Drugs and cheating in USAF ICBM force (merged)
 

34 ICBM Launch Officers Implicated in Cheating Probe

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2014 – Thirty-four intercontinental ballistic missile launch officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., have been implicated in cheating on the ICBM launch officer proficiency test, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said today.
The revelations emerged during an investigation into alleged illegal drug possession, James said. The officers range in rank from second lieutenants to captains, and the alleged cheating occurred in the August and September timeframe.
James and Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Air Force chief of staff, clearly were disturbed by the allegation as they briefed Pentagon reporters on the matter, but said they are confident the nuclear mission itself was not compromised by the incident.
“This was a failure of some of our airmen. It was not a failure of the nuclear mission,” James said.
Welsh reiterated that confidence. The nuclear mission requires airmen to meet the highest of standards, the general said, and most of the missileers do. “There’s absolutely no excuse for the breach of integrity,” he said.
Air Force Office of Special Investigations officials were examining allegations of illegal drug possession when evidence surfaced that a missile launch officer at the 341st Missile Wing electronically shared the answers to monthly missile launch officer proficiency tests with 16 other officers. Air Force officials subsequently approached the entire missile crew force at Malmstrom, and 17 other officers admitted to at least being aware of material that had been shared.
“We don't yet know how or if each of those officers used that material, but we do know that none of them reported the incident to their leadership,” Welsh said.
“Cheating or tolerating others who cheat runs counter to everything we believe in as a service,” the general added. “People at every level will be held accountable if and where appropriate.”
All 34 officers have been decertified and restricted from missile crew duty. The Air Force has suspended their security clearances, and the investigation continues. Two of the officers involved in the cheating scandal also are implicated in the illegal drug possession case.
“Every missile crew member in our other two missile wings will be questioned about involvement in or knowledge of sharing test material,” Welsh said.
James ordered that all the members of the ICBM force be retested by close of business tomorrow.
“As of an hour ago, 100 people had completed that test -- that's about 20 percent of our missile crew force. Ninety-seven percent of them passed the test, and there were three failures,” Welsh said. “That 97 percent pass rate matches our historical averages.”
Air Force Global Strike Command will conduct a limited nuclear surety inspection focused on operation crew procedures in the near future. James and Welsh will visit all missile bases next week to ensure that airmen have no question about their expectations.
Welsh called the cheating “a violation of that first core principle of ‘integrity first.’”
“Our actions as we move forward will be about making sure that every member of our Air Force understands that we will not accept or allow that type of behavior, that there is nothing more important to the nation than the integrity and the trustworthiness of the people who defend it and that anyone who doesn't understand that should find another line of work,” he added.

Defense.gov News Article: 34 ICBM Launch Officers Implicated in Cheating Probe

Join the Club
 

Yes Sir.
In the Navy we have the Tulip Club.
Understand that old Yeltsin is President of this anebriated club,,.?
The Football Club.!

Officer integrity - or not
 

Next time you feel like bemoaning the integrity and professionalism of the RAF's finest, you might want to consider these shining examples of the officer creed.

Dozens of US nuclear missile officers caught up in drug and cheating scandals | World news | theguardian.com

What started out as a drug-use investigation for nuclear launch missile officers uncovered a whole slew of people cheating on their monthly proficiency tests (mainly by texting the answers to others). The initial premise that these guys control the nukes but need some recreational drug use is interesting enough, I suppose beyond that point cheating on a proficiency test is small potatoes.

Took cooperate and graduate a bit too far.

They do seem to have a bit of an ongoing problem.

It is symptomatic of the general decline in American morality. This would have been unthinkable in the commissioned ranks 50 years ago.

USAF Academy Honor Code
 

Brings about a new meaning when the message comes down from on high to "Smoke em"

Well Hey.....its not like they have ever had to fire one off in anger or anything.....gosh, really, chill out Dude!:uhoh:

Joke re drugs and cheating:
It is a "FAILSAFE" situation.
They may be stoned on drugs but fortunately they are too stupid to be able to launch one!

..OK, I will be frank, and controversial...who has NOT EVER seen an exam prior to it to have been given to you?. Who has not shared one....even a 'little' one?....:(

Studying past papers, tutors predicting which questions are liable to appear are perfectly common & acceptable - nicking / sharing the current one is off limits.

But the comment about decline in morality (& decency) is something I concur on.

Agree :D

Remember years ago when a young un doing mocks for the state exams..........seems a school a few miles away were using same Maths paper and doing mocks a week earlier. Lots of classmates got a hold of it and knew answers in advance. I refused it, asked why I said, "Exam is to show me how much I don't know before the real exam", he laughed it off and said but i will get better marks than you, was true he did in the mock exams. However months later in real exams there was a significant difference between us and I knew where I was weak and studied it.

Littlies are been brought up to be honest, I said to eldest that being honest means you can look at yourself in mirror and know its you, rather than looking at yourself and wishing.

Whatever happened to the first rule of combat? "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying hard enough." :rolleyes:

Really?!

Or perhaps the ease of such news getting out today is more likely the culprit.

Failures of leadership. Hardly a new wrinkle...

Brick,

Snap.....I'm down with you 100%

There are no new mistakes, just new people to make them.

You could probably find a raft of offences from 50 years ago.....not acceptable today, that would have been classed as "character" back then.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. There is no doubt that a breakdown in accepted codes of morality has taken place in the western world. Things are tolerated today that were not many years ago. That does not mean they did not happen - they most certainly happened less than they do today. Regarding the propensity of officers to lie, steal or cheat - that has always been there, but occurrences of it were punished very severely. Now it is widespread and often ignored. It is difficult to command respect at the bottom of the food chain when you have a Commander-in-Chief having oral sex with a 21 year-old intern in the Oval Office and his entire party saying it is not a resigning matter. As we now know, that was apparently not having 'sexual relations' with someone - how foolish that anyone could have thought so. Given the embarrassing situation President Hollande currently finds himself in France, this is clearly not just an American problem. The difference is that America has made a moral stand on what is expected among its officers (one that I commend), but that is difficult to uphold given that it is tolerated at the highest level. No one benefits from a culture of 'anything goes', but many people take the view that the rules do not apply to them. This story is not good news for anyone in the US military, but there you have it.

With regard to "cheating", I believe that many universitys in the UK now use software programs to check their students work for plagiarism, as direct lifting of someone else's work from the internet has become widespread...

You can also "buy" standard essays on line, for submission as your own work! :(

You're right, Biggus, we do. And you would be surprised how many cases we pull up. And a nasty number from the Forces.

I'd just like to say that I am appalled.

I have certainly not seen any cheating throughout my entire military with the RAF,RN RM Army and foreign forces and civil career training at airlines and corporate aviation every single course I have ever done.

If there had been a certain amount of cheating on every course I have ever done I would have flagged it up by now, wouldn't I....?

If there was that level of cheating, surely it would start to suggest that it was not only condoned, but that it was accepted to be essential in some cases.

I certainly never heard our SDO at Dartmouth tell us in no uncertain terms that "nobody was to get caught cheating again!"

....and surely all the other posters on here would have also seen such cheating and wouldn't be on here posting in a holier than thou manner making themselves look silly.....