Assistant Secretary of Defense visits Team Whiteman

Published May 10, 2011
By Capt. John Severns
509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- The top defense official charged with defending the nation from nuclear, chemical and biological threats visited Whiteman Air Force Base this week to observe the Airmen responsible for maintaining and protecting America's credible nuclear deterrent.

Andrew C. Weber, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs, met with Airmen, received a B-2 mission orientation and watched a portion of a security forces' exercise on the flightline.

"Deterrence, which our national security and that of our allies depends on, is mostly based on credibility," Secretary Weber said. "Our potential adversaries, be they North Korea or Iran, watch what you do here on the ground at Whiteman, because how you perform your day-to-day mission in the nuclear area really signals to the rest of the world how credible our deterrent is.

"Some people say we never use nuclear weapons," he added. "The truth is we use nuclear weapons every day to keep the world safe and to prevent countries like North Korea from doing us or our allies harm."

During his visit, the secretary sat down with bomb wing broadcasters to talk about some issues affecting Team Whiteman, including the nuclear mission, the New START Treaty and the realignment of munitions squadrons under Global Strike Command.

The reason for his visit was very simple, the secretary said.

"I wanted to meet the Airmen and let them know how vital the nuclear mission [they perform] is to our country," he said. "On behalf of Secretary Gates and President Obama, it's important that we let the Airmen understand the context they work in and how much we rely on what they do day-to-day to maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal."

The secretary also addressed the importance of the New START Treaty, which was one of the Obama Administration's top foreign policy priorities and which was ratified by the Senate last year. In addition to reducing the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers by half, the treaty also established a protocol for continued inspection and verification of Russian and American strategic assets such as long-range bombers.

The new treaty "allowed us to begin inspections back and forth; Russian inspectors coming here to the U.S. and our inspectors who work for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency visiting your counterparts in the Russian Federation," he said, speaking to Whiteman Airmen. "What this gives us is stability and predictability in the nuclear relationship with Russia, and allows us to verify that they are indeed making the reductions called for in the New START Treaty."

Secretary Weber also addressed the realignment of munitions squadrons from Air Force Materiel Command to Global Strike Command.

"As Global Strike Command went into full operational capability, it's only natural that its responsibilities would ramp up over time," he said. "Transferring the munitions squadrons to that chain of command is a natural next step as Global Strike Command matures."

Not all nuclear, chemical or biological threats can be solved purely through deterrence, the secretary noted. One of his most pressing concerns is that non-state actors such as al Qaeda might acquire weapons of mass destruction.

"As President Obama has stressed, and as was made clear in the nuclear posture review released last year, what we worry about most is the potential for nuclear terrorism," he said. "It's non-state actors like al Qaeda and its affiliates getting their hands on the most dangerous kinds of weapons that we worry about, because they're the ones using force, using violence to target civilians and Americans abroad and our soldiers on a daily basis."

Brig. Gen. Scott Vander Hamm, 509th Bomb Wing commander, expressed his appreciation for the secretary's visit.

"Secretary Weber's visit was an opportunity to demonstrate the outstanding professionalism of our Airmen," he said. "As the senior defense official charged with defending our nation from nuclear, chemical or biological threats, he recognizes that the deterrent mission performed here every day by our Airmen is a key part of our nation's security."