History shows examples of failure to discipline Published Oct. 21, 2008 By Capt. Christopher Baker 21st Space Wing Legal Office PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- As mentioned at the beginning of the month, when there is insufficient respect for and attention to the need for discipline as a first principle, military operations can be expected to fail. Below is a small set of examples of what happens when there is a lack of discipline in the armed forces. Nuclear Weapons Incidents - Six AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles, each loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were mistakenly loaded on a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52H at Minot and transported to Barksdale. - The nuclear warheads in the missiles were supposed to have been removed before taking the missiles from their storage bunker. - Although the breakout crew in the weapons storage began to inspect the missiles, an early-arriving transport crew hooked-up the pylons and towed them away without inspecting or ensuring that the missiles had been inspected or cleared for removal. - The munitions control center failed to verify that the pylon had received proper clearance and inspection and approved the pylon for loading on the B-52 aircraft at 09:25. -- The missiles with the nuclear warheads were not reported missing and remained mounted to the aircraft at both Minot and Barksdale for a period of 36 hours. Asleep at the Wheel - On July 12, during the changing out of components used to facilitate secure communications between an underground missile-control facility and missile silos near Minot, three crew members fell asleep while in control of an electronic component that contained old launch codes for nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles - Under standard procedure, the four-officer crew of the facility is supposed to keep the component secure until it is returned to the base. - The crew took the component to a building above the facility and locked the component in a lockbox. - Then, three of the four crew members fell asleep. - This violated Air Force procedure, which calls for at least two of the crew members to remain awake while in control of the component. During Sherman's March to the Sea in the Civil War, General Sherman and his subordinates earned a reputation for destruction and for the lack of discipline of his troops. His marauding stragglers became known as "Sherman's bummers." Abu Ghraib - Beginning in 2004, accounts of abuse, torture, sodomy and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (also known as Baghdad Correctional Facility) came to public attention. - One photograph of the abuse depicted a hooded and wired Iraqi prisoner who reportedly was told that he would be electrocuted if he fell off the box. - Another depicted Lynndie England and Charles Graner posing with prisoners ordered to form a human pyramid. - A third showed England pointing to a naked prisoner being forced to masturbate in front of his captors. - Yet another depicted Sgt. Ivan Frederick sitting on an Iraqi detainee between two stretchers. All of these actions carried severe consequences for those involved and were the direct result of a lack of discipline. Discuss other incidents involving where discipline broke down. (Editor's Note: This article is one of several highlighting the Air Force Space Command Year of Leadership and its focus on discipline)