Report of the Defense Science Board Permanent Task Force on Nuclear Weapons Surety: Independent Assessment of the Air Force Nuclear Enterprise

The need for increased attention to the Air Force nuclear enterprise was highlighted by the August 2007 unauthorized transfer from Minot AFB to Barksdale AFB and the inadvertent shipment of nuclear weapon components to Taiwan in 2008. While these incidents demanded urgent corrective action, a number of earlier decisions had an important negative impact on the overall enterprise. Dealing with these impacts required and will continue to require a broader enterprise systems approach. The Air Force leadership implemented extraordinary measures following the incidents in 2007 and 2008. These measures included policy, inspection, organization, and leadership changes. This report finds that these measures have been effective in their intended purpose of re-establishing the professionalism expected of personnel in the nuclear enterprise. While these measures were appropriate and effective, some are not sustainable or desirable for the long term. In addition to identifying the benefits of the extraordinary measures, the report provides a description of undesirable effects of continuing the extraordinary measures for the long term and makes recommendations on the path to continued assured professionalism in the Air Force nuclear enterprise. More specifically, the report discusses and provides recommendations in the areas of logistics, organization and guidance, the inspection regime, operations, personnel and morale, and the personnel reliability program.