by Master Sgt. Amaani Lyle
Air Force Public Affairs Agency Operating Location - P
3/28/2014 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- In
a press briefing at the Pentagon March 27, Air Force officials
announced the findings from the Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., test
compromise investigations, to include accountability actions and a way
forward for the ICBM force.
In January, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and Air Force
Global Strike Command commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson announced a
cheating incident involving 92 crew members at Malmstrom AFB. Wilson
then launched a commander directed investigation and force improvement
program to get to the bottom of the situation and to recommend needed
improvements. Additionally, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel ordered the
service to provide him a comprehensive plan to address the morale and
ethics issues within 60 days.
James led with what the CDI initially confirmed, "we do have systemic
issues in our missile community," highlighting that the CDI and FIP have
a number of recommendations to address not only the climate within the
nuclear community, but also to ensure Airmen recognize importance of the
nuclear mission to national security.
She also addressed the topic of most interest -- accountability -- with
79 officers and 10 leaders receiving punishment in some form.
"Nine officers in leadership positions at Malmstrom (AFB) were
recommended for removal," James said. "One officer submitted his
resignation and will retire. None of these leaders were directly
involved in a test compromise, but the commander directed investigation
indicated that they failed to provide adequate oversight of their crew
force."
"This indeed was a major failure in integrity," she said, speaking of
the group of missile officers who had some type of involvement in the
test compromise.
"Our Air Force core values, which are 'Integrity First, Service Before
Self, and Excellence In All We Do', -- have to guide us in everything we
do -- on and off duty; at home, in the office and on the battlefield,"
James said. "Integrity means taking action when you see something in
your environment that's not right -- in your unit, among your peers,
(with) your subordinates and your superiors."
To reemphasize the importance of core values and provide resources to
commanders and senior non-commissioned officers, key plan components
include a stand-down Wingman Day, evaluation of current curriculum at
formal education and training venues and a launch of a core values
resource center on the Air Force Portal, James reported.
Wilson said leaders launched a FIP that provides recommendations in four
general areas: reforming organizational culture, empowering crew
commanders, improving the quality and purpose of training; and reforming
testing and evaluation.
"We are using this test compromise as an opportunity to make significant
and important improvements across the enterprise," Wilson said. "The
Force Improvement Program's purpose is to create an aggressive,
action-oriented, field-influenced program with the goal of making
substantial and lasting changes to the ICBM mission."
The FIP, Wilson explained, included a diverse 69-person working group
comprised of Airmen from operations, maintenance, security forces,
mission support and helicopter career fields and even Navy submariners
and global strike bomber crews.
The program launched in February on the heels of the CDI, led by Lt.
Gen. Mike Holmes, Air Education and Training Command vice commander.
"Based on the CDI, we can say that, across the 20th Air Force,
leadership's focus on perfection led commanders to micromanage their
people," Wilson noted. "They sought to ensure the zero-defect standard
was met by personally monitoring and directing daily operations,
imposing unrelenting testing and inspections -- with the goal of
eliminating all human error."
To begin to change the culture, we will place greater emphasis on 1) how
we train and 2) field evaluations that better assess crew performance
in the operational environment, Wilson reported. "This will allow us to
deemphasize the significance of scoring 100 percent on classroom tests
while ensuring our crew force remains ready to perform the mission."
James reported in fiscal 2014 the Air Force earmarked $19 million for
the FIP including launch control center refurbishment and infrastructure
repairs. The 20th Air Force also identified an additional $3 million
for quality-of-life requirements.
Similarly, the fiscal 2015 budget request, James reported, includes $455
million to the sustain the Air Force's Minuteman squadrons,
intercontinental ballistic missile helicopter support and critical
communications, with another $154 million for readiness, training and
launch control improvements.
"As we execute our funding in 2014 we're going to seek to rearrange as
much as possible to fund these important programs -- in other words
we're not going to wait; we're going to move forward," she said.
Still, James said the Air Force nuclear deterrence mission is not only critical to national security, but remains strong.
"Overall, I continue to have great confidence in this mission and the
way it is being performed," James said. "For over 50 years our nuclear
professionals have faithfully stood watch over America. This issues we
have before us is tough (and) while we have made progress in recent
years, there is more work to be done."
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