Pentagon to spend billions upgrading nuclear forces

The Pentagon is spending billions to upgrade the nation’s nuclear forces after studies found “systemic problems across the nuclear enterprise.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the new investments Friday but did not give an exact figure, saying only that they would total “several” billion over the current $15 billion in spending. The Pentagon will aim to spend at least 10 percent more each year for the next five years.

{mosads}Hagel said the new funding will be critical to modernize equipment, infrastructure, security, training and to address shortfalls in morale. 

The Pentagon reviews found a number of problems within the nuclear force, including poor communication between senior leaders and lower-level troops, outdated equipment, and a culture of micromanagement and low morale. 

As one example, investigators found that maintenance crews on the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force had access to only one wrench required to tighten bolts on the warhead end of Minuteman 3 missiles. The one wrench was used by three ICBM crews in three different states, who had to FedEx it to each other.

“That’s not the way to do it,” Hagel said at a Pentagon briefing Friday. “We now have a wrench at each location; we’re going to have two wrenches soon

Hagel blamed the poor management on “people taking their eye off the ball a little bit” and a system that has “slowly backed downhill” over the decades. 

The wrench incident “was a metaphor for how far things had fallen,” added Bob Work, deputy defense secretary. 

Hagel ordered the reviews in February, after drug use and widespread cheating on job proficiency tests was discovered within nuclear forces in the Air Force and the Navy. 

The reviews also came after a string of Associated Press stories exposing other widespread problems within the force, including burnout misconduct among missile launch crews and missile security forces. 

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said the reviews reflect the “sobering state of our nuclear force and the urgent investment needed to ensure its future effectiveness.” 

He called on President Obama to abandon goals of reducing the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile by a third.

“Most importantly, I hope the President will listen to his senior civilian and military national security leaders, take this as seriously as they do, and cast aside his Global Zero vision that is in reality unilateral disarmament,” McKeon said.

The chairman also urged the Department of Energy to reprioritize its nuclear mission and correct for “years of underfunding, and restore morale.”

The Pentagon reviews made more than 100 recommendations to improve the nuclear deterrent forces. 

Among dozens of changes already implemented, the Air Force has exempted 4,000 nuclear force airmen from manpower reductions, implemented bonuses for some specialties, created a new medal for nuclear deterrent forces, and revised proficiency test scoring policies.

This story was updated at 11:59 a.m.