WASHINGTON – In a stunning setback for a nuclear missile force already beset by missteps and leadership lapses, the Air Force disclosed on Wednesday that 34 officers entrusted with the world’s deadliest weapons have been removed from launch duty for allegedly cheating – or tolerating cheating by others – on routine proficiency tests.
Welsh said he knew of no bigger ICBM cheating scandal or launch officer decertification in the history of the missile force, which began operating in 1959. Last spring the Air Force decertified 17 launch officers at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., for a combination of poor performance and bad attitudes; at the time the Air Force said it was the largest-ever one-time sidelining of launch officers.
The Air Force operates Minuteman 3 missiles at two others bases: F.E. Warren in Wyoming and Minot in North Dakota.
The Malmstrom unit failed a nuclear safety and security inspection in August.
HT-ETNW wrote:This is really worrysome !
-HT
This was sent to me by my Navy Capt Brother as a commentary of what is really happening at the grass routes levels of the active forces. I ran into a Nelllis red flag guy at the local sandwich shop this week he told me that anyone who is saying he is a career air force pilot is lying until he can get his separation papers in as it makes squadron life easier. He thinks 80% are on the way out the door and when some one shows up with the get out paperwork completed the CO is very surprised and that is in the air force where life is cushy easy. He also said that when zoomies come out to visit and try to figure out a career path that he tells them to take the shortest commitment they can find and get out. He told the real AF screw job is being sent to fly Drones, "Why you can't even log the time to head for the airlines," he said the flying clubs are busy with time building.
When everyone is in the guard and the airlines an the next ground war starts who will fly the CRAF missions to get the pilots to the front. If the ANG pilots are called up who will be left for crew sked to screw.. Duh easy answer I just was not deep thinking. They will change the FARS to allow 140 hours per month for those still remaining available to crew sked..
I am reminded of what an old American Airlines Capt told me when I asked him how he came to AA. He said his commanding officer sent him to LGA to interview to get the goods on just why everyone was quitting the squadron, He came back to the CO with his report, his resignation and his acceptance training letter to AAL.
Begs the question does this problem start at the very top or are there to many commanders and too broad a command structure occupied by people who have never been on the front lines, flying or fighting... I saw an article that said there is 1 admiral for every ship in the Navy. As Snoopy used to say, DUH we are DOOMED..
I drink several times/month with the A-10 troops at XXXXX as part of a long-renegade drinking club. They are a totally demoralized group. Fleeing in droves to the airlines and then, hopefully, to the airlines, but first... they want out of the USAF!!
Their tales of abuse will water your eyes.
The stupidity of the brass is almost incomprehensible. Very sad indeed.
And the treatment of the A-10 community is, in a world, awful.
They bought NEW wings for the 300 or so Hogs to be kept in the force, then want to rush them into the ANG/reserves inventory so they can spend the bucks on the F-35.
Btw, for the good of the nation I sincerely hope the F-35 works. If not, we're as screwed as the USN was when they had to CNX the long lamented A-12, i.e., they will have zero fighters!
The guys aren't flying... they're being "managed" to death... eaten alive by the nits, in fact... and have no where to go but the F-35... assuming it works? Did I mention, they're not flying much... if at all?
The force is in dire straits.
I noticed no competency problems at my airline as females slowly crept their way in to the cockpit (er, "flight deck"), although there was the expected chauvinistic backlash from the minority of naturally nasty bozos. What's disturbing these days with the military is the "vastly increased number of sexual assaults reported", the loud demands from Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein and the rest of the fems that each accusation result in severe prosecution without resort to further evidence, the military's wholesale acquiescence to such lawlessness, the fems demand that sexual cases be removed from the authority of the chain of command (and be replaced with ??!!), the ruination of many careers by the unsubstantiated accusations, and the complete lack of reported prosecutions of false accusations. (See the popular press for occasional reports, and the AF Times for more reports every week).
On active duty I saw a version of this at work, before sexual assault accusations became so "popular". A disgruntled NCO (or even officer) would go to the OSI with some invented accusation against his supervisor, or even the commander. This usually occurred just before or in conjunction with the supervisor lowering the boom on the malcontent for under-performance. If the goof-off could get to the OSI first, he was home free, certainly immune from any command discipline from then on, and often able to ruin the super to boot.
See also the latest scandal at the Air Force Academy - the OSI infiltration of the Cadet Wing.
A very unjust system, now being promoted for expanded use by some of our loudest, nastiest politicians and agitators.
Queso wrote:Yeah, let's pare-down the military so that it has no pride at all in what it does, no sense of real purpose, and no discipline.
I long for an "evil empire" to oppose, a strong leader to lead us in standing up to them, and the iron fist of the Strategic Air Command. At least in those days we knew where we stood, and knew we without a doubt we could defend ourselves. This situation is a mirror of the lethargy in our society today, all of our military is in the same situation- it's just another job. I guess that also includes the people with their finger on the button.
WASHINGTON — Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said Thursday the number of nuclear force officers implicated in a proficiency test cheating scandal has grown to 92 out of a force of 500.
The cheating scandal is the latest revelation in a growing morass of problems among the men and women who maintain and staff the nation's nuclear missiles.
"A Lesson To Remember":
Wing One Colleagues,
Over the past few months, we have been forced to navigate through some of the roughest waters most of us have ever experienced professionally. We've seen the reputation of our beloved wing and America's ICBM mission tarnished because of the extraordinarily selfish actions of officers entrusted with the most powerful weapon system ever devised by man. As you are now learning, the ramifications are dire. Many lives will be permanently changed as a result.
But this costly lesson must not be in vain.
The lesson? Had just one solitary airman spoken up for integrity, our leadership team would have been able to take action immediately.
Tragically, peer pressure and the fear of being an outcast prevailed. As a result, the misconduct had to be inadvertently discovered by OSI agents.
Think of how different the narrative would be had the silent Airman just come forward. That airman would now be lionized as a hero for casting aside his or her own fear of being made an outcast by a few inadequate peers.
That airman would have single-handedly preserved the honor and dignity of Malmstrom and all the wonderful people who make up this incredible wing.
But it didn't happen. Wrong won out over right ... the voice of integrity was silenced ... and the good guy lost at the end of the movie.
This is a wake-up call for everyone who has lost their sense of right and wrong, for those who have become cynical and for those indoctrinated by modern society to acquiesce when faced with bad behavior.
"All that is necessary for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing." I highlighted this old axiom as the main point of my change of command speech a little over a year ago. I implored our formations of airmen that it never be said of Malmstrom that "we did nothing" in the face of evil. I can't imagine a more vivid reinforcement of that lesson than what we're going through now.
As your wing commander, it occurs to me that I've been blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime. It's been one I neither expected nor deserved.
Our amazing airmen and their families, the astoundingly supportive community and the successes of Wing One have far outweighed the bad. Just being allowed to be a small part of your lives is a memory that Cheryl and I will cherish forever. But, like all things of great value, such blessings come with equally great costs. I represent this wing to the world, and we let the American people down on my watch.
With that realization, and the genuine hope that my action will stir even the most apathetic hearts to action, I have decided to volunteer my resignation from this post effective immediately. This request has been accepted. I have also requested, and been approved for, retirement from the United States Air Force. If this sacrifice by Cheryl and me influences just one airman to stand up for what's right the next time they are confronted by immorality, it will have been worth every tear and sleepless night.
But I do have one last command: Each and every one of you must now give your full allegiance, support and enthusiasm to your new commander. I know that you will forge an even stronger team than the one we were so carefully building.
It's been the highest honor of my career to serve with the 341st Missile Wing and the Great Falls community. You will always occupy a special place in our hearts.
Col S.
Robert W. Stanley II, Colonel, USAF
Commander, 341st Missile Wing
Malmstrom AFB, Montana
