Alissa Tabirian
NS&D Monitor
6/26/2015
A key Air Force general yesterday rejected the charge that there are morale problems in the nuclear forces despite numerous cheating and misconduct problems exposed in recent years.
In testimony before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein, 20th Air Force commander, acknowledged “huge” morale issues before the service took several corrective measures in training. In addition, the Air Force has modified the alert schedule to provide missileers more flexibility and rest.
“We’ve improved morale greatly by changing the schedule, which allows us to maintain the mission . . . and at the same time take care of the airmen,” Weinstein said.
Weinstein was sharply questioned by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), ranking member of the subcommittee, on “lapses in leadership.” Those included misconduct involving the former deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command, a separate incident involving a general in charge of the Air Force’s fleet of nuclear missiles, and widespread cheating by over 70 sailors and over 90 missileers on proficiency tests.
A report commissioned by the Department of Defense following these incidents identified problems such as micromanagement, resource shortages, and low morale, leading the agency to pledge additional funding for the nuclear enterprise. Last year, a $50 million realignment led to significant staffing increases at Air Force bases and created a Force Improvement Program to help boost morale among airmen.
In response to Speier’s charges, which were based on a report in which an officer complained of unclean working conditions, boredom and lack of sleep, Weinstein noted that the Air Force has added a deep-cleaning service at launch control centers, restructured training, began administering evaluations every 18 months instead of each year, and hired physiologists at the bases to assist officers with dietary and sleep issues. Speier’s concerns, according to Weinstein, “are no longer valid” and consist of “problems that do not exist in the force because we’ve attacked those problems.”
The testimonies during the hearing noted that resource concerns would be among the greatest future challenges. According to Yisroel Brumer of the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation arm of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, “the fiscal uncertainty associated with sequestration” places continued service reform efforts at risk. Maj. Gen. Richard Clark, 8th Air Force Commander, emphasized the need for modernization.
“We are operating 50-year-old aircraft and are now at the point where we can no longer postpone upgrades,” he said. Modernizing existing aircraft, “as well as the new long-range strike bomber, are critical to preserving our dominance against next-generation capabilities,” Clark said. The difficulty of changing culture in the military is another major concern, according to the testimonies. Brumer said that to fulfill the recommendations provided by the nuclear enterprise reviews, the service must seek to “strike a balance between empowering young airmen” and “ensuring adherence” to service standards. This, he said, will require “sustained attention and recalibration over time.”
