Generals discuss strengthening nuclear enterprise at annual conference

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
  • Defense Media Activity-San Antonio
WASHINGTON (AFNS) --  Five generals sat on the nuclear enterprise panel at the 2010 Air Force Association Conference and Technology Expo to answer questions from Airmen and civilians Sept. 13 here.

Gen. Roger A. Brady, the U.S Air Forces in Europe commander; Maj. Gen. Donald Alston, the 20th Air Force commander; Maj. Gen. Floyd L. Carpenter, the 8th Air Force commander; Maj. Gen. William A. Chambers, the assistant chief of staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration; and Brig. Gen. Everett H. Thomas, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center commander, answered questions ranging from missile maintenance issues to educating and training the force.

The panel opened with each general explaining what his component's mission is and how it interacted to support the Air Force nuclear enterprise.

"It was two years ago, the chief (of staff of the Air Force) and the secretary (of the Air Force) made re-invigorating the enterprise the Air Force's No.1 priority," General Chambers said. "Though it is still the No.1 priority, the chief and the secretary made a deliberate decision to change the wording to 'continue to strengthen', and that's the mode we're in."

Senior Air Force leaders released the Nuclear Enterprise Roadmap in October 2008, which guides the Air Force to effectively secure, maintain, operate and sustain the nation's nuclear capabilities and expertise. It is also designed to help correct systemic and institutional weaknesses regarding nuclear matters.

"For those of you (who) are not close to the enterprise, I can tell you that there is a substantial amount of sweat equity every day that needs to go into delivering an amount of deterrence," General Alston said. "Today there are 413 (intercontinental ballistic missiles) that are on alert. We have a remainder that are in some form of modification. Those systems require care and 'feeding', and we've been blessed that over the last 10 years or so we have modernized, or at least improved, the sustainment hand of the Minuteman III (ICBM) with probably more than $8 million worth of investment."

General Alston credited Air Force leaders and the Airmen who maintain the missiles with what he called the "great shape" they're in now.

Although Air Force officials have made many improvements toward modernizing and maintaining the nuclear enterprise, there is still work to be done.

"We now have to fix things like human capital, like cultural issues, like institutionalizing the things that we've learned during the more rigorous inspections regime. Like getting on with modernizing our weapon systems and their sub-systems," General Chambers said. "The two things that I'm most concerned about and most focused on are the human capital issues and the modernization issues. So getting the right people with the depth and the recency of nuclear experience in the right supervisory roles in the units that General Alston and General Carpenter command is extremely important."