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Their assertions shed new light on a cheating scandal involving 34 officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, who are under investigation for improperly sharing information about exam questions and failing to report the alleged misconduct.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James called the alleged behavior “absolutely unacceptable.”

But the former officers, two of whom served at Malmstrom in the last decade, said that cheating on the three monthly written tests — covering missile safety, code handling and launch procedures — was so commonplace that officers who declined to participate were the exception.

“Everybody cheats on every test that they can, and they have for decades,” said one former officer who served at Malmstrom from 2006 to 2010, and said he had cheated on tests. “Maybe five percent [of the officers] don’t. But they know about it.” He asked not to be identified, citing fear of retribution by the Air Force.

…….A third former officer, Bruce Blair, said, “There were hundreds of officers at my wing at Malmstrom, and I don’t think that I know anybody who didn’t cheat.”

Blair was a launch officer from 1970-1974 and went on to help found the organization Global Zero, which seeks the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide.

The tests are used to measure the readiness of more than 500 launch officers — stationed at the three bases nationwide — who are responsible for securing 450 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and keeping them ready for launch around the clock….http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-air-force-nuclear-cheating-20140118,0,5357820.story#axzz2qxE51QKr