U.S. Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel has called for a broad review of the country’s nuclear force, with a focus on personnel and culture, after 34 members of the of the Global Strike Command’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) team were suspended from duty on January 15 for cheating on a proficiency test.
The officers involved, who were said to have been “put on restricted duty and decertified,” worked at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, which is one of three Air Force bases maintaining nuclear-capable Minuteman III ICBMs.
An unrelated drug-use investigation at six different Air Force bases led to the uncovering of the cheating scandal at Malmstrom, where it was discovered that a missile launch officer had “shared answers to a routine proficiency test with at least 16 other officers.”
Yet after the news broke General Mark Welsh, Air Force Chief of Staff, was quick to assure that the investigation “did not indicate that launch operations were at risk due to incompetence, rather it was a question of officers not living up to standards.”
After he said last week that he was “deeply troubled” by the allegations and supported the aggressive steps the Air Force was taking, on Thursday a spokesperson said Mr. Hagel believed it was “time for the Department of Defense as a whole to place renewed emphasis on examining the health of the nuclear force, in particular those issues that affect the morale, professionalism, performance, and leadership of the people who make up that force.”
Pentagon Press Secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby added that the country’s nuclear arsenal, however, was safe, and he could “assure American people that we’re confident in the security of the nuclear arsenal for this country, the physical infrastructure that supports it, the protection of it, and, frankly… we’re confident in the professionalism of the majority of the force.”
However the Pentagon conceded that steps had to be taken to address the problems identified. Admiral Kirby said, “We’ve got some issues here, at the very minimum, there are some individuals inside the ICBM force that don’t or aren’t willing to live up to those standards.” The cheating scandal in the U.S. comes in the wake of an American think tank, the Nuclear Threat Initiative ranking India as 23rd out of 25 countries in terms of nuclear materials security for nations with weapons-usable nuclear materials.
This meant that India was placed below its two nuclear-armed neighbours, Pakistan and China.
A reputed Indian think-tank, the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, however argued subsequently, “That the methodology of the Report was highly faulty was common knowledge even before it was published, notwithstanding the engagement of a panel of international experts.”
