US nuclear launch officers suspended for 'cheating'

[Judi Lynn]

Source: BBC News

15 January 2014 Last updated at 16:10 ET
US nuclear launch officers suspended for 'cheating'

Thirty-four US Air Force officers in charge of launching the country's nuclear missiles have been suspended for cheating on proficiency tests.

The Air Force said their ranks ranged from 2nd lieutenants to captains.

It said a small number of staff had been texting answers to the routine tests to others, while others had known but failed to report it.

The cheating allegations emerged during investigations into alleged drug use by personnel at other bases.

The 34 officers, based at the Malmstrom Air Force Base, have had their security clearance revoked and the entire team in charge of overseeing missile launches will be re-tested.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said it was "absolutely unacceptable behaviour" but that the security of the nuclear programme was not in doubt.


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25753040

[Helen Borg]

2. I'm sure this

is an isolated case...

[FiveGoodMen]

3. Take them out of the loop -- let WOPR do the launches

[SkatmanRoth]

4. Wait until FAUX nuz run its headline

Fox News, World Net Daily, InfoWars followed by right wing talk radio:

[font size=6]OBAMA PURGES MILITARY OFFICERS!
[/font]

[AdHocSolver]

5. Actually, what is more frightening is that the military wants to update the U.S. nuclear arsenal...

...which translates into more reliance on computer hardware and software.

Let's imagine how this might work.

First, they subcontract hardware development to the company that designed and built the battery control circuitry for the lithium ion batteries used in the Boeing Dreamliner.. . You know, the ones that catch fire periodically.

Then, they subcontract the software to develop proprietary code to the company that wrote the code for the roll out of the Affordable Care Act, or maybe the company that wrote the proprietary code for the touch screen voting machines.

Finally, they run the system on the Internet using Windows 8 and Internet Explorer.

What could possibly go wrong?

[jmowreader]

6. If there's a way to make a nuclear missile go down rather than up...

that collection of hardware and software would probably do it.

[Earth_First]

7. Weren't a group of officers recently reprimanded for leaving secure doors unsecured/open

...while they slept on the job?

What the he'll is going on in the Air Force lately...?