Nuclear De-Alerting and the Search for Post-Cold War Nuclear Policy

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Military and civilian leaders have understandably shifted nuclear issues to the back-burner of American national defense since the break-up of the Soviet Union nearly a decade ago. One senior United States Air Force (USAF) officer was even overheard comparing strategic nuclear weapons to the "gum stuck to the bottom of the Air Force's shoe you just can't seem to get rid of it." While no longer the predominant defense issue, many still grapple with the strategic nuclear issue, wondering what we need to do with our "Cold War" nuclear arsenal. One of the most recent attempts to deal with this apparent dilemma has surfaced in the debate concerning the removal of US strategic nuclear forces from their alert posture, a process now popularly known as de-alerting. Many feel de-alerting is, if not the solution, certainly a step toward solving this post-Cold War nuclear dilemma.