Well, this is…uh, discomforting

The last scandal of any note I recall in the Air Force (other than droning middle eastern weddings for which they are merely the tool) was the attempted evangelizing rampant at the Air Force Academy. Which leads me to wonder whether that played any precipitating role in this:

The cheating scandal inside the Air Force's nuclear missile corps is expanding, with the number of service members implicated by investigators now roughly double the 34 reported just a week ago, officials said Tuesday.

That sounds kind of bad. How bad?

The Air Force announced on Jan. 15 that while it was investigating possible criminal drug use by some airmen, it discovered that one missile officer at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., had shared test questions with 16 other officers. It said another 17 admitted to knowing about this cheating but did not report it.

Cheating on tests regarding the handling of nuclear missiles? Holy crap!

The Air Force has 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, on alert at all times, with a contingent of about 500 launch control officers, some number of which are unavailable on any given day due to illness or other reasons. So the number temporarily unavailable for duty because of the cheating scandal is substantial — about 14 percent of the total if the number of those who have been decertified is now double the original 34.

I'm going to go drink now. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]