Air Force to begin shaping new nuclear command

The Air Force plans to select a provisional location and interim leadership for a new Global Strike Command by the end of the year, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said Wednesday.

The Air Force will not officially launch the command -- one of several efforts to correct deficiencies affecting the service's nuclear weapons arsenal -- until September.

A defense source said Louisiana's Barksdale Air Force Base is among the most likely candidates to become home to at least the provisional command.

"This stand up is significant not only because it restores our focus on the nuclear mission and culture, but because it demonstrates our clear commitment to restoring excellence in nuclear matters," Donley said during an appearance Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The new command is one of many changes the Air Force is making in an attempt to correct flaws outlined in a report this summer that uncovered 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 that was not discovered until March, led to the firings in June of then-Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Michael Moseley. In addition, the Air Force mistakenly and unknowingly flew nuclear weapons from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale in August 2007.

The point of the new command, Donley said, is to place a single commander in charge of all Air Force nuclear operations, including training and equipping for all B-2 stealth bombers, B-52 bombers and intercontinental ballistic missile missions.

Essentially, the 8th Air Force, which falls under Air Combat Command, and 20th Air Force, part of Air Force Space Command, would report to the new Global Strike Command.

The B-1 bomber fleet will remain under Air Combat Command, reflecting the Air Force's use of the B-1 only for conventional missions, Donley said.

"This approach restores the necessary focus on the nuclear mission [and] provides a clear chain of command for all Air Force nuclear forces," Donley said.

Meanwhile, Donley said the Air Force -- and the Defense Department as a whole -- has spent months preparing for the transition to the next administration.

"Today, we're involved in two shooting wars as well as 24/7 international efforts to track down terrorists, so it's tremendously important that we make this transition as smooth as possible," Donley said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked the department's political appointees to "consider staying on as long as possible to assist the transition teams," Donley added. "His hope is to avoid the bathtub [drain] in leadership that typically accompanies changes in administrations, especially as we remain a nation at war."

Advisers to President-elect Obama have not ruled out the possibility of Gates staying at the helm of the Pentagon into the next administration.