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U.S. Air Force fires nine officers following nuclear test cheating probe U.S. Air Force fires nine officers following nuclear test cheating probe
(about 4 hours later)
The U.S. Air Force announced Thursday that it has fired nine mid-level officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., assigned to safeguard the nation’s nuclear arsenal following a wide-ranging probe into a test cheating scandal that implicated scores of airmen. The Air Force announced Thursday that it has relieved nine mid-level commanders assigned to safeguard the nation’s nuclear arsenal following a wide-ranging probe into a test cheating scandal that implicated scores of airmen.
The officers were fired from their nuclear command jobs, but they are expected to continue to serve in other jobs. The dismissed officers, most of whom were colonels and lieutenant colonels, were not found to have facilitated or condoned the cheating at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. But they were held accountable for creating a culture that enabled it, officials said.
Dozens of junior officials will be disciplined as part of the military’s response to a scandal that has raised questions about one of the most sensitive but invisible missions in the military. The scandal, which came to light after a probe into suspected drug use among missileers at Malmstrom, has been among the most embarrassing ethical lapses the Pentagon has had to contend with in recent months. The military also faced questions about its ability to prosecute sexual assault cases and is investigating a similar cheating scandal by sailors.
“We do have some systemic issues in our missile community,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told reporters Thursday afternoon at the Pentagon. “We do have some systemic issues in our missile community,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told reporters Thursday afternoon at the Pentagon. She called the cheating at Malmstrom a “major failure in integrity.”
Officials said Thursday that their investigation, which was sparked by suspected drug use by personnel handling intercontinental missiles, revealed that officers have been cheating as far back as November 2011. Missileers allegedly shared answers to job proficiency test answers by text message and by exchanging photographs of tests, officials said. Dozens of junior officers will face a range of disciplinary sanctions from letters of reprimand to court martial, officials said.
Investigators found that many airmen were sharing test questions and answers by text messages. In at least one case, officials said, classified material was exchanged in that manner.
Air Force officials said the cheating on job proficiency tests became routine among airmen who described themselves as being demoralized. Many saw perfect scores as their only chance for promotion and career advancement.
“You’re competing for promotion against a pilot who can say he flew this many hours,” said Adam B. Lowther, a professor at the Air Force Research Institute who authored a report on the scandal. “This leaves missileers with the perception that they are not fit for promotion.”
Lowther and senior officials said the cheating should not call into question the readiness of the team at Malmstrom, which oversees intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“While cheating was bad, cheating in the classroom was never going to put the actual weapons at risk,” Lowther said, arguing that problems at the base reflected an unreasonable drive for perfection rather than an ill-trained force.
“Crew members felt pressure to score 100 percent on each and every test,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, the commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command said Thursday. “They felt compelled to cheat to get a perfect score.”
Officials called the removal of the nine commanders from an Air Force wing unprecedented. Most are likely to be transferred to less-desirable staff jobs and are unlikely to be considered for promotion, because being removed from command generally does irreparable damage to a military career.
Col. Robert Stanley, the commander of the 341st Missile Wing, the unit where the cheating took place, resigned from his position Thursday and will retire.
Jones said the Air Force intends to invest heavily in nuclear bases around the country in an effort to improve morale and working conditions. She also said the service will do more to instill the importance of integrity at every stage of an airman’s career.
Air Force officials said they had found no evidence that cheating on tests was pervasive at other nuclear bases.
“We talked to missile crews and talked to the instructors and leaders,” Lowther said. “What we couldn’t say was: there was cheating at Malmstrom so we will confiscate everyone’s cell phone. We can follow the evidence, but the evidence never said there was cheating anywhere else.”