Silo based ICBMs, along with the submarine and ship based Nuclear Missiles, carry strategic nuclear warheads with enough punch to obliterate a targeted country many times over. These strategic weapon systems are at the core of US nuclear deterrence essential to maintaining the MAD status – In case Russia and China (it is no more ‘Russia or China’) launch a nuclear strike on US, they can count on the Mutually Assured Destruction.

These weapons systems – the Weapons of true Mass Destruction at the global scale, are always at the ready to launch at the command of the USSTRATCOM, OR at the decision of the local Wing Command – if the Wing Command believes that the USSTRATCOM has become incapable of making a decision. The command of the strategic missile launch wings is an enormous responsibility that requires the nerves of steel – If the time comes, these commanders are expected to make a decision that may very well cause the end of the human civilization on earth, OR, on the other hand, may lead to the surrender of US.

The people selected for this enormous responsibility are a very special lot. Beside having the required command rank and expertise, they must pass through a string of very thorough psychological and psychiatric screening processes to make sure that they can survive and perform under those very demanding conditions and environment. From among the hundreds of qualified candidates, only a few pass for the task. They are difficult to come by – and, there are very limited number of qualified commanding officers available for the job.

These commanders are, sort of, “saviors of the last resort”. They are counted upon to launch the retaliatory strikes if the nation goes under nuclear attack. They are the guarantee that no surprise nuclear strike on US will be launched.

So, when the commanders at these strategic wings are being selectively relieved of their duties, under some very dubious charges and accusations, then it should be a matter of grave concern to all. We have to consider if the nation’s retaliatory and counter strike capabilities are being deliberately compromised.

So far, from 2012 onward, more than 200 senior commanding officers – quite a few of them at the sensitive strategic nuclear missile command, have been relieved of their duties.

In November of 2014, Colonel Carl Jones, second in command of the 90th Missile Wing at FE Warren air force base, Wyoming, in charge of 150 of the air force’s 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, was dismissed “for a loss of trust and confidence in his leadership abilities.

At the same time, at the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, which also is responsible for 150 Minuteman 3 missiles, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy “Keith” Brown was relieved of command “because of a loss of confidence in Brown’s ability to lead his squadron”.

Also disciplined at the North Dakota base was Col. Richard Pagliuco, the commander of the 91st Operations Group. It was not clear what disciplinary action was taken.

Each of these commands is responsible for 150 Minuteman 3 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). These missiles carry payloads with 27 times the destructive power of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. They are capable of striking targets some 8,000 miles away within half an hour of their launch and vaporizing everything within a 50-mile radius, killing millions of human beings.

Carrying out simultaneous disciplinary actions against senior officers at two of the Air Force’s three ICBM bases is unprecedented. An Air Force spokesman told the AP that it was merely a “coincidence.”

Overseeing the disciplinary investigations was Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein who was tapped to head the nuclear war command after his predecessor, Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, was sacked.

In December 2013, Maj. Gen. Michael Carey was fired for going on a drunken binge while on an official trip to Moscow – circumstances of which were very suspicious. Carey oversaw the 20th Air Force, with a total of 450 Minutemen ICBMs at three locations across the U.S.

In October of 2013, the deputy commander of U.S. nuclear forces, Vice Adm. Tim Giardina, was relieved of duty amid a military investigation of allegations that he used counterfeit chips at an Iowa casino. He was second in command of the US Strategic Command.

Below is a partial list of some of the Commanding officers and Generals fired since the second term of Obama:

• Major General Ralph Baker (2 Star)-U.S. Army Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn in Africa (April 2013)
• Major General Michael Carey (2 Star)-U.S. Air Force Commander of the 20th US Air Force in charge of 9,600 people and 450 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (Oct 2013)
• Colonel James Christmas-U.S. Marines Commander 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit Commander Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response Unit (July 2013)
• Major General Charles M.M. Gurganus-U.S. Marine Corps Regional Commander of SW and I Marine Expeditionary Force in Afghanistan (Oct 2013)
• Lieutenant General David H. Huntoon (3 Star), Jr.-U.S. Army 58th Superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point, NY (2013)
• General Carter F. Ham-U.S. Army African Command (Oct 2013)
• General James Mattis-U.S. Marines Chief of CentCom (May 2013)
• Brigadier General Bryan Roberts-U.S. Army Commander 2nd Brigade (May 2013)
• Major General Gregg A. Sturdevant-U.S. Marine Corps Director of Strategic Planning and Policy for the U.S. Pacific Command & Commander of Aviation Wing at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan (Sept 2013)
• Colonel Eric Tilley-U.S. Army Commander of Garrison Japan (Nov 2013)
• Brigadier General Bryan Wampler-U.S. Army Commanding General of 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command [TSC] (suspended Oct 2013)
• Colonel Daren Margolin-U.S. Marine in charge of Quantico’s Security Battalion (Oct 2013)
• Command Sergeant Major Don B Jordan-U.S. Army 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command (suspended Oct 2013)
• Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] and Commander U.S. Forces Afghanistan [USFOR-A] (Nov 2012)
• General David Petraeus-Director of CIA, former US commander in Afghanistan, was forced to quit in November 2012.

In October 2012, over the Benghazigate, Obama ordered the immediate removal of Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette from his command of the powerful Carrier Strike Group Three (CSG-3) currently located in the Middle East.

General John R. Allen-U.S. Marines Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] – Relieved of duties in November 2012.

Beside these firings of the Generals and commanders, there also has been a spate of early retirements, suicides, and unfortunate accidents. All in all, since the second term of the Obama administration, close to 300 commanding generals, admirals, and wing commanders have been shuffled or removed from the scene.

These Commanding officers at the strategic commands couldn’t have posed any danger to any civil administration. Their role was either in the strategic nuclear command, or over the command of the naval fleets – They could have played no role in the event of any ‘Civil Unrest’ or Martial Law scenario.

So, why the ongoing purge of these commanders? It is part of what plan?

The only certainty is that the US nuclear war command is being subjected to a deliberate and wholesale restructuring of its personnel for some unspecified reasons. And, there seems to be only three probable scenarios that fit and do make some sense out of the these ongoing shuffles and purges:

Indeed, all of these three are difficult to believe scenarios – But, we are living in a difficult to believe time.