Air Force standardizing nuke training

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M., Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force recently held a training course on nuclear inspections in a move to apply a new consistency to a current lack of standardization.

Eighteen Air Force inspectors participated in the first Nuclear Surety Inspector's Course. Officials say the new course is part of an effort to standardize all training as the Air Force overhauls its nuclear program, the Air Force reported.

The Air Force suffered widespread criticism over several instances when nuclear weapons and material were mishandled. The culmination of the Air Force's nuclear problems led to the resignation of Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Michael Moseley in 2008.

"We have taken lessons learned from the last five years and have applied them to this class," George Parrott, deputy director of the Air Force Inspection Agency's Inspection and Oversight Directorate, said in a statement.

"A lot of work has been put into this, and we will continue to do so."

Air Force officials, including new Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz and others, have called reinvigorating the Air Force nuclear enterprise a top priority.