Officers Exam Cheating Scandal: 34 Officers In Charge Of Nuclear Missiles Implicated

An officers exam cheating scandal has rocked the US military after 34 officers in charge of launching nuclear missiles were caught cheating on a proficiency exam.

The exams in question were administered monthly and tested proficiency on knowledge of how to operate warheads.

According to reports from Air Force officials, cheating on the test was rampant and other officers who knew about the cheating did not come forward.

“There was cheating that took place with respect to this particular test,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told a news conference. “Some officers did it. Others apparently knew about it, and it appears that they did nothing, or at least not enough, to stop it or to report it.”

Air Force officials stressed that the nuclear warheads have remained safe and were not in jeopardy because of the cheating scandal.

“This is not about the compromise of nuclear weapons,” said Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, the Air Force chief of staff, who said the scandal was “compromise of the integrity of some of our airmen” and that the Air Force “will not accept or allow that type of behavior.”

The officers exam cheating scandal is said to be the largest scale cheating incident to ever hit the nuclear force, as it included close to 20 percent of the 190-officer launch corps. It comes amid other scandals involving the Air Force, including a revelation last year that 17 officers assigned to watch over nuclear-topped Minuteman missiles were removed for safety violations and attitude problems.

In another incident, officers in charge of nuclear launch authority were found to be napping with the blast door open.

There have also been criminal investigations about alleged illicit drug use by officers at the same base. Two of the people implicated in the officers exam cheating scandal are also part of the separate drug investigation, Air Force officials said.