by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – The number of Air Force nuclear missile launch officers implicated in a cheating scandal widened Tuesday from 34 to 70. The Air Force is now investigating this unprecedented exam cheating scandal involving officers of captain rank.
Air Force leaders indicated that they stumbled on to the cheating at the Global Strike Command at Malmstrom Air Force base in Montana while investigating a separate drug-abuse scandal that spanned six different Air Force bases. At least 34 of the nuclear launch officers implicated in this scandal have been stripped of their certification while three others were implicated in the drug-abuse scandal.
The Malmstrom base houses and maintains 150 Minutemen 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles or one third of the nation’s ICBM arsenal. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh indicated that the remaining personnel on staff at Malmstrom were sufficient to maintain the nuclear nation’s arsenal.
Considered the largest breach of integrity in the nuclear force, Air Force leadership determined that some staffers from the 341st Missile Wing texted answers to routine tests to others while others knew but failed to report the news. Ultimately, 16 officers were found to have actually cheated on the exams.
“This is absolutely unacceptable behavior and it is completely contrary to our core values in the Air Force and as everybody here knows, the No. 1 core value for us is integrity,” said Deborah Lee James, Secretary of the Air Force.
The exam questions were designed to test launch officers’ proficiencies in “emergency war orders,” including receiving orders through the chain of command to fire a missile.
This scandal is the latest in a line for the Air Force, stretching back to October of last year when the two star general in charge of the ICBM arsenal, Michael Carey, was fired for drinking binge and other embarrassing behavior during a trip to Moscow.
For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Air Force nuclear cheating scandal widens – 28 January 2014
BBC News – Number of US nuclear ‘cheats’ doubles – officials – 28 January 2014
Fox News – Air Force: 34 nuclear missile officers implicated in cheating scandal – 16 January 2014
CNN – Air Force nuke officers caught up in big cheating scandal – 15 January 2014
The Washington Post – Air Force investigates dozens accused of cheating on nuclear proficiency exams – 15 January 2014
