Air Force names woman to lead basic training amid sex scandal

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force said on Saturday it selected a woman to serve as the new commander of basic training as the service wrestles with allegations that male instructors sexually assaulted and harassed female trainees.

Colonel Deborah Liddick will succeed Colonel Glenn Palmer, who was relieved in August as commander of the 737th Training Group at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, the unit that provides basic training to roughly 35,000 Air Force recruits each year.

Liddick's appointment comes at a critical time for Air Force basic training. Thirty-eight women have come forward with what the Air Force considers to be legitimate complaints of being the victim of improper sexual contact at the hands of trainers.

Seventeen male military training instructors have been implicated in an investigation into sexual contact between instructors and female recruits. Four were convicted or pleaded guilty before courts-martial at Lackland. ...

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/16/us-usa-military-sex-idUSBRE88F00220120916