DoD official visits Warren: Commitment to the nuclear enterprise strong as ever

Brian McKeon (center), Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, prepares to board a UH-1N Huey helicopter on the 37th Helicopter Squadron’s movement area during his visit to F.E. Warren Air Force Base, March 16, 2015. After a pre-departure briefing from the 90th Operations Group, in which he and missileers from the 90th Missile Wing received updates on the current environment, McKeon flew to a missile field to meet with Airmen and tour the facility. McKeon’s visit aligns with the Department of Defense’s efforts to review and assess the status and direction of the nuclear enterprise, as well as the morale and welfare of the Airmen who carry out the nuclear mission, following the publication of the Nuclear Enterprise Reviews in 2014. The 90th Missile Wing houses and maintains 150 of the Minuteman III inter-continental ballistic missiles used in support of U.S. Strategic Command’s strategic deterrence mission, as well as the command and control systems required to launch them. U.S. Strategic Command is one of nine U.S. Department of Defense unified combatant commands, and is responsible for strategic deterrence, space operations, cyberspace operations, joint electronic warfare, global strike, missile defense, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, combating weapons of mass destruction, and analysis and targeting. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lan Kim)