilots nor ground crews aware that six cruise missiles under one wing held real nuclear warheads.

http://www.legitgov.org/minot_afb_nukes_oddities.html