The sky above Los Alamos National Laboratory is a restricted no-fly zone, but on January 11, 2022, an exception was made for two Osprey aircraft, which flew in from Albuquerque and landed in the center of the Lab’s athletic track. The planes delivered Admiral Charles Richard, commander of United States Strategic Command (aka USSTRATCOM, a Department of Defense combatant command that plans and executes military missions involving nuclear weapons—many of which are designed and maintained by Los Alamos).
Over the course of the afternoon, Admiral Richard met with Laboratory leadership to discuss ways to advance the country’s nuclear deterrence objectives. He also toured the Los Alamos Plutonium Facility, where he learned more about how the plutonium cores for nuclear weapons are made. ★