In August 2007, after my promotion to Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, I was blessed to do my Senior Developmental Education (usually War College) as an Air Force Fellow at the Brookings Institution, along with fellows from the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and CIA. After arriving at Brookings one morning, I was greeted (and given much grief) by several of my Fellows with the news that the Air Force had majorly dropped the ball, unknowingly flying nuclear-equipped missiles from Minot AFB ND to Barksdale AFB in LA (the missiles should have had dummy bombs as part of the training mission). The nuclear enterprise is one of the most closely guarded and strictly enforced aspects of the Air Force mission–or at least it had been in the days of the Strategic Air Command. But in the aftermath of the fall of communism, no one believed that the nuclear mission was even needed any more. This major debacle followed the sending of nuclear-certified parts to Taiwan a year earlier, when the Taiwanese were supposed to be getting helicopter parts. It was now clear to all–the U.S. Air Force took the eye of a very important ball, and that required leadership changes.

Of course the Wing Commander, Group Commander and other lower level officers at Minot AFB were removed from service (either by firing and/or having their clearance to working in nuclear areas stripped–effectively terminating their career path). But Defense Secretary Robert Gates, after a two-month investigation, ultimately fired the Air Force Chief of Staff (the USAF’s top general) and the Secretary of the Air Force (the USAF’s top civilian). It didn’t matter that it was only a close call–in nuclear matters a miss is not as good as a mile. To send the correct signal to the entire DoD about the serious nature of the problem, heads had to roll.

Which leads us to today. I think there must be a serious independent investigation of the Secret Service in light of the failed assassination attempt–an attempt that likely would have been successful if not for God’s providence in having Mr. Trump turn his head at the precise moment of the shot. There may be need for other field officers to go as well, but the near miss demands accountability not just for Ms. Cheatle’s failure, but also to send the signal to the entire Secret Service about how seriously every single agent must be about their primary mission of protecting top political leaders. It may be that the investigation does not lay the blame on Ms. Cheatle, but that is irrelevant. I assure you that Gen Moseley and Secretary Wynne had nothing to do with the nuclear mishap in Aug 2007. But for the good of the institution and the rebuilding of trust, they both had to go. It is past time for Ms. Cheatle to do the same. President Biden should direct Secretary Mayorkas to demand her resignation. Because it is not about Ms. Cheatle, it’s about the good of the institution. Then take the time to fully investigate and take meaningful action in the days ahead to make sure this never happens again.*

* In response to the AF’s nuclear mishap, the USAF subsequently revitalized the sustainment of the nuclear enterprise under a Brig Gen leading the AF Nuclear Weapons Center and the Air Force Comprehensive Assessment of Nuclear Sustainability (AFCANS). For the second phase of AFCANS, the general leading it recruited six colonels across the AF to lead teams in each area. I was the lead for the Demilitarization team, since my Wing had responsibility for minuteman I and minuteman II missiles that were no longer used for active alert status (and my wing used the MMIIs as a space launch vehicle for small satellites in conjunction with the Orbital Sciences Corporation). The point is we did a stem to stern relook at the whole enterprise, and organizational and budget changes were made to ensure this never happened again. And I can tell you that the poor wings that handled the nuclear weapons had the most stringent Inspector General (IG) inspections that those wings had ever seen in the subsequent years. And if those wings didn’t pass, the leadership of those wings were removed! You can change the culture with enough emphasis.