The sound you hear...

Is that of screaming USAF officers, their First Flag Officer in the Chain of Command, and scores of careers crashing to the ground. Having played with "The Bomb" a bit, I simply cannot imagine the chain of events that were step-by-step done wrong to make this happen.

A B-52 bomber mistakenly loaded with five nuclear warheads flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, resulting in an Air Force-wide investigation, according to three officers who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the incident.

The B-52 was loaded with Advanced Cruise Missiles, part of a Defense Department effort to decommission 400 of the ACMs. But the nuclear warheads should have been removed at Minot before being transported to Barksdale, the officers said. The missiles were mounted onto the pylons of the bomber’s wings.

I'm serious here; pray with thanks that everything came out OK, and pray for those officers and Airmen whose lives and careers will take a turn they never expected.

Lesson to you? Details, details, details. Procedures, procedures, procedures. Rinse; repeat.