Sexual misconduct alleged in Air Force

The U.S. Air Force is investigating 12 male military training instructors for alleged sexual misconduct with female cadets, the head of the Air Force Air Education and Training Command said yesterday.

Gen. Edward Rice said the Air Force has identified 31 victims, all of whom had been trained at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. He said nine of the 12 instructors under investigation were from the 331st training squadron at Lackland.

The commander of that squadron was relieved of his duty this month, Rice said.

"We are taking a comprehensive look, not only at the cases we know, but in trying to assess whether there are other cases out there," Rice told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.

In addition to his command's internal probe, Rice ordered Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward to conduct an independent investigation examining the command's response to the scandal and whether additional actions should be taken.

The command also is considering whether female cadets should be trained only by female instructors, though no decisions have been made, Rice said.

The probe at Lackland began last year, after three training instructors came forward with information about alleged misconduct, he said.

Rep. Jackie Speier of California, a Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, called for that panel to conduct its own investigation of the scandal.

"The fact that these assaults were widespread and took place over many months flies in the face of the 'zero tolerance' policy touted by our military leaders," Speier wrote in a letter last week to the Armed Services committee's Republican chairman and ranking Democrat.

Speier said that at least four Air Force instructors have been charged with sexual misconduct with at least 24 trainees.

A staff sergeant was charged with having sexual contact with 10 women in incidents that included sodomy and rape in technical and basic training, Speier said. In another case, a staff sergeant admitted in a plea bargain to having sex with one trainee, resulting in a punishment of 90 days in jail, 30 days of hard labor, a reduction in rank and a fine, the lawmaker said.