Embalming tables are seen at the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del. The Air Force mortuary that receives America’s war dead and prepares them for burial lost portions of human remains twice in 2009, prompting the Air Force to discipline three officials for “gross mismanagement,” officials said Tuesday.By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer
WASHINGTON – Gruesome revelations about mishandling the nation’s war dead mark the Air Force’s second embarrassing failure in three years, following the time when airmen mistakenly flew a B-52 armed with nuclear weapons across the country.
The nuclear and mortuary missions are arguably the Air Force’s most sensitive. Both require precision and are unforgiving of error. Neither is publicly visible. Shortcomings in either carry a heavy cost.
In both caring for battlefield casualties and maintaining custody of nuclear weapons, the Air Force has linked its failures indirectly to the intense demands and strain of fighting two wars simultaneously.
The first lapse cost senior Air Force leaders their jobs. Word this week that mortuary workers at Dover Air Force base in Delaware lost body parts of servicemen returning from Afghanistan now clouds the tenure of the leaders picked to prevent more scandals.