Testing, Cheating and Cynicism in the ICBM Force

February 14, 2014 | Edited by Lauren Mladenka and Geoff Wilson

Use No. 2 pencil, no cheating. - Think you’re smarter than a nuclear launch officer? Mark Thompson of TIME provides examples of the test that nuclear launch officers have to take and reports on the cheating scandal plaguing the force.

--The tests have a profound effect on promotions and officer morale. The testing regimen was so intense, requiring perfection, that cheating was encouraged by higher officers. “The commander would sit down with you and say, `These tests are ridiculous—you can try to do it all by yourself, which is noble, but you’ll but you’ll never be promoted,’” a former missileer told Thompson. “There was times I was saved from failing by cheating. The testing got so ridiculous that it was no longer testing your ability to be a missile operator—it was testing your ability to take tests.”

--Testing is only a symptom of broader issues with the force. “The problems with the ICBM force, military and outside experts say, stem from the Cold War’s end and the pressures of the nation’s post-9/11 conflicts. Those twin challenges have dulled the glory and pride once associated with the nuclear mission,” writes Thompson. “Many current senior Air Force leaders interviewed were cynical about the nuclear mission, its future, and its true (versus publicly stated) priority to the Air Force,” said a 2012 Air Force report. Full article here. http://ti.me/1b0eRTy

Tough job - “Deborah Lee James had been Air Force secretary for less than three weeks when the email crash-landed in her inbox,” writes Helene Cooper for The New York Times. “Bad news: Thirty-four Air Force officers with the authority to launch intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles had either cheated or were aware of cheating on exams meant to measure whether they knew how to launch the weapons.”

--“Ms. James said she came into the job in December expecting to deal with the onslaught of sexual abuse cases that have come to light in the Air Force and throughout the military. But she said she was not prepared to deal with cheating on nuclear tests. The missileers with whom Ms. James met are now pulling extra 24-hour shifts on alert to make up for the 92 officers suspended in the cheating scandal. Ms. James in the meantime is talking with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel about whether the Pentagon should increase the salaries of the missileers, who make between $35,000 and $62,000 in base pay a year, on par with officers of their rank across the military. Mr. Hagel has indicated he is open to the possibility.” Get the full story here. http://nyti.ms/1lOh2Lx

Military perspective - “The phrases “good faith negotiation,” and “force as a last resort”, at a minimum, require genuine, strategically-focused efforts that truly exhaust every diplomatic alternative to war. Our troops in uniform, their families, and those innocents inevitably caught in the crossfire deserve the very best that our diplomats can do to effect a constructive, non-kinetic resolution to this dispute [with Iran],” write Gen. Wesley Clark and Joe Reeder.

--“We urge each member of the House and Senate to lend strong support for a negotiated solution and to permit the ongoing negotiations to proceed in an environment conducive to success,” say Gen. Clark and Reeder. “Until the negotiations are over, it is vitally important that we stand united in support of administration’s efforts to negotiate an agreement acceptable to Iran, its neighbors, and Israel.” Full article in The Hill.http://bit.ly/1dsuRNu

Realistic expectations - “The only realistic approach to Iran is to design an agreement with terms that would serve as a tolerable precedent to be applied to other states that now enrich uranium or that could in the future,” writes George Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment.

--“Such an agreement would provide insurance against a rapid Iranian breakout to make nuclear weapons by tightly conditioning and limiting the scale of Iran’s enrichment activities to those necessary for research and development and for fueling civilian reactors that are actually under construction and do not have foreign fuel suppliers. This would mean that Iran, beyond research and development work, would not enrich more uranium than it would imminently convert into fuel rods for scheduled insertion into reactors. The only such reactor on the horizon would be a low-enriched-uranium-fueled research reactor to replace the heavy-water one now planned near the city of Arak. Tehran also should agree to put its nuclear facilities under irreversible safeguards that would apply if it were to withdraw from the NPT.” Full analysis here. http://ceip.org/1c6mLtc

Tweet - @ISNAsstSecy: In the run up to the #Nuclear #Security Summit the U.S. & #EU jointly held a workshop to counter #nuclear smuggling. http://goo.gl/l8QXyT

Talking Korea with China - “Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he held a very constructive meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday as he sought Beijing’s help in deterring North Korea from pursuing nuclear weapons,” write Simon Denyer and William Wan in The Washington Post. “Nevertheless, experts said Kerry faced an uphill battle over the issue, with China unlikely to push its longtime ally too far over the issue, and unwilling to join a U.S.-led attempt to isolate the Pyongyang regime.” Read the full article here. http://wapo.st/1b1ynz4

Talks wrap - “Rare talks between the rival Koreas ended on an even rarer note of agreement Friday, allowing an under-threat reunion for divided families to go ahead and fuelling hopes of further constructive engagement.,” writes Giles Hewitt for AFP. “The agreement pointed to a significant concession by North Korea which had strenuously objected to annual South Korean-US military drills that would overlap with the February 20-25 reunion for family members separated by the Korean War.” Get the full story here. http://bit.ly/1g4jee7

Desmond Tutu - “This week, in the Mexican state of Nayarit, ministers and diplomats from three-quarters of all nations -- those not coming include the Permanent Five members of the U.N. Security Council, the U.S., UK, France, Russia and China -- are gathered to discuss the devastating humanitarian impact of nuclear detonations. This will cover the inability of emergency workers to provide relief to the wounded; the widespread dispersal of radiation; the lofting of millions of tonnes of soot from firestorms high into the upper troposphere; the collapse of global agriculture from lack of sunlight and rainfall; the onset of famine and disease on a scale never before witnessed,” writes Desmond Tutu.

--”This conference is not only a much-needed reminder of what nuclear weapons do to humans beings -- something seldom mentioned in arms control discussions -- but also a vital chance for the international community to chart a new course… Why should these weapons, whose effects are the most grievous of all, remain the only weapons of mass destruction not expressly prohibited under international law?” Read the article at CNN. http://cnn.it/1ouB93A

Business incentives for a deal - “The prospect of access to Iran’s $500 billion economy is tempting executives from countries including France and the Netherlands as negotiators resume their slog toward a nuclear deal,” write Jonathan Tirone, Ladane Nasseri and Indira A.R. Lakshmanan in Bloomberg. Read the full piece here. http://bloom.bg/1gxXUPZ

Quick-hits:

--”North Korean Flow-Forming Machines, Ctd.” by Joshua Pollack in Arms Control Wonk. http://bit.ly/1lOcmoU

--”Israel Laser Shield Moves Closer to Deployment” reported by AP. http://wapo.st/1mg9Lrr

--”Department of Defense Says No to Increased GMD Testing” in Mostly Missile Defense. http://bit.ly/1cE2kAA

Events:

--“U.S.-Russian Relations in the 21st Century.” Discussion with Angela Stent, Fiona Hill, and Peter Baker. Feb. 18 from 2:00-3:30 at Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1bqFDTe

--“Reestablishing US Diplomatic Presence in Iran.” Discussion with Ramin Asgard, John Limbert, Morad Ghorban; moderated by Barbara Slavin. Feb. 19 at 10:00 at the Atlantic Council, 1030 15th St. NW, 12th floor. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1lp96QC

--”Dealing WIth Iran: Where Are We Now and How Did We Get Here?” Webinar with Robin Wright and Kate Gould. Feb. 19 from 2:00-3:00. Register here. http://bit.ly/1mcRAmA

--“A Preview of the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit.” Discussion with Graham Allison. Feb. 20 from 6:00-8:00 at George Washington University, Lindner Family Commons, Room 602, 1957 E St. NW. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1iR0oZY