ANCHORAGE, Ak. – Senior Airman Ralph Montanez, an Intelligence Operations Specialist assigned to the 611th Air Operations Center at Elmendorf Air Force Base, was detained last week and charged with mishandling classified information while not having high enough rank to get away with it.
“This is a serious charge,” said Lt. Col. Peter Smith, the Intelligence Division commander. “We expect our enlisted intelligence personnel and sometimes junior officers to adhere to the highest security standards to protect classified information.”
Airman Montanez allegedly sent classified summaries of various intelligence reports over an unclassified computer network, according to the complaint. This, explained Smith, was strictly forbidden for anyone below the rank of colonel.
