U.S. Air Force Preparing To Put Its Nuclear Bombers Back On 24-Hour Alert For The First Time Since The Cold War

A 2014 photo of a B-52H Stratofortress based at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. U.S. Air Force / Senior Airman Christine Griffiths

Defens One: EXCLUSIVE: US Preparing to Put Nuclear Bombers Back on 24-Hour Alert

If the order comes, the B-52s will return to a ready-to-fly posture not seen since the Cold War.

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. — The U.S. Air Force is preparing to put nuclear-armed bombers back on 24-hour ready alert, a status not seen since the Cold War ended in 1991.

That means the long-dormant concrete pads at the ends of this base’s 11,000-foot runway — dubbed the “Christmas tree” for their angular markings — could once again find several B-52s parked on them, laden with nuclear weapons and set to take off at a moment’s notice.

“This is yet one more step in ensuring that we’re prepared,” Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview during his six-day tour of Barksdale and other U.S. Air Force bases that support the nuclear mission. “I look at it more as not planning for any specific event, but more for the reality of the global situation we find ourselves in and how we ensure we’re prepared going forward.”

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Update #1: Air Force preparing to put nuclear-armed bombers back on 24-hour ready-to-fly alert: report (Washington Times)
Update #2: US To Put Nuclear Bombers On 24 Hour Alert: First Time In 26 Years (Zero Hedge)

WNU Editor:  Another sign on how much the global situation .... from North Korea to the turmoil in the Middle East to tensions with Russia .... has changed in the past year.