The US Air Force is now investigating 10 officers at six military bases for alleged illegal drug possession, service officials report.
Nine lieutenants and a captain at bases in the US and Britain have been implicated in the investigation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25691072
Two nuclear launch control officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana are said to be involved in the probe.
The Air Force has since suspended the two officers’ security clearances, US media report.
The investigation was reportedly initiated with two officers at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the second-largest US Air Force base.
It then “expanded, based on contact with the officers in question”, Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Brett Ashworth told Reuters news agency.
The investigation has since grown to include officers at bases Malmstrom, Vandenberg in California, FE Warren in Wyoming and Schreiver in Colorado, as well as Royal Air Force Lakenheath in England, he added.
Malmstrom Air Force base reportedly oversees 420 nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles, while Schreiver Air Force Base is home to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.