Gates: Mishandled nuclear weapons doomed Air Force officials

Defense Secretary Robert Gates' stunning decision to seek the resignations of the Air Force's two most senior leaders Thursday was triggered by investigative findings of widespread problems with the service's handling of its most dangerous weapons.

The investigation, sparked by the mistaken delivery of ballistic missile fuses to Taiwan in 2006, led him to conclude there has been a "decline in the Air Force's nuclear mission focus and performance," Gates said, explaining why he asked Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Michael Moseley to step down. The Taiwan fiasco, which was only discovered in March, was merely a "symptom of a degradation of the authority, standards of excellence and technical competence" of the country's intercontinental ballistic missile inventory, Gates said during a news conference at the Pentagon Thursday.

In March, Gates tasked Adm. Kirkland Donald, director of Navy nuclear propulsion, to investigate the Taiwan incident and later directed the services to conduct a comprehensive review of the handling of the military's nuclear weapons arsenal.

In discussing both the resignations and the findings of the Donald probe, Gates tied the errant Taiwan shipment to an August incident in which the Air Force mistakenly and unknowingly flew nuclear weapons from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

"Both events involved a chain of failures that led to an unacceptable incident," Gates said. "The investigation determined the Air Force does not have a clear, dedicated authority responsible for the nuclear enterprise."

The investigation, Gates added, concluded that these "shortcomings resulted from an erosion of performance standards within the involved commands and a lack of effective Air Force leadership oversight."

In his remarks, Gates acknowledged the root of the problems within the Air Force date back at least a decade. But many of the issues leading to the Taiwan and Minot incidents should have been known and could have been prevented by the service's current leadership, Gates added.

Gates also said the problems do not rest solely with the Air Force leaders, and suggested that other Air Force general officers and colonels may be reprimanded or even stripped of command. But he said he declined to take those actions immediately.

"Such measures, whether taken by the Air Force or by direction, might help address immediate problems, but I have concluded would not adequately address the broader issues involved," Gates said.

During his brief tenure as Defense secretary, Gates has not been shy about holding his most senior officials accountable for failures. Last year, Gates asked Army Secretary Francis Harvey to resign just days after newspaper revelations of substandard conditions for wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

On Capitol Hill, key lawmakers from both parties applauded Gates' decision as a necessary step toward ensuring the safety of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

"Secretary Gates' focus on accountability is essential and had been absent from the Office of the Secretary of Defense for too long," Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin said in a statement.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., former chairman of the armed services panel, hailed Gates for having the "strength of his convictions" to make a difficult decision.

"With nuclear weapons, there is no room for error," Warner said. "There is no room for less-than-full accountability."

Gates said he will make recommendations to fill the vacating posts shortly.