17 officers disciplined in U.S. nuclear mistake
nbcnews.com/id/wbna26892774
September 25, 2008
The Air Force and Army have disciplined 17 senior officers, including the three-star general in charge of logistics, for poor oversight in connection with the mistaken shipment of fuses for nuclear warheads to Taiwan.
Saying he could not ignore the "breaches of trust that occurred on their watch," Acting Air Force Secretary Michael Donley laid out what in some cases were career-ending punishments Thursday for six Air Force generals, ranging in rank from one to three stars, and nine colonels. Two Army two-star generals have also been disciplined.
Speaking to reporters during a Pentagon press briefing, Donley said that, in taking into consideration the future needs of the Air Force, two major generals in the group have been asked to stay on in their jobs.
The Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz, who also was at the briefing, said those two officers have unique skills and knowledge critical for the nuclear mission.
But, Schwartz added, "they certainly are on notice that there is no room for error here and that, should they abuse this trust, it won't take but about a millisecond to react."
Generals disciplined
The Army, meanwhile, said it disciplined two brigadier generals who worked at the Defense Logistics Agency and were in charge of the military's 26 shipping centers.
Army spokesman Paul Boyce said that while neither officer was directly responsible for the shipping error, they had not fully corrected problems in the supply system that had been identified in earlier audits.
All 17 officers received disciplinary letters, but they varied in seriousness from reprimands, which are the most severe, to letters of admonishment, memorandums of concern and letters of counsel, which are less serious.