- SALT LAKE CITY (UPI) -- The
accuracy of the readiness status of the United States' nuclear missile
fleet was called into question last year after an Air Force audit found
that the computer that keeps track of a wide range of critical parts and
components was riddled with erroneous data, the Deseret News reported Wednesday.
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- The Air Force Audit Agency said in a report dated Oct.
25, 2001 that several hundred incorrect entries -- which have since been
remedied -- were discovered in a computer system designed to give commanders
an accurate and up-to-date picture of the status of the nation's intercontinental
ballistic missiles.
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- The report, which was obtained by the Deseret News under
the Freedom of Information Act, described a check of three ICBM bases in
which they attempted to reconcile the computer's 2,863 inventory records
with the actual parts and found that 991 had discrepancies.
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- "The erroneous data included: (a) duplicate, missing,
and incorrect serial numbers; (b) missing and incorrect part numbers; (c)
missing data asset records; (d) incorrect equipment quantities; (e) incorrect
equipment locations; and (f) incorrect or missing equipment manufacture
and installation dates," the report said.
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- Specific problems included the discovery that 10 silos
at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota did not have enough batteries on
hand to successfully launch their missiles, and incorrect installation
dates on 200 rocket boosters at both Malstrom Air Force Base in Tennessee
and Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.
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- The audit concluded the problems stemmed in a large part
from inadequate training in the entering and monitoring of the inventory
data on the part of the Air Force Space Command and the Air Logistics Center
at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah.
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- "For example, training at Minot Air Force Base was
a brief overview of the system (lasting approximately 30 minutes) combined
with an on-the-job practice session," the report said. "Additionally,
Space Command personnel did not have adequate oversight procedures to ensure
maintenance procedures to ensure maintenance personnel accurately maintained
that data."
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- Space Command and the Air Logistics Center have since
agreed to establish a standardized training program for the computer system
and develop an oversight system.
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- Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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