Retired Air Force Major General Talks ICBM's - KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, Sports

Retired Air Force Major General Talks ICBM's

With the confirmation of former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary, some are concerned the United States ICBM program could go by the wayside.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's co-authoring of a 2012 report to the group Global Zero that included the recommendation to eliminate the "Minuteman land-based ICBM" has given momentum to the idea that the program could be shut down.

"There are influential bodies of opinion out there who are calling for further substantial reductions in the strategic nuclear forces," said Timothy McMahon.

Speaking as a private citizen, retired Air Force Major General Timothy McMahon spoke to a crowded room of Cheyenne Chamber members about the importance of becoming an informed citizen on this issue and coming to your own conclusions.

"You have groups like Global Zero who last fall issued a report that called for the immediate elimination of the ICBM force and they made that recommendation based upon a number of assertions which I believe are partially or totally false," McMahon said.

Many are concerned with the nations national security if ICBM's were to be eliminated with the number of countries that now have nuclear capabilities, but McMahon says our national security is a much more complex issue.

"It's not just an ICBM issue. It's an issue of deterrence at the larger level. So it's not about the ICBM force per se. It's about how we deter and how we stabilize crisis and therefore provide for our security at that very high end of risk," McMahon said.

It's much too early to know what will happen with the program, but if the idea of eliminating ICBM's were to win out, McMahon believes F.E. Warren would be caught right in the crosshairs.

"There are again, those who are highly influential who have called for the elimination of the force. That would likely mean an end to the mission that currently exists at F.E. Warren. I can't say what is in the future for F.E. Warren under those circumstances, but if that opinion were to prevail and if the force were to be eliminated then the 90th Missile Wing, as we know it today, goes away," McMahon said.