No. 2 US nuclear commander suspended

No. 2 US nuclear commander suspended amid probe of counterfeit gambling chips at Iowa casino The U.S. strategic Command, the military command in charge of all U.S. nuclear warfighting forces says it has suspended its No. 2 commander, Giardina, for unspecific reasons, and he is under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. By Associated Press, Published: September 28 WASHINGTON — The No. 2 officer at the military command in charge of all U.S. nuclear war-fighting forces is suspected in a case involving counterfeit gambling chips at a western Iowa casino and has been suspended from his duties, officials said. Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina has not been arrested or charged, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation special agent David Dales said Saturday. The state investigation is ongoing. Giardina, deputy commander at U.S. Strategic Command, was suspended on Sept. 3 and is under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a Strategic Command spokeswoman said. The highly unusual action against a high-ranking officer at Strategic Command was made more than three weeks ago but not publicly announced at that time. The command is located at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Neb. Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, who heads Strategic Command, suspended Giardina, according to the command’s top spokeswoman, Navy Capt. Pamela Kunze. Giardina is still assigned to the command but is prohibited from performing duties related to nuclear weapons and other issues requiring a security clearance, she said. Kehler has recommended to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that Giardina be reassigned, Kunze said. Giardina has been the deputy commander of Strategic Command since December 2011. He is a career submarine officer and prior to starting his assignment there was the deputy commander and chief of staff at U.S. Pacific Fleet. DCI agents stationed at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa, discovered the counterfeit chips, Dales said. He would not say when the discovery was made or how much in counterfeit chips was found, only that “it was a significant monetary amount.” Council Bluffs is located across the Missouri River from Omaha. “We were able to detect this one pretty quickly and jump on it,” Dales said. He declined to give specifics on how authorities determined that casino chips had been counterfeited or how Giardina might have been involved. Strategic Command oversees the military’s nuclear fighter units, including the Navy’s nuclear-armed submarines and the Air Force’s nuclear bombers and nuclear land-based missiles. Kunze said Strategic Command did not announce the suspension because Giardina remains under investigation and action on Kehler’s recommendation that Giardina be reassigned is pending. The suspension was first reported by the Omaha World-Herald. Kunze said a law enforcement investigation of Giardina began June 16. Kehler became aware of this on July 16, and the following day he asked the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to begin a probe. The suspension is yet another blow to the military’s nuclear establishment. Last spring the nuclear missile unit at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., pulled 17 launch control officers off duty after a problematic inspection and later relieved of duty the officer in charge of training and proficiency. In August a nuclear missile unit at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., failed a nuclear safety and security inspection; nine days later an officer in charge of the unit’s security forces was relieved of duty. September 29, 2013 at 7:32 AM

Freezing pensions

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/09/26/detroit-eyes-freezing-pensions-amid-probe-as-evidence-of-possible-fraud-come-to-light/ Let's try to have a unbiased (try!!) discussion if Democratic overspending will affect LLNS pensions in the distant future. Fact: Federal government took in the most tax revenue ever and is still running an annual deficit of $650B. Fact: Because of the bad economy people need food stamps, etc... more than ever and social programs ARE needed. Fact: Not even counting pension deficits California is by some estimates $160-320B in the hole. There was an annual surplus this past year but guess what....they spent it and did not apply it to the debt. When will it end and will it inevitably affect a LLNL pension is the question?

Coming soon to a laboratory near you!

Coming soon to a laboratory near you! Layoffs are going to happen across all the energy and weapons laboratories. The budgets are not sustainable in the current economic climate and Oak Ridge is just the first. http://news.sciencemag.org/funding/2013/09/oak-ridge-national-laboratory-trim-staff-much-11

B-61 still in the news

B-61 still in the news "The most important takeaway from the JASON report is this: Should schedule problems develop (as they invariably do), the NNSA must focus on what needs to be done, not on what might be desirable." "The more important point that JASON makes is that, to meet its schedule, the NNSA should focus on what has to be done, not what might be desired: “In implementing important and desirable, but not essential, elements in the 3B program, there should be a clear understanding of their cost and impact on the schedule. These elements should be prioritized in the event that unanticipated program delays or cost overruns are encountered that could threaten meeting the FPU [first production unit] deadline.” In other words, a significant portion of the work proposed for the B61 is not essential. It is someone’s wish list, either the NNSA’s or the DOD’s. Yet that wish list, the JASON report notes, could become the reason that the production schedule ends up slipping yet again. That concern is what drives the Senate appropriation committee’s position: A simpler (and less expensive) life extension program would be more likely to be delivered on time and on budget. Particularly given the NNSA’s track record of busting budgets and missing schedules, there is a certain undeniable logic to that train of thought." http://allthingsnuclear.org/jason-on-the-b61/

NNSA Requests Another $55.9M For LANL, LLNL Retiree Pension Payment

NNSA Requests Another $55.9M For LANL, LLNL Retiree Pension Payment The National Nuclear Security Administration needs an extra $55.9 million to make a paymen tto the University of California Retirement Plan, according to a reprogramming request submitted to Congress Tuesday. The reprogramming request was coupled with an appeal to reprogram another $2.5 million to finish designing Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Low Level Waste building, a key part of the lab’s Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF) project that the Department of Energy said would have to be shut down without the extra funds. The additional money for Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory retiree pensions is on top of $22.8 million DOE already requested as part of a nonproliferation reprogramming request in August. The agency said the funds are needed because recently approved changes to the University of California’s defined benefit pension plan increased assumptions on how long people will live and sequestration reduced the available funding for the payment. According to a letter from DOE Deputy Chief Financial Officer Alison Doone, a variety of sources will cover the reprogramming, including the completion of projects under budget, unearned contractor fee, and funding that was set aside for work that did not come about, including $3.4 million from the cancellation of the Secure Transportation Asset Agent Candidate Training

Privatizing National Lab Management Misguided

Thanks very much for your continued upkeep of the blog. I'm not one to post there myself but I thought our OpEd "Privatizing National Lab Management Misguided" might be of interest. http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Privatizing-national-lab-management-misguided-4843513.php

bonuses

Is it true managers get 5 to 50K bonuses on top of their % pay raise?