minuteman
米空軍兵が，核ミサイルに誤って一部を損傷させていたことが判明しました。核ミサイルの名前は"minuteman Ⅲ"であり，2014年に事故を起こしておりました。当事者の空軍兵はこの任務から解任されております。なお，損傷による外部への影響は確認されておりません。
核ミサイルの名前に用いられている"minuteman"の意味を調べました。『Wisdom英和辞典第三版』（三省堂）には「（独立戦争時の）緊急召集兵」という意味がありました。Oxford Dictionariesには"A member of a class of militiamen of the American revolutionary period who volunteered to be ready for service at a minute’s notice"と定義されております。UShistory.org（http://www.ushistory.org/people/minutemen.htm）によると"minuteman"は，独立戦争以前にも活躍していたことが記されております（Ume）。
US nuclear missile damaged in silo by airmen in 2014
It says the incident happened on 17 May that year, but caused no injuries and did not pose any risk to public safety.
The Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was removed from the silo which was operated by the 90th Missile Wing in remote area of north-eastern Colorado.
The air force gave no further details, saying the report was classified.
In a brief summary, it said the missile "became non-operational" during a diagnostic test on 16 May 2014, according to the Associated Press news agency.
The next morning a "mishap crew" chief "did not correctly adhere to technical guidance'' during troubleshooting efforts, "subsequently damaging the missile".
The team chief and two of his airmen - who were not named - were removed from duty after the incident, the summary adds.
All three later returned to work after being retrained.
