Systemic problems found in DOD nuclear weapons programs

New York Times : Two independent studies ordered by the Pentagon have revealed wide-ranging problems with the management of the US Air Force’s and US Navy’s nuclear weapons, facilities, and ships. The probes were initiated following the uncovering of academic cheating and several incidents of misbehavior by senior officers. The problems include blast doors that failed to seal and the fact that only a single wrench existed for attaching nuclear warheads to missiles. That one wrench was being shipped via FedEx between the facilities that manage the warhead stockpiles. The emergency repairs and equipment replacements are expected to add several billions of dollars to the Department of Defense’s expenses over the next five years. The two studies’ investigators—senior Pentagon officers conducted one study, and two retired officers ran the other—visited all the military’s nuclear installations and interviewed nearly 1500 personnel. Both investigations found that the problems were rooted in staffing shortages, long-standing cultures of micromanagement that ignored larger issues, personnel management practices that degraded morale and favored test scores over effectiveness, and the age of many of the systems.