Who has their finger on the big red button?
Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 2:13 am
Thirty-four US Air Force officers in charge of launching nuclear missiles have been suspended over accusations they cheated on proficiency tests.
The Air Force 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 ranks involved range from 2nd lieutenants to captains.
The cheating allegations emerged during investigations into alleged drug use by personnel at other bases.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told a news conference the cheating involved officers based at the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, and related to a monthly test all nuclear missile staff must take.
"Some officers did it," she said of the cheating. "Others apparently knew about it, and it appears that they did nothing, or at least not enough, to stop it or to report it."
