WASHINGTON — The Air Force is investigating an unprecedented exam-cheating scandal involving dozens of officers responsible for launching nuclear weapons, the latest in a series of embarrassments for the military’s nuclear forces.
Air Force leaders said they stumbled upon the cheating on nuclear proficiency exams while investigating a separate drug-abuse scandal at six bases. The disclosures come less than a month after the Air Force revealed that a two-star general in charge of nuclear missiles went on a drinking binge and fraternized with suspicious foreign women during an official visit to Moscow last summer.
Despite those problems, the Air Force’s top general and civilian leader sought to reassure the public Wednesday about the security and reliability of their land-based arsenal of 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“The nuclear missile force remains ready and able to accomplish its mission,” said Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, at the Pentagon. “This is not about the compromise of nuclear weapons. It’s about compromise of the integrity of some of our airmen.”
Welsh and Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said 34 launch officers assigned to a nuclear-missile wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana were either caught with purloined answers to a monthly proficiency test or were aware of the cheating and did not report it. The officers — all are lieutenants or captains — have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
Air Force officials said two of the officers suspected of cheating on the exam are also under scrutiny for illegal drug use, along with a third nuclear-launch officer at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. The Air Force has revealed little about the nature of the alleged drug ring, which includes other officers at other bases with no connection to nuclear arms.
Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., urged Air Force leaders to take swift and decisive action to ensure the integrity of the nuclear mission.
“There simply is no room in our Air Force, and certainly in our nuclear enterprise, for this type of misconduct,” said Udall, chairman of the Senate Strategic Forces Subcommittee.
Welsh and James said they learned of the cheating problems last weekend. They said they immediately ordered all 600 Air Force officers who work in missile crews to be retested on the proficiency exam by Thursday. So far, 97 percent of those who have taken the test again have passed, a normal rate, Welsh said.
“The operational capability to conduct the mission is not impacted at this point in time,” Welsh said. “The integrity issue, clearly, has got to be a concern.”
Air Force leaders said they notified Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel of the cheating scandal Wednesday morning. Hagel “was deeply troubled to learn of these allegations, and he strongly supports the aggressive steps the Air Force is taking in response to them,” said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, in a statement.
The 600 missile-launch officers are assigned to three Air Force wings at Malmstrom, Warren and Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. The Air Force maintains about 450 Minuteman III missiles at the three bases.
Despite the reassurances from Welsh and James, the Air Force has been dogged by persistent concerns about its management of nuclear forces.
In August, the Air Force relieved a colonel in charge of a nuclear-weapons unit at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, citing a “loss of confidence” in his leadership.
In June, a commander in charge of training missile crews at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota was fired after an unusually large number of launch operators performed poorly on tests.
In 2008, Robert Gates, then the secretary of defense, fired the Air Force’s top general and civilian leader after a series of nuclear gaffes occurred on their watch, including an incident in which a B-52 bomber crew flew across the country without realizing that six cruise missiles on board had been armed with nuclear warheads.
More recently, personal misconduct among officers has emerged as a problem.
