Air Force Removes 17 Officers From Nuclear Watch

Last month, the Air Force removed and decertified 17 nuclear missile launch officers at Minot Air Force Base after finding safety violations and attitude problems. The suspended officers will receive at least 60 days of refresher training. Other officers from the unit of more than 150 are performing the launch control duties of the removed crew members.
The action came after an inspection in which the wing earned a marginal rating in one of 22 areas. The low-graded area concerns Minuteman III missile launching operations. The unit received a satisfactory rating overall.
Part of the unit's assignment is to always have two officers on constant alert in a secure, underground control center so as to be ready to launch the missiles if ordered by the president to do so.
The removal of the 17 was disclosed in an email from Lt. Col. Jay Folds, the deputy commander of a unit that runs the launch control centers for Minuteman III missiles at the Minot base in North Dakota. "We as an operations group have fallen," Folds wrote. His memo also referred to "rot in the crew force."
Others familiar with the circumstances mention low morale, loss of discipline, disrespect of the mission and of superior officers, and sloppy performance, including the intentional violation of nuclear safety rules.
Folds told his unit to "Turn off the TVs," "Clean your patches and get your hair cut" and "Bring to my attention immediately any officer who bad mouths a senior officer."
Referring to the inspection, a spokeswoman for the Air Force's Global Strike Command, Maj. Shelley Laver, said, "A marginal grade in one area, although passing, is less than desired to airmen who are entrusted with the most powerful weapons in our nation's arsenal." More on this story can be found at these links:
17 Officers Removed From Nuclear Watch. New York Times
Continue Aggressive Response to Minot AFB Problems. Bismarck Tribune
Stratcom Chief: Minot AFB Case Shows Integrity of Nuclear Enterprise. U.S. Air Force website
Minot Missile Officers Manning the LCCs. Minot Daily News
The Big Questions
1. In several places, the New Testament talks about keeping "watch" in a spiritual sense. What do you take that to mean regarding daily life?
2. What is the goal of the Christian life? What specific things do you do so as not to lose sight of that goal?
3. Where do you have "keeping watch" responsibilities for others?
4. Spiritually speaking, what does it mean to become lax, to "go with the flow"? What are the potential dangers of that?
5. For some 2,000 years now, Christians have been looking for the return of Christ. How can we maintain expectation and readiness for a return that seems so long delayed?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Ezekiel 33:6
But if the sentinel sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any of them, they are taken away in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at the sentinel's hand. (For context, read 33:1-9.)
The context verses here portray the prophet Ezekiel as a sentinel for the people of Judah, responsible to warn them of coming judgment. The verses pose two scenarios: one where the sentinel sees trouble approaching and warns the people, and one where the sentinel sees the trouble but doesn't issue a warning. In the first instance, the sentinel is not held responsible if the people do not heed the warning, but in the second, since the warning was not issued, the sentinel is held responsible for the resulting loss of lives.
Questions: How might these verses be applied to the nuclear missile command at Minot? How might they be applied to us? Spiritually speaking, who are our sentinels? For whom do you need to be a spiritual sentinel? Is the military culture substantially different from the church culture, where spiritual laxness creeps in?
Are there occasions when it might be necessary to keep silent about an infraction because of a higher cause? Who would you consult in order to make such a decision?
Mark 8:15
And [Jesus]cautioned them, saying, "Watch out -- beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod." (For context, read 8:14-21.)
Jesus made this remark to his disciples in the midst of a discussion the disciples were having about not remembering to bring any bread with them. In that context, the remark seems out of place; its only tie to the conversation appears to be the mention of yeast, which, of course, is used in baking bread. But Jesus was not talking about bread; he was talking about a human dilemma.
The discussion about bread must have made Jesus think about how yeast permeates dough to change its character, and then the fact that the influence of the Pharisees, which was significant in that day, had a similar effect on society. Thus, "beware the yeast of the Pharisees." The Pharisees seemed to believe that if they kept all of the rules, regardless of their motives or of how they treated others, God would be pleased with them.
But while he was commenting on the legalistic influence of the Pharisees, he warned his disciples to avoid the other extreme as well: "the yeast of Herod." Unlike the oh-so-careful Pharisees, Herod, the puppet king of Galilee, threw rules to the wind. He was impulsive and generally did just what he pleased. If the Pharisees exemplify the "ought tos," Herod is the poster child for the "want tos."
Questions: Do you agree that "ought tos" and "want tos" can be extremes against which Christians should "keep watch"? If so, what is the middle way that is consistent with your commitment to follow Jesus?
Jesus speaks about the yeast of the religious leaders. How can collusion by clergy, military or political leaders act like yeast in causing sin to spread or become acceptable? When have you felt pressure to keep silent about something? Have there been occasions when you thought it would just be better if something were not brought up?
Philippians 3:14
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (For context, read 3:12-16.)
Paul considered the goal of the Christian life to be the "heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" -- that is, the final resurrection.
Questions: Do you agree with Paul? How is keeping watch related to that goal? Does aiming for the goal of the resurrection preclude or assume ethical conduct? Can the goal of salvation be disconnected from activity on earth?
1 Peter 5:8
Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. (For context read 5:6-11.)
Peter is quite clear here that conversion to follow Jesus does not free us from the danger of either sudden yielding to temptation or the careless slow slide back into godlessness. Thus, we need to keep alert.
One TWW team member comments, "I think this need to keep our eyes on Jesus is one reason for the practice of daily devotions, even if it's only 5-10 minutes of Bible reading or devotional reading or prayer. It helps us set our eyes on Jesus at the beginning of the day or whenever it's practiced during the day."
Another team member comments, "Keeping alert means that internal red flags should go up when temptation to do wrong approaches. It's important not to toy with temptation, playing with the idea while convinced that you aren't really going to give in to it, because the longer you entertain the idea, the greater your chance of falling. Temptation should be firmly turned away from at its first approach."
Questions: In what other specific ways can you keep alert spiritually? Who helps keep you "awake" spiritually? Does your TWW group, and the discussions that take place there, help in this matter?
Matthew 25:10-13
And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, "Lord, lord, open to us." But he replied, "Truly I tell you, I do not know you." Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (For context, read 25:1-13.)
These are the concluding sentences from Jesus' parable of the 10 bridesmaids. In the parable, 10 bridesmaids are waiting to meet the groom's procession and escort him to the feast. The bridesmaids have brought lamps with them, but the groom's procession is delayed until midnight. As the procession approaches, five of the bridesmaids realize they have no oil for their lamps. The other five have brought oil, but when the first five ask for some of it, the second five tell them no, fearing that they too would run out before the groom comes. So the first five have to run to the oil dealers to purchase oil.
The problem is, while they are out buying oil, the groom's procession arrives, and the five bridesmaids who have brought enough oil meet it and escort it into the place of the wedding banquet. The other five show up too late, and when they then try to get into the wedding banquet, the gatekeeper won't let them in. They weren't part of the procession, and so, as far as he knows, they are nothing more than gate-crashers. He says, "I do not know you" and turns them firmly away.
By the time Matthew recorded this parable, some of the early believers had died, and others were getting concerned because Jesus had not come back. Some probably even began to wonder if Christianity was true after all. So Matthew includes this parable from Jesus to help the Christians of his time understand the timetable of Jesus' return differently.
Questions: Figuratively, Christians have been standing on tiptoe for 2,000 years regarding Jesus' return. How can we be as ready now as were the early Christians who expected Jesus to return in their lifetime? The larger context of this keep-awake text shifts to the consequence of not paying attention -- Jesus condemns those who failed to serve him by ignoring "the least of these" (Matthew 25:41-46). Is active Christian service a way of keeping alert for Jesus? Is it possible to have "drills," just as we have fire drills and other preparedness drills? Does Scripture study or a regular prayer life help us stay alert?
For Further Discussion
1. Respond to this, from team member Heidi Mann, who says, "I often say to my 8-yr-old son when he gets distracted from a task: 'Keep your eye on the prize!' He has ADHD and gets distracted so easily -- even when the task is something HE really wants to accomplish! It's so easy for us to get off course even from that which we know is good for us: regular worship attendance, healthy diet and exercise, not getting caught up in consumerism at Christmastime -- or anytime, a routine of Bible study and participating in Christian education, meals as a family and prayer at those meals, etc. We may fully want those good things, but if we aren't truly vigilant about keeping our focus on them, it's so easy to be drawn astray: TV rather than exercising, diving into the food rather than saying table grace first, sleeping in instead of going to church. And once you let your focus slide just once, it's so easy to let it happen again and again."
2. Regarding temptation, there is an old saying to the effect that you can't keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair. What do you think that means?
3. Comment on these words from the old hymn "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus":
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in his wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of his glory and grace.
Responding to the News
This is an appropriate time to review what spiritual disciplines you practice to keep your faith vibrant. If you've become lax about any of them, consider whether the practices should be refreshed and given a higher priority in your schedule.
Closing Prayer
O Lord, help us to know how to keep watch in our faith, and enable us to do so willingly and with our whole hearts. In Jesus' name. Amen.