Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has called for a review of the U.S. nuclear forces after several personnel scandals arose, Defense One reports.
Illegal drug use and a cheating scandal in the nuclear program are just some of the incidents that caused alarm in the defense community.
Hagel will meet with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey and several "key stakeholders" of the nuclear force to start off the investigation. From there they will review leadership and management in the program and strategize on how to prevent the personnel issues in the future.
Defense One reports:
"Secretary Hagel believes it is time for the Department of Defense as a whole to place renewed emphasis on examining the health of the nuclear force, in particular those issues that affect the morale, professionalism, performance, and leadership of the people who make up that force," said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the press secretary for the Pentagon. […]
Kirby tied the secretary’s decision back to a " larger concern that … we have morale issues, we have performance issues inside a force inside the military that is just so vital to national security," but he said officials remain confident in the security of the country’s nuclear arsenal.