The U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command assumes responsibility for the U.S. Air Force's nuclear-capable bomber force today.
This action completes the step-by-step transfer of all Air Force long-range, nuclear-capable assets to the Air Force's newest major command.
The nation's intercontinental ballistic missile force became part of Global Strike Command on Dec. 1, 2009. The command will gain the 8th Air Force and its three bomb wings, one each at Barksdale AFB, La.; Whiteman AFB, Mo.; and Minot AFB, N.D.
Those organizations control all of the United States' B-52 and B-2 bombers and are transitioning from Air Combat Command as a key component of the Air Force's "Nuclear Roadmap."
"We've worked very closely with Gen. Will Fraser and his ACC team every step of the way," said Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, AFGSC commander. "They have been truly magnificent partners in this endeavor. Even after Feb. 1, we'll still have strong and long-standing ties to ACC as we work closely with them in their special role as lead command for the Combat Air Forces."
The transfer once again places all Air Force assets with a strategic nuclear deterrence and global strike mission--missiles and bombers--under one command.
According to General Klotz, this action will provide for "more focused and effective oversight of this important and enduring mission." General Klotz also noted that the bombers of 8th Air Force "remain critically important to our nation, as well as to our friends and allies around the world."
The B-52 provides "unique, unmatched stand-off capabilities," and the B-2 has the ability to attack heavily defended targets, the general added."Both bombers also offer combatant commanders important non-nuclear, or conventional, capabilities as they so convincingly demonstrated in both Operation Enduring Freedom and in Operation Iraqi Freedom."
To mark the transfer of the bomber mission to Global Strike Command, General Klotz is scheduled to visit all three bomber bases on Feb. 1. He will be accompanied by the commander of 8th Air Force, Maj. Gen. Floyd Carpenter, and the AFGSC Command Chief, Chief Master Sgt. Jack Johnson Jr.
At each of the bases, the leadership team will conduct a base-wide commander's call to formally welcome the Airmen into the command. They will also meet separately with unit commanders and their first sergeants, civic leaders and local media representatives.
The addition of the bomber units brings Air Force Global Strike Command's force to more than 23,000 people, with about 900 full-time staff expected at the Barksdale headquarters by the end of summer.
Air Force Global Strike Command stood up in August to provide combat-ready forces to conduct nuclear deterrence and global strike operations in support of the president and combatant commanders.
When the command took over the ICBM mission Dec. 1, it gained the 20th Air Force mission, with missile wings at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., and Minot AFB, N.D.
The command also gained the 576th Flight Test Squadron at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron at Offutt AFB, Neb.
The U.S. Air Force announced on 18 Dec 2008 that Brig. Gen. James Kowalski, deputy director for global operations on the Joint Staff, will lead the provisional Global Strike Command, the precursor to a new organization that will comprise all of the service's nuclear-capable B-52 and B-2 bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The creation of Global Strike Command is a key component of Air Force efforts to centralize diffuse nuclear assets and operations, and restore credibility to its deterrence mission after a string of highly publicized failures drew attention to the service's deteriorating expertise and management of nuclear materiel.
Kowalski is a decorated bomber pilot who has held a variety of leadership positions, including commander of the 405th Air Expeditionary Wing in early 2003 when the unit provided strike, battle management and aerial refueling for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The provisional command is scheduled to be activated on Jan. 12 at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington. A permanent location for the command has not been decided yet, said Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Aptekar. Kowalski will play a role in making that decision, but he is unlikely to lead the permanent command when it stands up later next year. That position will go to a three-star general, and it would be highly unusual for a one-star to be elevated to three-star rank in that period of time, several sources said.
Kowalski will be responsible for determining the personnel and resource needs of Global Strike Command and the components across the service from which they will be drawn. As such, he will work closely with other major commands and the headquarters Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration Office, a newly created organization led by Maj. Gen. C. Donald Alston.
Alston led a task force earlier this year that developed a roadmap to improve nuclear operations across the service. Among other things, the task force recommended the creation of Global Strike Command and changes in inventory control and management.
The Air Force has a clear understanding of where its weaknesses are in the nuclear mission, Alston said in a November interview. "We have the right focus in the field now," he said.
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.
Warning of nuclear proliferation, the U.S. Air Force announced plans Friday to "re-establish our nuclear culture" and "restore our allies' and public's confidence in our nuclear stewardship role."
The new roadmap, an 80-page report entitled Reinvigorating the Air Force Nuclear Enterprise, was spurred by recent nuclear weapon security lapses, including the accidental transfer of nuclear arms between two air bases.
That and other incidents were caused by "the failure of leadership at many levels to provide proper emphasis on the nuclear mission," the report says. Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked for and received the resignations of the Air Force chief of staff and the Air Force secretary earlier this year.
Their replacements, Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Secretary Michael Donley, vowed in a preface to Friday's report to make necessary reforms: "The Air Force intends to fully restore its credibility by improving unity of command and effort, developing the technical skills of Air Force personnel, reinforcing the nuclear mission responsibilities, promoting a culture of compliance and precision and improving enterprise-wide oversight."
Improving management over nuclear weapons is needed, the report argues, because the United States will continue to rely on nuclear deterrence.
"Because of their immense destructive power, nuclear weapons ... deter in a way that simply cannot be duplicated by other weapons," the report says. Furthermore, "more countries possess nuclear weapons than during the Cold War, and that number is likely to grow."
In fact, the number of nuclear-armed nations has remained the same since the collapse of the Soviet Union. North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006, but South Africa dismantled a small nuclear arsenal in the early 1990s. The other nuclear powers are China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Consolidated Command
Topping the list of Air Force changes is the establishment of a Global Strike Command, intended to consolidate control over the service's nuclear bombers and missiles.
Other measures include setting service-wide standards for nuclear training, inspections and inventory control.
Gates has scheduled a speech on Tuesday to discuss long-term U.S. nuclear strategy.
The U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command assumes responsibility for the U.S. Air Force's nuclear-capable bomber force today.
To mark the transfer of the bomber mission to Global Strike Command, General Klotz is scheduled to visit all three bomber bases on Feb. 1. He will be accompanied by the commander of 8th Air Force, Maj. Gen. Floyd Carpenter, and the AFGSC Command Chief, Chief Master Sgt. Jack Johnson Jr.
