4 f2 ngii we 1 y o- a atag w mm ea at mm 3 -W 1 amount 935 1 3 rowm mm 81 common mu 14 W198i General Lew Allen Jr Chief of Staff United States Air torce Washington DC 20330 Dear Chief has completed its investigation on the false indications generated in the NGRAD Command Post on 9 November 1979 The attached report describes the total testing analysis and investigative work of the past four months to determine the cause of this incident This work was carried out by an Operations Review Board ORB established IAW Regulation 55 97 to review events which warning systems This group is similar in function to an aircraft accident investigation board The report consists of an Executive Summary followed by four major supporting sections and appropriate attachments The report parallels and supports the briefings that my staff presented to you and other officials in the DOD during January 1980 Publication was delayed until a final test could be completed on 14 February 1980 The results of this final test and previous testing demonstrated that the precise mode of failure of the Message Generator Recorder on 9 November I could not be replicated Whether the cause was human error computer error or a combination of both stringent safeguards have been established to preclude a repetition Further priority efforts are continuing to satisfy the recommendations made in the report plus those made by the and the action items developed for the Chairman by Lt General Dickinson e staff Some major actions remain such as the establishment of an offwline test facility separate from Cheyenne Mountain to enable us to achieve 427M IOC without impacting the operational system Thanks for the excellent support from you and your staff in making this happen quickly Sincerely 6 $1 V HARTINGER Atch tenant General USAF ORB Report Feb 80 ander in Chief momentum This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu