The Associated Press October 30, 2006
States holding on to missiles
By Mary Clare Jalonick
WASHINGTON - High Plains lawmakers are hoping that a new law, along with a recent nuclear test in North Korea, will persuade the Pentagon to keep the nation's full fleet of 500 nuclear missiles.
The fleet, based at Air Force bases in Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota, was scheduled for downsizing earlier this year. The Pentagon in February recommended reducing the stockpile of Minuteman III missiles by 50, or 10 percent.
Those missiles would come from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, according to recent Pentagon documents.
Lawmakers from the three states - facing potential loss of jobs if the missiles are removed - have argued that a reduction could be dangerous.
North Korea's Oct. 9 test of a nuclear weapon "strengthens the position that we've taken consistently that we should not be reducing the number of Minutemen III further," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D.
"It's insurance, it's deterrence," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. "From a military perspective and also from a psychological perspective."
The missile-state members have been successful in delaying the withdrawal, at least for now.
Legislation included in a wide-ranging defense bill signed by President Bush earlier this month would require the Pentagon to continue modernizing all 500 missiles and create what the senators call a "road map" for the missiles' future. None of the missiles could be retired until a series of studies is completed.
The new law would require analysis of the effects of reducing the missiles, an assessment of how many test missiles are needed to maintain the force and a plan to complete modernization of all the missiles, among other studies.
Conrad said the studies will help Congress see the results of downsizing, and the lawmakers will then make their case that the missiles are needed.
"Congress is going to have evidence laid before it with respect to the implications of this change," he said.
Conrad said there is "certainly a possibility" that the missile fleet will eventually be reduced to 450. The studies are aimed at further cuts, he said.
"I think at the worst they take 50 missiles and probably from Malmstrom," Conrad said.
Recent Pentagon documents obtained by the Associated Press confirm that Malmstrom missiles would be the Pentagon's target. In a July memorandum sent by Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the Air Force's chief of staff, to Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, vice commander of the Air Force Space Command, Moseley cites Malmstrom's fleet.
"I concur with your recommendation to inactivate the 564th Missile Squadron," he writes.
The 564th, 50 missiles scattered north of Great Falls, has a different operating system than all of the other squadrons, requiring some different parts and training.
Moseley's letter authorizes Klotz to "terminate any remaining security upgrade actions and suspend unnecessary modifications" in the squadron. But the recent legislation will delay that process.
Pentagon officials declined to immediately comment when contacted last week.
If the missiles are removed from Malmstrom, the counties that house the missiles may have less federal money to play with. The military pays for road and other infrastructure improvements in those areas.
Baucus agrees that withdrawal would be "very adverse to those communities."
Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., also opposes the cutbacks.
"In light of a nuclear North Korea, Senator Burns feels this is the wrong thing to do," spokesman James Pendleton said.
Not everyone equates North Korea's threat with the need for more missiles. John Pike, director of the Washington-based think tank GlobalSecurity.org, said only a few weapons would be needed to hit North Korea.
"If you had 50 missiles, you'd still have more missiles than there are targets," Pike said. "There's just nothing there."
Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., said it is not just potential threats to consider, but cost as the Pentagon has been exploring ways to modernize its nuclear forces.
"If we extend the life of the 500 missile force, there would also be serious cost savings when compared to developing an entirely new missile defense system," he said.
© Copyright 2006, The Associated Press
