92 Officers in Nuclear Scandal: US Airmen Cheated on Tests Because of Pressure to 'Get 100 Percent'
92 officers in nuclear arsenal positions have been involved in cheating scandal, according to reports. U.S. Air Force members are required to score nearly perfect on exams in order to advance or continue servicing and protecting land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.
The 92 officers in the nuclear cheating scandal were found at the Malmstrom Air Force base in Montana by Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, who visited the base as part of an investigation into the cheating. Initially, investigators stumbled upon the cheating during a probe into drug use by nuclear operators.
"As the investigation has moved forward, we can now report there is a total of 92 crew members that have been identified as having some level of involvement," James told reporters at a press conference Thursday. "That means either participating in the cheating or knowing something about it and not standing up and reporting it."
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Just two weeks ago only 34 airmen had been caught in the cheating scandal, The Washington Post reported.
Airmen are mainly promoted through constant testing on rigorous exams, often where "getting 90 or 95 percent was considered a failure in their eyes." James said that the "undue stress and fear" caused by the system of promotion based solely on tests is a problem.
"I heard repeatedly that the system can be very punitive come down very hard in the case of even small, minor issues that crop up," James, who was sworn in as Air Force Secretary last week, explained. "I believe that a very terrible irony in this whole situation is that these missileers didn't cheat to pass, they cheated because they felt driven to get 100 percent."
The investigation had uncovered that one officer had the answers on his cell phone, which was then given to others taking the tests. The scandal, though, is not evidence of a "failure of the mission," James said— the 150 Minuteman III nuclear missiles are still safe.
The 92 officers caught cheating were decertified, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has now ordered a review of the nuclear force.
