Headline News

US Air Force Preparing To Put Nuclear-Equipped Bombers Back On 24-Hour Ready Alert Status As Global Tensions Rise

The U.S. Air Force is preparing to put nuclear-armed bombers back on 24-hour ready alert, a status not seen since the Cold War ended in 1991.

Published

9 years ago

October 22, 2017

Geoffrey Grider

united-states-air-force-nuclear-b-52-bombers-stand-by-nteb

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

The U.S. Air Force is preparing to put nuclear-armed bombers back on 24-hour ready alert, a status not seen since the Cold War ended in 1991.

That means the long-dormant concrete pads at the ends of this base’s 11,000-foot runway — dubbed the “Christmas tree” for their angular markings — could once again find several B-52s parked on them, laden with nuclear weapons and set to take off at a moment’s notice.

“This is yet one more step in ensuring that we’re prepared,” Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview during his six-day tour of Barksdale and other U.S. Air Force bases that support the nuclear mission. “I look at it more as not planning for any specific event, but more for the reality of the global situation we find ourselves in and how we ensure we’re prepared going forward.”

Goldfein and other senior defense officials stressed that the alert order had not been given, but that preparations were under way in anticipation that it might come. That decision would be made by Gen. John Hyten, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command, or Gen. Lori Robinson, the head of U.S. Northern Command. STRATCOM is in charge of the military’s nuclear forces and NORTHCOM is in charge of defending North America.

This B-52 Air Force Bomber Can Hold 70,000 Lbs. in Weapons:

Putting the B-52s back on alert is just one of many decisions facing the Air Force as the U.S. military responds to a changing geopolitical environment that includes North Korea’s rapidly advancing nuclear arsenal, President Trump’s confrontational approach to Pyongyang, and Russia’s increasingly potent and active armed forces.

Goldfein, who is the Air Force’s top officer and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is asking his force to think about new ways that nuclear weapons could be used for deterrence, or even combat.

“The world is a dangerous place and we’ve got folks that are talking openly about use of nuclear weapons,” he said. “It’s no longer a bipolar world where it’s just us and the Soviet Union. We’ve got other players out there who have nuclear capability. It’s never been more important to make sure that we get this mission right.”

During his trip across the country last week, Goldfein encouraged airmen to think beyond Cold War uses for ICBMs, bombers and nuclear cruise missiles.

“I’ve challenged…Air Force Global Strike Command to help lead the dialog, help with this discussion about ‘What does conventional conflict look like with a nuclear element?’ and ‘Do we respond as a global force if that were to occur?’ and ‘What are the options?’” he said. “How do we think about it — how do we think about deterrence in that environment?”

Asked if placing B-52s back on alert — as they were for decades — would help with deterrence, Goldfein said it’s hard to say.

“Really it depends on who, what kind of behavior are we talking about, and whether they’re paying attention to our readiness status,” he said.

Already, various improvements have been made to prepare Barksdale — home to the 2d Bomb Wing and Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s nuclear forces — to return B-52s to an alert posture. Near the alert pads, an old concrete building — where B-52 crews during the Cold War would sleep, ready to run to their aircraft and take off at a moment’s notice — is being renovated.

Inside, beds are being installed for more than 100 crew members, more than enough room for the crews that would man bombers positioned on the nine alert pads outside. There’s a recreation room, with a pool table, TVs and a shuffleboard table. Large paintings of the patches for each squadron at Barksdale adorn the walls of a large stairway.

A Rare Peek Inside The E-4B ‘Doomsday’ Plane:

One painting — a symbol of the Cold War — depicts a silhouette of a B-52 with the words “Peace The Old Fashioned Way,” written underneath. At the bottom of the stairwell, there is a Strategic Air Command logo, yet another reminder of the Cold War days when American B-52s sat at the ready on the runway outside.

Those long-empty B-52 parking spaces will soon get visits by two nuclear command planes, the E-4B Nightwatch and E-6B Mercury, both which will occasionally sit alert there. During a nuclear war, the planes would become the flying command posts of the defense secretary and STRATCOM commander, respectively. If a strike order is given by the president, the planes would be used to transmit launch codes to bombers, ICBMs and submarines. At least one of the four nuclear-hardened E-4Bs — formally called the National Airborne Operations Center, but commonly known as the Doomsday Plane — is always on 24-hour alert.

Barksdale and other bases with nuclear bombers are preparing to build storage facilities for a new nuclear cruise missile that is under development. During his trip, Goldfein received updates on the preliminary work for a proposed replacement for the 400-plus Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the new long-range cruise missile.

“Our job is options,” Goldfein said. “We provide best military advice and options for the commander in chief and the secretary of defense. Should the STRATCOM commander require or the NORTHCOM commander require us to [be on] a higher state of readiness to defend the homeland, then we have to have a place to put those forces.” source

Related Topics:air force B-52 nuclear war

Comments

Headline News

Thanks To Your Prayers And Support, Good Child Missions In Uganda Now Has A Cow That Will Help Feed Hungry Children And Strengthen Their Ministry

Published

7 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

Operation Africa! Raises The Funds Necessary To Purchase A Cow For Good Child Missions In Uganda To Help Feed And Bless Needy Children God places in their care

The photo you see at the top of this article is Irad, with an enormous smile on his face, standing with the cow we helped him to purchase for Good Child Missions. Actualy, two cows because she’s pregnant, a double blessing! The cows are an intergal part of the self-sustaining farm Irad is constructing to provide a steady stream of food for the children God places in his care. NTEB has been a strong financial partner with Good Child Missions from their inception, and Lord willing, will remain so through our newly launched Operation Africa! now also operating in Kenya.

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.“ James 1:27 (KJB)

We are living in the end times, no doubt about that, and it is so very exciting watching prophecy coming true, but our mission as last days Bible believers is to take the gospel of the grace of God into all the world. We are doing that with the Gospel Witness Billboard Program, the Free Bible Program, Bibles Behind Bars, and now through Operation Africa! Please pray for our outreaches, that God will continue to open doors for all of us to walk through to get something done for His Name. We so very much appreciate your support.

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

If God has prospered you, please take a moment to click on the donate button to help us in this monumental task of providing King James Bibles, New Testaments, scripture portions, gospel tracts as well as Spanish Bibles to everyone who needs one. We need your prayers, we need your generous financial support, and we need you to stand with us in the closing days of the Church Age. Thank you so very much, TO THE FIGHT!!!

NOTE: If you need a 501 C3 Letter of Donation for tax purposes, please send your donation to:

NTEB Ministries
1340 N Great Neck Rd.
Ste. 1272-129
Virginia Beach, VA 23454.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s Iran ‘Victory Lap’ Ends With Him Ironically Ditching The New Muslim-Provided Air Force One From Qatar And Returning Home On The Old One

Published

1 day ago

July 8, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

President Donald Trump’s Middle East Theater Meets Reality As Iran Threats Send Him Back To The Old Air Force One For The Flight Home

Trump is selling strength, victory, dominance, and deterrence over Iran, yet the image coming out of this trip is not victory-lap confidence but nervous calculation. He says Iran has been beaten, decimated, obliterated, and put back in its box, but when the moment comes to fly through a dangerous threat environment, the Qatari-gifted luxury jet suddenly stays behind and the old, battle-tested Air Force One gets the call. That is political irony at 40,000 feet. The boast is “Iran is defeated,” but his actions say, “not defeated enough for me to trust this plane.” Reports say the switch raised questions precisely because Trump was also talking about Iranian threats and being at the top of their “kill list.”

“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1 (KJB)

Trump bragged about the lavish $400 million plane gifted by Qatar, took his first flight on it, and praised it like a symbol of prestige and power. But Qatar is a Muslim Gulf state with its own entanglements, relationships, and strategic calculations in the region, and the moment Iran re-enters the picture, that glittering “gift” starts looking less like strength and more like vulnerability. The old Air Force One may be aging, but it represents hardened American continuity; the Qatari jet represents spectacle, luxury, controversy, and foreign influence. One is built for the presidency in crisis. The other looks tailor-made for Trump’s brand.

WE HAVE A GREAT SELECTION OF CHRISTIAN AND PATRIOT COMICS, CLICK TO VIEW AND ORDER!!

Trump’s foreign policy is forever trapped between theater and reality. In the theater, Iran is crushed, America is feared, enemies are trembling, and Trump is the great wartime commander. In reality, Iran is still threatening, the Middle East is still burning, the ceasefire is being declared finished, and the president is making aircraft decisions that appear to reflect a genuine fear of exposure. He can call Tehran names, promise to hit them “hard,” and claim victory all day long, but if Iran is still shaping how the president travels, then Iran has not been removed from the chessboard.

Walking slow like a defeated man, President Trump gets back into the old Air Force One because he’s too afraid of Iranian missile attacks to fly in the jet that his Muslim friends in Qatar just gave him. Sad state of affairs. pic.twitter.com/DmXua9QzJF

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) July 8, 2026

So the old Air Force One becomes the perfect symbol of the moment. Trump wanted the new plane to say, “Look how powerful I am.” Instead, the switch back to the old one says, “Look how dangerous this has become.” He boasted about beating Iran, then appeared unwilling to put that boast to the test in the Muslim-provided luxury jet from Qatar. That is not just irony — that is the whole Trump Middle East doctrine in one image: loud claims of victory, foreign gifts wrapped in controversy, threats still coming from Iran, and America once again flying through the consequences of unfinished wars.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Donald Trump

THE PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST: As Trump Resumes Bombing Of Iran, Emmanuel Macron Takes Center Stage In Stunning Visit To Syria With Ahmed al-Sharaa

Published

1 day ago

July 8, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

The Middle East is undergoing a paradigm shift realingment now with Emmanuel Macron center stage in Syria and Donald Trump restarting the bombing of Iran

The Middle East is shaking on every side right now, and the headlines are lining up like pieces on a prophetic chessboard. Trump is in Turkey, strengthening ties with Erdoğan and signaling that he may reverse the F-35 ban and lift sanctions tied to Turkey’s Russian S-400 purchase — even as Israel has reportedly warned that arming Turkey with F-35s could destabilize the regional balance of power. At the very same time, the U.S. has restarted strikes against Iranian targets after renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with CENTCOM calling Iran’s actions a violation of the ceasefire. Hey, Christian, if you’ve been waiting for the end times to start, you’re already late to the party.

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:7,8 (KJB)

On this episode of the Prophecy News Podcast, then comes Macron, the man we are watching closely as the possible, and probable, biblical man of sin, walking into Damascus like he owns the place to meet Syria’s new president Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. During that visit, two IEDs exploded near the Four Seasons Hotel where Macron was staying, wounding at least 18 people, while Macron continued his meeting with al-Sharaa at the presidential palace. That is an astonishing visual. Western diplomacy blessing a rebranded jihadist regime, bombs rocking Damascus, Iran burning again, Turkey being courted, and Israel surrounded by shifting alliances. This is Middle East Turmoil in every sense of the phrase – war, diplomacy, betrayal, reinvention, and prophetic foreshadowing all colliding at once. The world calls it stabilization, reconstruction, NATO strategy, and regional diplomacy. Now, the world may be confused watching all of this unfold, but the student of prophecy knows what’s going on. The nations are moving, the alliances are shifting, Damascus is shaking, Iran is raging, Turkey is rising, and Europe is inserting itself into the heart of the Middle East. Welcome to Day 2,307 of 15 Days to Flatten The Curve, and Day 130 of World War Trump in Iran. It’s a great day for an end times Podcast, so let’s get after it…TO THE FIGHT!!!

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

Study Helps And Links For Today’s Podcast

We Are Broadcasting Live Four Days A Week

The BIBLE BELIEVERS Sunday Service

Every Sunday morning, from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EST, we invite you to join us live and in-person at the Bible Believers Church here inside the Bible Believers Bookstore in Palatka where we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and preach a message from the pages of the King James Authorized Version Holy Bible. If you’ve been looking for a First Century house church, you’ve found it.

OUR MOST RECENT SUNDAY SERVICE VIDEO: The Last Man Standing

• The RIGHTLY DIVIDING Radio Bible Study

Every Sunday evening from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, we offer an in-depth rightly dividing and dispensationally correct rocket ride through the preserved word of God as found within the pages of the King James Holy Bible.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Our original Sunday Night Radio Bible Study, it’s from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, and we have praise, singing, testimony and of 90-minute King James Bible study. All our King James bible study programs are archived here.

• The NTEB PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST Hour

Every Monday Wednesday and Friday afternoons from Noon to 1:30 PM EST, we examine breaking news and current events in light of bible prophecy.

The Prophecy News Podcast: Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Noon EST, we review all the latest news and events related to bible prophecy, and examine what is happening in light of what is written. If you miss the live show, all of our Prophecy News Podcast programs are archived here.

Your Generous Donations Make These Live King James Radio Bible Studies & Prophecy News Podcasts Possible!

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

Listen to What Our Donation Angels Have to Say About the Ministry of Now The End Begins

“You are truly an end time ministry and I appreciate how our Precious Lord is using you to educate his very own flock. There is a lot of confusion , but your ministry is putting scripture in the right prospective. Thank-you so so much Geoffrey S Grider for standing firm and putting in a lot of hours of your time. God Bless You , also your Ministry and your family. IN JESUS MIGHT NAME.” T. Muto
“Jesus. I am now 64 years old and never in all the years I’ve been a Christian was I able to grow in the Lord as much as I have in the last past year. All because of our blessed brother’s work Geoffrey Grider who as the bravery of standing fast forward without fear of claiming the truth of God by the power of his love in Jesus Christ. May God bless you abundantly to the end my dear brother… ROMANS: 8: 36,37,38” Mireille Anderson
“I met you at the car dealership earlier this year. We spoke briefly, then you handed me a card and told me to check out the website. You left. A few minutes later, you returned to tell me not to forget to look up the website. I told you…” I already did. I already subscribed.” In that short time we spoke, I experienced from you…a total stranger…peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, compassion, and love. I am convinced that God sent you to share the Good News that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. For that, and for the work you are doing for the Kingdom of God, I say…Thank you and God Bless You.” Sonia Merced
“I really enjoy the emails and Bible studies! I haven’t found a church and enjoy your services very much! Be blessed brother!” Marcia Mann
“You and your organization are on the front lines in the Battle For Truth…. current events, end times, and trying to awaken a sleeping Laodicean Church. Thank you brother for fighting for us and all your teaching and insight God bless…” Daniel Cartrette
I just want to thank you for the teachings you give every Sunday night on radio. You are such a blessing to me. I absolutely love your way of teaching the scriptures. I don’t have a church where I can have fellowship and teaching, so you have been my teacher for many months now. Thanks God you are there for all of us who have no church to go to. I pray that the Lord will bless you abundantly in your ministry, and your loved ones too. You are such a blessing to me, and many others, in these last days before the rapture. Thank you so much Geoffrey, from the bottom of my heart. May the Lord keep you, until He comes back for us. You are in my prayers.” Donald Godin
“Thank you for the work you are doing brother. Your page and your testimony were a blessing to me this morning as I came across it for the first time. Thank you for the reality of your testimony and what God has done for you in introducing you to Jesus our Lord. God has brought me, in salvation, to Himself as well, through His love and mercy and grace in salvation. How can we praise Him enough? How can we not share this good news!? I pray this day for God’s blessing on your ministry that He may save many souls through the work He has called you to. Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)” Mark and Melissa
“Love the Sunday night bible study. I want to support someone who has the passion for the lost like Geoffrey does and rightly divides the word of God. God bless you.” Teresa Carey
“I give because not many news outlets are brave enough or Godly enough to tell these stories from a Christian’s point of view. I see stories here that will not be seen anywhere else.” William Grayshaw
“It’s hard to find solid biblical teaching in America these days. It’s a blessing to be able to take part in a ministry financially without being concerned about false teaching. All glory to God! God bless!” Maximilian Swan
“I donate because you are reporting the truth about the increasing wickedness of our time, as God’s word foretold. In so doing we are reminded to “Keep looking up” as we wait in joyful hope for the Lord’s coming, Maranatha! ” Anthony Sloane
“Geoffrey has the best End Times News out there. I have been receiving his emails for years now and always enjoy his Sunday night messages although I don’t always think exactly as he thinks. We are all in this “boat of life” together and as I come to the end of my life’s journey here, I am more aware of Jesus’s call for us to be one as He and the Father are One.” Deborah Cleaveland

STREET-TESTED NTEB GOSPEL TRACTS:

This is the official gospel tract of NTEB, used here on the streets of Saint Augustine and sent around the world as they are purchased through our website. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the work of Now The End Begins by purchasing a box of these full-color, high-quality gospel tracts. Thank you in advance!