Led by former defense secretary James Schlesinger, the task force found "an unambiguous, dramatic and unacceptable decline in the air force's commitment to perform the nuclear mission and, until very recently, little has been done to reverse it."

The outside panel conducted the review following two embarrassing mishaps: the mistaken shipment of nuclear weapons components to Taiwan in 2006 and the inadvertent transfer of nuclear armed cruise missiles on the wing of a B-52 bomber in 2007.

Schlesinger said those incidents had shaken the confidence of US allies in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand that depend on the US nuclear umbrella, raising the risk that countries will seek their own nuclear weapons.

"Some have expressed increasing misgivings about whether or not they feel comfortable under the umbrella, and part of the task of the air force and of the Department of Defense will be to resuscitate their confidence," he said.

The panel recommended that the air force put all its nuclear capable forces -- strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles -- under a newly designated Air Force Strategic Command.

Strategic bombers currently are under the air force's Air Combat Command, which is responsible for all the service's US-based combat aircraft, while the missile force falls under the Air Force Space Command.

Combining those forces would involve moving less than 2,000 people and would cost 1.5 billion dollars in fiscal year 2010, Schlessinger said.

The panel also proposed putting all nuclear bombers under a single numbered air force whose only responsibility would be the nuclear mission.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he was concerned about that the lack of unity of command had contributed to the recent failings, and task force "makes a strong case in this respect for a new command."

"But the Air Force will be taking a look at that," he said.

Gates, who fired the air force's top civilian and military chiefs because of the nuclear mishaps, said the air force had begun to take steps "to provide the kind of confidence that we expect in terms of the handling of nuclear weapons and nuclear-related materials.

"I won't be completely assured until all of the corrective measures have been taken," he said.

Schlesinger said air force leaders were "saying the right things. The real question is whether they follow through on what they have said."

The review found that the nuclear mission had slipped in importance when those forces were put under commands with broader responsibilities for conventional forces.

The report said there had been a gradual decline in nuclear expertise, and a dramatic weakening in stewardship and focus on "policies, procedures, munitions handling processes, security, and operational exercise of nuclear weapons."

"As a result, the readiness of forces assigned the nuclear mission has seriously eroded," the panel's report said.

Schlesinger said the air force had underfunded the nuclear mission, which had resulted in a shrinking of billets and a failure to fill existing billets.

"There is a shortage of maintenance people, there is a shortage of those who supervise the nuclear establishment and there has been a very noticeable lack of nuclear expertise," he said.

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