Air Force Nuke Base Sentry Caught Playing Mobile Phone Games on Duty
Air Force Nuke Base Sentry Caught Playing Mobile Phone Games on Duty
May 31, 2008
An airman assigned to guard a North Dakota base for US nuclear bombers was found to be playing a video game on his mobile phone, according to a recent inspection.
As reported by the Associated Press, the guard's inattention to duty was one of just a number of violations which caused Minot AFB to receive sub-par marks on the inspection, which must now be repeated in 90 days.
From the AP report:
The Air Force Times, citing a copy of the [inspection] report, said the base received an unsatisfactory grade and inspectors found security breakdowns during mock attacks at the base.
The Air Force Times said inspectors saw a security forces airman playing video games on his cell phone while standing guard at a restricted area. Another airman nearby was "unaware of her duties and responsibilities" during the exercise, the newspaper said.
Last year, an aging B-52 bomber leaving from Minot was mistakenly armed with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles for a routine flight to Louisiana.
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Posted 11/08/09 at 09:02am
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yez7jyo
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yez7jyo
Posted 11/08/09 at 09:01am
DarkSaber: Oh for gods sake, the Gearbox pres is gobbing off about Valve again
DarkSaber: Oh for gods sake, the Gearbox pres is gobbing off about Valve again
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:53am
JDKJ: But cheer up, Austin. If the unemployment rate continues to double-digit as predicted for the next few years, your half-dozen stands a better than likely chance of returning to power.
JDKJ: But cheer up, Austin. If the unemployment rate continues to double-digit as predicted for the next few years, your half-dozen stands a better than likely chance of returning to power.
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:46am
JDKJ: @DS: If he had added the line about "or hiring illegals aliens under the table to work as nannies," it would have been a completely perfect descripition. And, yes, it's about the same difference between a six and a half-dozen.
JDKJ: @DS: If he had added the line about "or hiring illegals aliens under the table to work as nannies," it would have been a completely perfect descripition. And, yes, it's about the same difference between a six and a half-dozen.
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:31am
DarkSaber: My god, that description makes them sound almost Republican. Still what did you expect, Obama is only marginally more left than republicans.
DarkSaber: My god, that description makes them sound almost Republican. Still what did you expect, Obama is only marginally more left than republicans.
Posted 11/08/09 at 01:07am
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Posted 11/08/09 at 01:06am
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Posted 11/08/09 at 12:24am
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
Posted 11/07/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
'Shall we play...Thermonuclear Warfare?'...
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Well, it's the same the world-over, people do things whilst working that they aren't allowed. That doesn't make it right, or sensible or anything, especially in this case, and the guy deserves penalising for not paying attention whilst on duty, but it's something that happens in ten thousand jobs a day.
How demanding is it for that watch... That is what we call a shit bag in my service. But it happens. Standing a watch for 8 hours to 24 hours a day gets pretty old and you have keep yourself always ready. Most of us use music to help pass the time, while others complain about the watch all day. All in all, even though that watch might not be that demanding, it has a higher responsibility then most. When it comes to qualify for a watch, they don't look at the person themselves, they only ask "are you qualified yet?"
Ya know, I'm not so sure this isn't an uncommon occurance, it's just that most people have the good sense not to get caught. You can even get pretty good at being asleep just enough to get a little rest but still hear when something's going on, like one of your superiors checking up on you.
---------------------------------
So speak I, some random guy.
You get caught sleeping on our ship, you are in some deep shit. I can't stand people who don't stand a diligent watch. You can fuck around at work all day, but when you are on watch, you have a higher responsibility.
In the old days they could shoot you for that.
They still can, but they don't.
Then again, they could make an awesome slogan out of that - "The Army - more people die as a result of boredom than from enemy fire"
"Last year, an aging B-52 bomber leaving from Minot was mistakenly armed with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles for a routine flight to Louisiana."
I think that's a little scarier than a guy playing tetris...
Yeah, that is a terrifying thought, what would've been worse if they were loading for a training bombing flight!
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
I think age jokes at the B-52s expense are in poor taste.
"Sir! I have a plan, heh. . . . . MEIN FURHER! I CAN WALK!"
Not to offend any of you americans, but if this is how your security is like for nuclear weapons i do wonder why the planet isnt glass by now. and the B-52 Bomber incident scared me shitless, Ive never seen nuclear tipped missles but shouldnt something as devastating as that have some kind of sign to make it distinctive?
Like "Do not drop!" :)
They do have distinctive coloring... but the AF does have a tendancy (a ugly tendancy) to cut corners here and there.
The military period has that tendency, its even worse now.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
That is not true. Coast Guard has a higher tendency to be more favorable by intructors, even in different branches. A lot of the Navy guys wish they had the same people that we do most of the time. It all comes down to respecting everyone, not just your superiors.
It doesn't hurt the Coast Guard deals with Civilians more then other branches as part of the job. I don't mean to insult any specific branch. I mean the way politicians and many career "Officers" (Who are mostly politicans at the best of times) tend to be idiots about such things.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
I agree. For people being so smart, they can do some really stupid stuff sometimes.
I think the only reason that the Earth isn't glassed over is Haliburton told Bush that if he nuked the Middle East it would hurt their stocks.
Oh come now thats just a paranoid conspiracy theory, everyone knows they didn't nuke it because it'd destroy so much oil!
It is a bit disturbing that he was gaming on duty but I do understand that its damned hard to be vigilant when its just routine. Music is a better option, that only absorbs one sense rather than two
@Cadia
You have no idea how this whole "nuclear missile" thing works do you? It's not like they can just bump into a switch and "Oops, there goes Beijing". For starters, it takes targeting data. Secondly, there's a special set of sequences, usually represented in movies as "two keys turning at once", that have to happen before anything can be fired. I would wager big money that the security deeper inside the base would be a sight to behold if they didn't shoot you on site.
Hows about: "Warning: Exposure to contents may lead to impotence."
Warning: Contents May Be Hot
Three things I want answered here: 1) What drills were being run? 2) What on Earth would a B-52, a BOMBER, be able to do with a cruise missile? Don't they need a trigger of some kind besides "dropped from 1000ft"? and 3) Why is this video game political news? The guy got bored watching the same prarie grass all day and gets caught passing the time. What effect does this have on the industry?
It doesn't. It's either rediculously frighting, or rediculously amusing. Either way it involves video games, and the blame for this failure is in part due to someone's choice to play a game. The same question could kind of be asked about any GTA news.
---- There is a limit for both politicians against video games, and video games against politicians. http://www.goteamretard.com
Actualy the B-52 can be modified to carry and launch cruise missles. I'd assume most of the procedures would be programmed into the missles before the plane takes off, so it's basicly a "Fly to the designated launch point and release." But it is possible (VERY unlikely but possible given the assumption that nothing is totally impossible.) that if the plane crashed the missles may have detonated, that I guess would be one reason they freaked out about that last time.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
I'm not expert on the subject, but I don't think a plane crash could trigger a nuclear detonation from it's payload. The warheads might crack open and and leak radiation, but from my understanding, it's impossible to get a nuke to blow up without the 'two keys turning' or whatever is needed to arm the weapon.
The B-52 is fully capable of launching all sorts of standoff munitions, including missiles as it stands, without modification.
REALLY? REALLY?
God, I leave the country for 2 damn weeks and this is what happens? Fuck you guys, I can't leave you alone anymore. Bad children, go sit in the corner.
Why don't we just run with the weak association nonsense we see all the time? Here's a new headline: "Study Finds That Playing Games at Work Make You as Incompetent as a Female".
Seriously, it's just as clear that the one candidate was unable to meet his duties because of videogames as much as the other was because of gender.
Dr. Stranglove, anyone?
or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
Classic.
E. Zachary Knight
www.editorialgames.com
Lol @ the last part. How out of it do you have to be to put nuke missiles on a B52? This isn't WWII...
this is news?
when i was in Iraq for the Navy we'd constantly play Xbox in our shops during work ours, PSP/Gameboy during watches, or even flat out fall asleep, unless something was actually going on (which wasn't much since in my squad we launched out at 8AM and the jets didn't return for 16 hours)
hell, our officers even held a Halo 2 Tournament on the projection screen in our ready room!
ha!
HAHAHAHAHA! Awesome! Fuckin' awesome!!
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