The Air Force is not preparing to put its B-52 nuclear bombers on 24-hour alert, the service said Monday, adding that a misunderstanding might have led to a report claiming those preparations are underway.
Updates to facilities, exercises, and training related to the B-52 Stratofortress aircraft at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana are done routinely to ensure the service is prepared, said Ann Stefanek, the chief of Air Force media operations at the Pentagon.
“We are not planning or preparing to put B-52s back on alert,” Stefanek said.
The report in Defense One on Sunday said the Air Force was preparing to put the long-range strategic bombers at Barksdale on around-the-clock alert for the first time since the Cold War ended. The report also pointed out that the alert order had not been given, and that officials were preparing for such an order if it comes. The Air Force, in its statement, did not call for a correction or retraction.
Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, is quoted as saying the service was taking “one more step” to ensure it is prepared.
“I look at it more as not planning for any specific event, but more for the reality of the global situation we find ourselves in and how we ensure we’re prepared going forward,” Goldfein told Defense One.
Brig. Gen. Edward Thomas, the head of Air Force public affairs, told reporters at the Pentagon that Barksdale is upgrading an alert facility to house crews for the 2nd Bomb Wing, which includes the B-52s and operates from the base.
“What I can tell you and just make as clear as possible, and I want to make sure we are clear on this, is there are not any discussions and there is not any plans to bring back our bombers on 24-hour nuclear alert right now,” Thomas said.
The Air Force is preparing for such an alert “only from the broadest sense that we prepare for every contingency,” he said.
A decision to go to the 24-hour alerts that were ended in 1991 would be made by U.S. Strategic Command, and Thomas said the command has said no such decision is imminent.
