Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana is undergoing a scandal right now with their nuclear program. 34 of their nuclear officers have been implicated in a scandal involving cheating on their competency tests.
Air Force top leaders stated Wednesday that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations found a nuclear missile officer with the 341st Missile Wing allegedly
texted the answers for a “monthly missile launch officer test” to 16 other missile officers. 17 other officers admitted to knowing of the cheating, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh and Air Force Secretary Lee James at a Pentagon briefing. The investigation originally started as a narcotics possession investigation, but the missile test answers were found being texted to colleagues.
Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said, “ This is not about the compromise of nuclear weapons, it’s about the compromise of some of our airmen.” The investigation included 34 of the 190 missile officers at the Malmstrom Air Force base. The test that was being cheated on was the August/September test, and all the nuclear officers on staff will be retested by close of business Thursday.
The 34 officers will be stripped of the certification and security clearances for cheating on their monthly nuclear proficiency test. All officers involved in the narcotic scandal and test cheating scandal are low-ranking officers, 2nd lieutenants through captain.
