Cheating on Nuclear Reactor Tests?

by Chris Vegvary

You like to feel safe in your comfortable little home or apartment, or wherever it is you live, don’t you? You enjoy the safe feeling you get knowing that there’s people out there that are strictly looking out for your interests, because they know what they’re doing, don’t they? I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to believe that they DON’T all know what they’re doing, especially when I hear things like, for instance, over thirty sailors in the US Navy have been caught cheating on nuclear reactor tests.

First of all, why the hell would you cheat on something like that? I don’t have all the information on what it takes to be in charge of a nuclear reactor, or even what it takes to work on one, but I’m pretty sure that those things can be dangerous in the hands of people who don’t know what they’re doing. You’re not just putting your life in danger with that kind of crap, you’re putting a lot of people at risk, pretending you know how operate a submarine’s nuclear reactor. What’s the appeal in cheating, anyway? Do you get paid more? If so, then money truly is the root of all evil.

But don’t think this is all just on the Navy, because as it turns out, at least ninety-two nuclear missile launch officers in the US Air Force were also caught cheating on monthly tests. What the hell? Why…? I can’t wrap my head around the reason that some of the people who are supposed to look out for us and protect us, or in some cases, the ones that make decisions for us (I’m talking to you, politicians), decide to endanger us all for pretty much no reason. How do we, as a country of people, stop this kind of thing from happening? The problem is, when someone gets in trouble like this, there’s a lot of waiting for any kind of punishment, or there’s no punishment at all. In fact, it seems like in most cases, throwing enough money at a problem like that will just make it go away.

When do we hold people accountable for this type of thing? How can we make it so that instead of a long, drawn-out process that will probably end with nothing bad happening to the guilty party or parties, they are immediately held accountable for the horrible lies they tell in order to make more money or have more power? Just once, I’d like to see someone who has screwed over the American people and put us in danger go to jail for a sentence equal to all the sentences for the lesser crimes that people commit and get sentenced to life for.

Of course, I’m not saying there's anything bad about the military in general; quite the opposite, in fact. For instance, there’s something like 16,000 sailors in the Navy and most of them work hard and are to be respected, and they are not representative of the tiny percentage that makes up the people that cheated. Yes, it was only a few people in the grand scheme of things, but one person is all it takes to do some serious damage. What if this is part of some kind of terrorism plot, did anyone think about that? I’d say this warrants a full investigation by the Navy AND the Air Force.

While I’m probably not likely to be satisfied in that respect anytime soon, YOU, the reader, may be satisfied in showing your support in one or more branches of the military. Have a family member out there protecting us? Show some support by checking out all the military-based clothing, survival and camping gear, and all kinds of other military items at www.armynavyshop.com.