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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Air Force N-weapons unit loses standing

Tim Korte Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Air Force has decertified a unit responsible for maintaining an estimated 2,000 nuclear warheads at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, but top military officials won’t discuss specifics of the decision.

Decertification means members of the 898th Munitions Squadron cannot perform their usual duties with nuclear weapons.

Air Force officials declined to disclose what concerns prompted the action, but Ron Fry, a spokesman for the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, said Wednesday the move wasn’t prompted by any risk to the public.

“There is no risk to security, safety or health,” he said.

The New Mexico unit will be reinspected and could be recertified by June, Fry said. Until then, he said qualified individuals from Air Force units based elsewhere will monitor nuclear weapons stored at Kirtland, located on Albuquerque’s south side.

Fry said security and stewardship of nuclear weapons remains an Air Force priority, and squadrons assigned to handle nuclear assets are evaluated using rigid criteria.