Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
12/19/2014
During a webcasted town hall meeting bringing together airmen from across the globe, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James called the nuclear enterprise the service’s “No. 1 mission.” James then struck a chord similar to the one she and other top service officials have in the past, citing the need for more investment in the nuclear enterprise. “We have got to match those words with everything that we do in terms of manning, resources, policy, the climate at these locations,” she said. “All of this must match up over time. At the moment it’s not fully matched up, and we need to work on that.”
James also said the nuclear enterprise would likely benefit from increased investment in the future. Despite the cheating discovered earlier this year at Malmstrom AFB, James said that “99.9 percent of airmen” are “doing the right thing day in and day out.” She said appropriate accountability was implemented in the aftermath of the cheating investigation—which generated two reviews on the enterprise—and said the force is committed to putting its money where its mouth is.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last month pledged the Obama Administration would request billions of dollars over the Future Years’ Defense Program—which would amount to an approximate 10-percent funding increase—to help support the nation’s aging nuclear deterrent. Over the summer, the Air Force announced it had moved $50 million to shore up immediate, near-term facility upgrades and to compensate additional personnel to staff crucial jobs within Global Strike Command. Part of the realignment of funding is supporting a combined 1,100 positions within Global Strike.
