Inquiry begins in Taiwan missile parts incident

Utah base faulted
F.E. Warren spokesman Sgt. Kurt Arkenberg said it appeared that no one at the Cheyenne, Wyo., base was responsible for the mix-up.

"Everything was fine until they got to Hill," Arkenberg said.

Arkenberg said Hill is a repository for new and used aircraft and missile components. F.E. Warren routinely gets parts from Hill as well as sends parts to that facility, he said.

Col. Mike Morgan, commander of the 90th Space Wing at F.E. Warren, said in a statement that the Wyoming base has "stringent accountability procedures in place" for shipments to the Utah base.

Henry said that if the incident is a violation of any treaty or agreement, it was unintentional.

"We are being totally transparent. We have corrected the situation," he said. "The United States stands up to its treaty obligations and we're dealing with this in the most straightforward manner we can."

Investigation ordered
Gates has ordered a full investigation, and in a memo Tuesday he put Navy Adm. Kirkland H. Donald in charge and asked that Donald report back with an initial assessment by April 15.

Henry said an examination of the site in Taiwan where the components had been stored after delivery indicated that they had not been tampered with. He said the components were "quite dated," as part of a system designed in the 1960s.

The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Taiwan official said Tuesday that the island's diplomats in Washington typically do not comment on Defense Department matters.

The fuses were manufactured for use on a Minuteman strategic nuclear missile and are linked to the triggering mechanism in the nosecone, but they contain no nuclear materials.

This is the second nuclear-related mistake involving the military in recent months. Last August an Air Force B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. At the time, the pilot and crew were unaware they had nuclear arms aboard.

More from msnbc.com Thanksgiving is about odd family dynamics Elkhart Project: Money pours in, pet adoptions increase Swine flu fears for hajj pilgrims First Read: Pardon my turkey, and other trivia 570,000 pager messages from 9/11 released   Silver Lining: Tales of struggle and hope On Twitter: Breaking news updates | Weird and wild

MORE FROM MILITARY

Military Section Front

Military families united by tragedies Obama to speak Tuesday on Afghanistan policy Obama administration won't sign landmine ban Va. Military Institute faces sexism accusations Military Section Front   Add Military headlines to your news reader: