MINOT (AP) - The new commander of Minot Air Force Base says airmen there have something to prove, and a reputation to reclaim.

"We've got to prove first of all that we are capable, and I believe we are," Col. Joel Westa said as he officially took command of the base this week. "Once we do that then I want to get back to business as usual as much as possible."

Westa's appointment, announced in October, came in the wake of a cross-country flight of a nuclear-armed B-52 bomber from the base to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana in late August.

The military, after a six-week investigation, called the flight an "unacceptable mistake." The Minot commander at the time, Col. Bruce Emig, was relieved of command.

Westa also is the commander of the 5th Bomb Wing at the base. He came to Minot from Guam, where he was vice commander of the 36th Wing at Andersen Air Force Base.

Some 65 airmen at Minot have been disciplined and barred from handling nuclear weapons, according to the military. Westa said they will be recertified as soon as possible.

"I haven't met anybody here that doesn't want to go out and show that they can do their mission," Westa said. "I've seen a great team ready to move forward and prove themselves.

"This wing has always been the premier wing, especially the bomb wing, in the Air Force," he said. "I think it still is, and my goal is to get that attitude back and that reputation."

Military officials will be visiting the base over the coming months to look at procedures, Westa said.

He said the main goal is to get "as many of the folks that were decertified by the investigation, recertified, so that we can accomplish our mission. I'm still waiting to see how this is all going to fall out, but that is the ultimate goal."

In the meantime, some airmen are getting ready for deployments.

"The conventional mission that we have remains, and those aircraft will depart and will maintain their deployment schedule," Westa said. "It may shift based on the inspection schedule … but those aircraft right now are planning on leaving and going into the Pacific, back to where I came from at Andersen."