Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James announced on Jan. 15 that 34 intercontinental ballistic missile launch officers have been implicated in cheating on the ICBM launch officer proficiency test. The officers — ranking from second lieutenants to captains — participated in a cheating regime that occurred at the Malmstrom Air Force base in Montana from August to September of last year.
This scandal — which involved a single officer electronically sharing the answers with 16 other officers, with 17 additional officers being aware of the cheating — emerged during an investigation into alleged drug possession.
The drug use investigation is an operation under the Air Force Office of Special investigations looking at the alleged use of synthetic marijuana — also known as Spice — and Ecstasy by nine lieutenants and one captain in six different bases in the U.S. and U.K.; including two launch officers at Malmstrom. All of this has raised uncomfortable questions about the health and integrity of the nation’s nuclear shield.
“This was a failure of some of our airmen,” James said. “It was not a failure of the nuclear mission.”
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III, echoed the secretary’s assertion at the Pentagon press hearing.
“There’s absolutely no excuse for the breach of integrity,” the general offered, stating that the nuclear mission requires the highest in standards and integrity. “Cheating or tolerating others who cheat runs counter to everything we believe in as a service. People at every level will be held accountable if and where appropriate.”
A crumbling shield
This round of cheating is but the latest of problems that have plagued the nuclear force. Prior to the cheating scandal, a long series of events have unfolded to question the security of the Air Force’s management of the nuclear arsenal, including 17 Minot Air Force base officers being found to be temporarily unfit for duty due to safety violations and being ordered to remedial training; in addition to Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, the commander of the Air Force’s ICBM program, being fired in October after reports of binge drinking and lewd behavior during a trip to Moscow.
Also, on at least two separate occasions, officers left blast doors to their underground command posts open as they slept. This would have allowed anyone from the outside access to the missile’s launch computers.
It is largely felt that this situation has ballooned due to morale issues. Launch teams are under immense pressure on a daily basis — not only from the Pentagon and Washington — but from within their own units, as commanders regularly compete for bragging rights. This unrelenting demand for perfection coupled with shifting mission priorities shows the national nuclear defense growing increasingly less important in the military’s portfolio and have created a situation in which a significant number of nuclear missile force members reported feeling “burnout” and job stress, according to an unpublished RAND report obtained by the Associated Press.
An unappreciated job
For the most part, missile combat crew-members have — arguably — the most stressful job in the Air Force. For 24-hour shifts, two-member teams man a subterranean launch bunker — monitoring missile conditions in order to maintain an “all-ready” status, securing the bunker from unauthorized access and ensuring that someone is ready at all times in the eventuality the White House orders a missile launch.
While it is not necessary that both team members monitor the computers throughout the entire 24-hour shift — which could stretch to 36 with briefings and additional duties — one must always be at the monitoring console. The other can rest or attend to other tasks. With no connections to the outside world — besides telephones — the notion of being 60 to 100 feet below the ground in a hardened metal shell while spending long hours away from their families gives missile crew-members a heavy mental burden to overcome.
In a pep speech to the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming — which operates a third of the nation’s ICBM inventory — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel emphasized the high importance the nation places on its nuclear defense operators.
“You are doing something of great importance to the world,” Hagel told the group. “You have chosen a profession where there is no room for error — none.
“Just as everything you do here and each of you, it was so impressive to see what’s going on with — with no fanfare, with no TV cameras, with no recognition, but not just the professionalism, but the attitude and the commitment that is pretty rare. You just — you just don’t find that very often anywhere.”
Hagel made these comments moments after learning of the drug probe and arrest of the Malmstrom officers. For the past four years, F.E. Warren has had a court martial rate higher than the average for the Air Force as a whole. In 2013, the base saw 13 court martials, with “use of controlled substances” being the primary charge.
Changing times
As the nation continues under sequestration, the question of the future of the ICBM fleet — which has not been updated since the 1970s — remains a pertinent one. Recent criticism has fallen upon the administration in regards to if the nation can afford the audacious plan to bring up to date the nation’s nuclear triad — its ballistic missile submarine fleet, its heavy bombers and the ICBMs — under sequestration limits.
While the Pentagon is moving forward toward finding a replacement to the 44-year old Minuteman 3 — the nation’s primary ICBM — some have argued that the $24 billion needed to update the arsenal can be better spent elsewhere.
While ballistic submarines and bombers have non-nuclear uses, a missile launch team is mission-limited. As questions are pressed on points about the stability of the ICBM force, such as how 18 percent of a base’s launch officers can be involved in a single cheating exercise, the question of if the ICBM force is even needed will become increasingly more relevant.
However, the situation with the nuclear shield may reflect a larger issue with the military. Suicide among active military personnel and veterans remain at high rates and are on the rise. Per a Veterans Affair study, roughly 22 veterans are thought to have killed themselves every day. At least 20 percent of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are thought to be depressed or have post-traumatic stress disorder. More than half of this population will never seek treatment.
As the mission of the military changes, it is essential that accommodations are made to help the personnel change, as well. While having the best and most up-to-date equipment is a nice talking point, it is ultimately meaningless without trained and competent personnel to use it. The best army is not defined by the one with the most guns; it’s determined by the one with the most determined soldiers.
It may be time that this nation considers the soldier first.