WASHINGTON _ In an extraordinary indication of concern about the handling of the nation's nuclear arsenal, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Thursday forced the top civilian and military leaders of the Air Force to resign and appointed a former secretary of defense to devise new ways to better guard nuclear weapons.

By Mladen Rudman, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach Dec. 29--EGLIN AFB -- Too much was at stake -- national security, hefty defense contracts, jobs, mortgages, comfortable lives -- for what started as hushed talk to stay that way.

By Mladen Rudman, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach Nov. 30--EGLIN AFB -- Moving the 46th Test Wing to California has been tabled for the moment, according to the Air Force's top officer. Chief of Staff Gen. T.