Army Probes Alleged Exam Cheating (Boston Globe, 07/22/07)

By Bryan Bender and Kevin Baron

 Answers to tests for promotions found on websites

The Army is investigating whether thousands of soldiers cheated on promotion exams, including tests of how to operate high-tech weapons, by obtaining the answers from unauthorized websites run by fellow soldiers, according to Army officials.

The Globe found sites offering copies of more than 1,200 different exams from military correspondence courses with the answers provided. One site said it had 500,000 hits per month and thousands of registered users. Message boards on the sites suggest that soldiers know they are violating the rules, while some of their comrades rebuke them in Internet chat rooms for cheating the system.

Some of the tests cover such highly technical matters as how to operate the guidance system on a Patriot missile, including measuring firing angles and elevations. Other sensitive areas include how to distinguish between US troops and enemies using aerial photos; how to conduct a patrol in wartime; how to keep armored vehicles in proper formation in battle; and how to protect classified documents. The sites, with names including Shamschool.com and Armyfocus.com, are free or charge a small fee.

ShamSchool describes itself as "soldiers helping soldiers" and says the ques tions and answers it provides are "intended as a reference only." In an e-mailed response to Globe questions, the operator of ShamSchool declined to comment. But in a posting yesterday he said he created the site to help fellow soldiers exchange information and "now I am being used as a scapegoat for everyone cheating on these tests."

ArmyFocus did not respond to e-mails.

Army officials portrayed the alleged cheating as a serious matter with potentially significant consequences.

"The Army has become aware that there are Internet sites out there that have information in there where people can circumvent the system," said Harvey Perritt, a spokesman for the Army training command at Fort Monroe, Va.

He said cheating on military tests not only violates Army rules, "it goes against Army values."

Cheating carries criminal penalties under the military code of justice ranging from dishonorable discharge to prison terms.

The Army opened an investigation into the alleged cheating July 12 after an internal whistleblower contacted officers at Fort Campbell, Ky., where at least one soldier is allegedly operating one of the websites. The investigation is being conducted through the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell.

A division spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Rumi Nelson- Green , said the investigation goes beyond Kentucky. "If evidence or concern are uncovered involving organizations outside the 101st and Fort Campbell, they will be passed to the appropriate command," she said.

Soldiers taking the tests, which are administered on official websites run by the Army Institute for Professional Development, are warned that they must do their own work and can be prosecuted if they are found to have cheated.

The exams help determine which soldiers get promotions and are certified to perform highly sensitive tasks. If thousands are found to have cheated, it would raise questions about the competence of some who are performing sensitive missions, according to training officers interviewed by the Globe.

"These are things that could put lives at stake, " said retired Army Lieutenant Colonel James Carafano, a defense analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a former professor at the US Military Academy at West Point , N.Y. "If people are cheating to get promoted and make a couple of extra bucks, that is pathetic."

Carafano, coauthor of a study on military education in 2005, added: "If this is a widespread problem and people are condoning it, it is deeper than simply people cheating. . . . If you can't trust them to take a test on their own how can you trust them to watch your back in the foxhole?"

The exams are part of the Army Correspondence Course Program, which offers hundreds of online classes to help soldiers earn points toward promotions, including to the rank of sergeant. The courses are part of the Army's training program but are taken voluntarily. When a soldier passes an exam, points are added to his or her personnel file, which can help that individual get promoted more quickly or qualify for a job utilizing the skills that were tested.

The exams, which are updated periodically, cover subjects ranging from the mundane, such as how to route Army mail, to explicit battlefield tactics and formations. One 25-question test, "Military Operations on Urban Terrain (Offense)," includes questions about how to conduct patrols in civilian areas.

Another examines how to operate the shoulder-fired Stinger missile, an Army weapon that is also used by terrorists. The questions cover how to activate the missile, determine the most promising targets, and utilize different firing techniques.

A question from a test on "Patrolling" asks the proper formation for launching an ambush "at a sharp bend in the trail through dense woods." Another asks how far behind the tanks a Bradley Fighting Vehicle platoon should be positioned on the battlefield. A test on chemical warfare reveals the "most effective wind speed" at which to launch a large-area attack.

Army regulations state that while students are allowed to discuss their subjects with fellow soldiers while studying for the exams, they must come up with the answers on their own.

"When you submit an examination response sheet for grading, you must . . . certify that the answers submitted are the result of your own work and that you have not had access to copies of answer sheets or solutions from others," states Army pamphlet 350-59, which covers the correspondence courses. "This does not imply that you are prevented from discussing subject content with others who may be able to help with problems. However, students are required to use their own work when submitting solutions for grading."

The network on which soldiers take the exams includes another warning: They "must submit their own work" and "students who are suspected of cheating on examinations are subject to Uniform Code of Military Justice Articles 107, 132, and 134." Those articles cover making false official statements and committing fraud against the United States. Conviction could result in a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay and allowances, and confinement for up to five years in prison, according to the articles.

Despite the warnings, numerous tests and answers are being downloaded from unauthorized websites daily.

Users identifying themselves as soldiers of many different ranks and from locations as diverse as North Carolina, Alaska, Germany, and South Korea write on the sites' message boards that they want to boost their points to get promotions. They often ask for specific tests and answers. In response, site managers send links to the test or tell them how to find it elsewhere on the Internet.

Some sites also provide lists of tests that soldiers can take to get points as quickly as possible.

The sites offer scanned copies of multiple-choice exams, with the correct answers identified. The sites do not say how they obtained the exams, but ask anyone who has copies of tests with the correct answers to send them in.

ShamSchool, the most popular of the sites identified by the Globe, boasts of having 500,000 hits per month and 10,000 registered users. It is free but requests donations. ArmyFocus charges a $12 fee.

There are also at least six message boards on Yahoo dedicated to sharing answers. The largest group, Army_Correspondence _Course_Knowledge, contains 900 registered members who have posted more than 800 messages asking for and receiving copies of various tests since the message group's founding June 5, 2005.

All the sites post disclaimers that they don't condone cheating.

"This disclaimer states that you will not use any of the materials or other content obtained from this site for anything illegal or in violation with the Uniform Code of Military Justice," states the ShamSchool disclaimer. "If a member violates these terms we will not be held accountable. These course answers are intended as a reference only."

ArmyFocus states that it "does not condone cheating on ACCP exams."

But many users are aware that they may be committing an offense. On ShamSchool, for example, one soldier expressed concern in December that he might raise eyebrows by turning in multiple completed tests over one weekend.

The user asked the site moderators if taking exams for 302 credit hours in one weekend was going to look suspicious. "Do you think that's too much?"

The moderator assured him "You won't get caught."

Some users post their own exams answers and the percentage they got right, even going so far as to suggest others could change a few answers - apparently to ward off suspicion of cheating - and still get a passing grade.

One user, in posting a test with his answers last month, remarked, "Nothing sucks likes cheating without all the right info."

One user this month identified herself as a wife who is apparently taking tests for her soldier husband. "I'm doing these for my husband and need to get them done so he can go to the [promotion] board," she wrote last week. " Please help me out. Thank you so much!"

The operator of ShamSchool identifies himself on a personal website as an Army specialist who was stationed in South Korea last year when he was stripped of the rank of sergeant for rappelling down a communications tower. He said he was transferred to Fort Campbell. He also boasts of being an experienced computer hacker.

The operator's whereabouts are unknown. The Globe could not confirm his name.

In numerous Internet postings over recent months, he has fiercely defended his actions.

In a frequently asked questions section of ShamSchool, he says he is "proud to be responsible [for] creating a community where soldiers come to help soldiers." He adds that if he deserves to be punished "then I face it with my head held high."

The operator of ArmyFocus could not be immediately identified, but postings on the site suggest the individual was also based at Fort Campbell at one time. Unlike ShamSchool, ArmyFocus does not appear to have been updated since last year.

While many soldiers appear to be taking advantage of the sites, many of their comrades seem upset about it - as demonstrated by an online forum that lasted from September to March on the widely used web site Military.com.

In response to a message advertising the services of ShamSchool, dozens of people identifying themselves as active and retired soldiers lambasted the practice of answer-sharing on certification exams.

"So if you're a [non commissioned officer] that owes his/her promotion to 'shamschool.com,' does that make you a sham-NCO?" asked one.

" Professional ethics, integrity . . . remember those things?" the participant continued. "Or are they just words these days. We may not like the way the promotions are processed today . . . but does that make it OK to cheat?"

Another participant warned that soldiers who do not do their own work may live to regret it.

"One day you may need to know something you had supposedly studied on that course to save your life," the user wrote.

Other web sites criticize the practice. Armystudyguide.com, which offers soldiers help in preparing for promotion boards, specifically warns users "to not post anything that may enable viewers using this site to cheat."

Still, some of the users have maintained that cheating is nothing new and that exam answers have long been passed from soldier to soldier. The Internet, they say, has merely provided a central clearinghouse.

The Army doesn't see it that way.

"Soldiers need to do their own work," said Colonel James Markley , who coordinates the Army's Distributed Learning Program at Fort Monroe. "Some of these correspondence courses result in receiving qualifications" in specific specialties .

It "would be a shame" if a soldier cheated to get a promotion, Markley said. "That . . . concerns me quite a bit.