Have you ever fired a missile ma'am? Do you have any idea what you are talking about? Cheating/memorizing answers on an IT or other test and a soldier firing a weapon can not be related in any way. A soldier will not fire a weapon unless they have been trained and done it a million times, able to perform that (simple) task in their sleep. It is not possible to cheat.. weapon’s training is fun and enjoyable to most soldiers. You are not familiar with the military, and speaking about the military does not suit you. In the navy they have very serious tests that relate to promotion. It is not possible for soldiers to cheat firing an AT4 or MK-19 Automatic Grenade Launcher.

You are quite right. I have never been through military training, and I don’t have first-hand experience with weapons training. I’m very happy to have you set the record straight about hands-on training experience being a more important measure of qualification to fire a weapon than passing a quired certification exam. We feel the same way about certification in the IT industry. Experiential knowledge is king; passing a written exam is just icing on the cake. Thank you for your sincere comments.

In response to the comment by Army_SSG - I think you missed the target and Susan Underhill's point. My take on what she was saying was to get the reader to consider the consequences of military personnel cheating and then being in a position to directly use, or be in command of those using sophisticated weaponry. Perhaps she has a hit a raw nerve though - the facts are that cheating in online military exams is rampant so perhaps miltary personnel are more likley to go on the defensive rather than tackle the issue which I note you have completely avoided in your post. As for your soldier firing their weapon a 'million' times and being able to do so 'in their sleep', I will assume you are engaging in creative license and not take this as fact.

As a NCO is the United States Military, I will acknowledge that soldier have cheated by using answers to the study for some of these exams. Before people start getting all concerned about this. Keep in mind that these test, are correspondence courses. The test are open book. They are typically 3-6 hours in lenght. They are purely for informational purpose of the soldier. If the test, like Combat Life Savers, are actually to be used for qualifications, they are given in person, following a formal class. The classes are not recognized by any accredation services. They don't have support if you don't understand the topic. The sole reason people use the Army Correspondece Course Program is for promotion points. Before I exlplain this, I would like it to be known that I do not approve of the cheating. The Army promotion system for SGT and SSG ranks is based on points, you have to acquire as many points as possible to stand above your peers. There currently is a total of 800 points available. The point break down is such: 50 Points possible from PT Test 50 Points possible from Weapons Qualification Score 150 Points possible from the Board 150 Points possible from the Commander recommendation 100 Points possible from civilian education 100 Points possible from Awards 200 Points possible from Military Education Most soldiers get 150 points from the commander and 130-145 from the board. Average pt and weapons qualifitions add on another 70 points. And award can be seldom received depending on the units command philosophy. The areas that soldiers have the greatest impact is in the education. However working 60 hours a week, leaves little time for college. Especially if you have family. And the army correspondece courses? Well, 1000 hrs is what it takes to max out on military ed. That is 5hrs of class for each point earned. How long should a soldier spend trying to get a promotion? A 1000 hrs that works out to 20 hrs a week for a year, added on to the 60 hrs work week? How many people should have to work 2 full time jobs at near poverty level income to support their family and gain a promotion? I am currently on my third deployment. My first tour was 16 months. It was 366 days from my 1st tour to my secound. My unit deployed for 12 months that tour, and would have been stateside for only 9 months, if we hadn't had every tour extended to 15 months last summer. I'm now 6 months into a 15 month tour. And thats not nearly as bad as many units. Do soldiers cheat on correspondence course? What do they gain from it? only a little more time off, and what wrong with that.