Positive policy comes from positive interactions. This is especially true of the military and its leaders. It's heartening to see that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is taking this truth to heart with the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Today, he begins a trip that will swing him through the brain and muscle of America's nuclear deterrent. His visits to the Sandia National Laboratories, in Albuquerque, where we are rebuilding our nuclear warheads, and F.E. Warren Air Force Base, in Cheyenne, Wyo., where we deploy some of them, begin a welcome display of leadership to the men and women in the nuclear trenches. But visiting the troops isn't enough. Our nuclear forces are a shadowy group. Their mission successes are taken for granted. And, regrettably, when they occasionally fall short of their perfectionist standards, those shortcomings can be very much visible. Whether they sit in underground missile silos, turn wrenches on bombers or work in the reactor of a deployed submarine, America's nuclear warriors are quiet guardians. They do not expect, nor receive, praise for their unique duty, even though that duty is the very centerpiece of U.S. national security. For sixty years, Americans, and their allies, have unknowingly reaped the fruits of the peace and security those warriors provide. Sadly, some Americans enjoy watching them stumble.

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