A YouTube video purports to show a Humvee rear-ending a rig carrying a nuclear missile.
The video was captured and uploaded Nov. 2 by a user who identified himself as Paul Tedford and resident of Great Falls, Montana, near Malmstrom Air Force Base, which is home of the 341st Missile Wing, part of the Air Force Global Strike Command.
“Have you ever seen a nuclear missile being transported in a convoy?” the post states. “Several helicopters in the air and federal marshals leading the way. The crazy thing is that the fed pulled over and was yelling and waving his hands that I can’t record this video! And then a truck rear ended the nuke!”
Stephen Losey, a reporter at Air Force Times, reported that the Air Force confirmed the incident — but didn’t say what was inside the tractor-trailer.
“Aside from paint damage on the tractor trailer’s hitch and a small dent on the security vehicle bumper, there were no injuries, further damages or risk to the public’s safety,” spokeswoman 2nd Lt. Annabel Monroe said in an email, according to the article. “The convoy and all vehicles continued on without affecting their mission.”
In 2014, 92 launch officers at Malmstrom — about half of the missileers on the post — were involved in cheating on a monthly proficiency test. The cheating probe, led by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, was spurred by a separate investigation of drug possession allegations involving 11 officers at six Air Force bases in the U.S. and Britain.
In 2013, the Air Force removed more than a dozen officers from similar positions at Minot Air Force Base following inspection failures. In 2008, the service created Global Strike Command to better manage nuclear weapons and personnel after a B-52 mistakenly loaded with nuclear warheads flew across the country.
–Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
