31 Female Victims and Counting in Air Force Sexual Assault Scandal

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In what’s probably the worst sex assault scandal in the U.S. military
in the last 20 years, Air force officials have determined that 31 women
have been identified as victims of sexual misconduct and assault at
Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where 12 male boot-camp instructors
are under investigation for allegedly raping, assaulting, harassing, and
having sex with female recruits. “Gen. Edward Rice, commander of the
Air Education and Training Command, told Pentagon reporters that a dozen
male instructors were under investigation, and that nine of them were
from the same unit — the 331st Training Squadron,” according to The Associated PressThe San Antonio Express News’ Tracy Idell Hamilton notes that Rice said all 31 women were still part of the Air Force. 

That number could still grow as officials have found problems in other
units aside from the 331st Training Squadron, possibly opening up
multiple investigations into female recruit harassment, calling the Air
Force’s selection process for male instructors into question, The Washington Post‘s Craig Whitlock reports. Lackland, Whitlock explains, “has snowballed into potentially the worst sex scandal in the U.S. military since 1996.”

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