This undated handout photo provided by the US Air Force shows Col. Robert Stanley II.The Air Force on Thursday fired nine midlevel nuclear commanders and announced it would discipline dozens of junior officers at a missile base in response to an exam-cheating scandal that officials called unprecedented in the history of America’s intercontinental ballistic missile force. A 10th commander, the senior officer at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., resigned and will retire from the service. A text of the resignation letter the officer, Col. Robert Stanley, sent to his command, titled “A Lesson To Remember”:
Wing One Colleagues,
Over the past few months, we have been forced to navigate through some of the roughest waters most of us have ever experienced professionally. We’ve seen the reputation of our beloved wing and America’s ICBM mission tarnished because of the extraordinarily selfish actions of officers entrusted with the most powerful weapon system ever devised by man. As you are now learning, the ramifications are dire. Many lives will be permanently changed as a result.
But this costly lesson must not be in vain.
The lesson? Had just one solitary airman spoken up for integrity, our leadership team would have been able to take action immediately.