In 1992, the Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC) was "disestablished" as a major command.  Since 1946, SAC had managed the US' land-based and air-launched strategic nuclear forces, including strategic bombers and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).  After the fall of the Soviet Union, SAC went away and its assets were dispersed to other commands, such as the Air Combat Command (ACC) and Air Mobility Command (AMC).  The ICBM force was transferred several times, ending up at the US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), a joint/unified command. This division of assets into various commands also led, apparently, to a loss of responsibility with respect to accountability and control over US nuclear weapons.

The DOD reports that:

"In a 2007 incident, nuclear weapons were loaded aboard a B-52 bomber at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., and flown to Barksdale before the mistake was discovered. In another incident, nuclear nose cones mistakenly were shipped to Taiwan. As a result, the service’s top civilian and military officials -- Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley -- resigned.  Multiple studies of the incidents and the Air Force’s atmosphere revealed that the service’s nuclear forces and the entire enterprise lacked clear lines of authority and responsibility."

On August 7, 2009 the DOD announced the creation of a new command, the Global Strike Command (GSC).  The GSC will be headquarted at Barksdale AFB (in Louisiana), and will be responsible for the Air Force's strategic bombers as well as ICBMs.  According to the DOD report, "Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz will command the organization. The headquarters will include 900 people, and is slated to reach full operating capability by Aug. 7, 2010. ... The 20th Air Force, the service’s missile organization, will come under the new command in December; and the 8th Air Force, the bomber component, will come under the command in April."  In addtion, the new command will have its own inspector general.

USAF Secretary Michael Donley said that, “This command will provide the combatant commanders the forces needed to conduct strategic nuclear deterrence and global strike operations through ICBM, B-2 and B-52 operations.”  This sounds an awful lot like the SAC's old mission.  

It looks like the SAC, like the mythical Phoenix, has risen once again from the ashes of Cold War history.

See the DOD announcement here.


 


See the history of the SAC here.


 

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