“Deborah Lee James had been Air Force secretary for less than three weeks when the email crash-landed in her inbox,” the New York Times reports.  

“Bad news: Thirty-four Air Force officers with the authority to launch intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles had either cheated or were aware of cheating on exams meant to measure whether they knew how to launch the weapons.”  

“A 30-year veteran of Washington political maneuverings — whose nickname was ‘Sledge’ as a House Armed Services Committee staff member because of her sledgehammer approach to the job — Ms. James girded for one of the biggest scandals in an Air Force plagued with them.”