THE DAILY FED
DoD Sex Scandal Grows
A U.S. Air Force general at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, said yesterday eight male instructors had been relieved of their teaching duties and one had been jailed since 1994 for a year for adultery and sexual harassment, news services reported.
All Air Force recruits receive their basic training at the Texas base.
Almost 20 trainers at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland are facing investigations into their sexual conduct. Publicity of the Aberdeen cases has ignited a military-wide review of sexual misconduct and harassment policy. Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the unfolding scandal "a great, great tragedy." Defense Secretary William Perry has ordered all branches of the military to enforce a "zero tolerance" policy toward sexual harassment.
Ten Army drill sergeants at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., have been either charged or suspended in a probe of misconduct. Unlike the Aberdeen investigation, where one drill sergeant has been charged with rape and threatening to kill his victims if they reported him, the charges at the Missouri base range from consensual intercourse to indecent assault.
The San Antonio Express-News reported that five drill sergeants at Fort Sam Houston were either discharged from the Army or reassigned following a bus trip to Mexico during which recruits and instructors kissed, licked and danced with each other.
Fort Sam Houston is the Army's largest medical training facility.
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