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Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:07 PM

maddezmom (131,267 posts)

Air Force commander dismissed over Texas sex-assault scandal

Source: USA Today

¬snip¬

Col. Glenn Palmer had been commander of the 737th Training Group for just over a year. All Air Force recruits train at Lackland Air Force Base, part of Joint Base San Antonio.

He assumed command just after Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, an instructor, was accused of raping one trainee and having sex or improper contact with several others, the Air Force Times writes. In late July, Walker was sentenced to 20 years and a dishonorable discharge for rape, aggravated sexual contact and multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault.

Palmer expanded the investigation into instructor-trainee relationships. Besides Walker, two other instructors have been convicted, four more are facing court-martial and eight others are under scrutiny, the Times says. At least 38 possible victims have been identified.

Col. Eric Axelbank, commander of the 37th Training Wing, "lost confidence" in Palmer, the San Antonio Express-News reports, citing a spokeswoman.

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/08/air-force-commander-dismissed-over-texas-sex-assault-scandal/1#.UCWFSE2PW8A

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17 replies	Author	Time	Post
Air Force commander dismissed over Texas sex-assault scandal (Original post)	maddezmom	Aug 2012	OP
Good	Yeah Its Spin	Aug 2012	#1
Not how I read it, it isnt.	stevenleser	Aug 2012	#2
That is the way I read it, too.	ManiacJoe	Aug 2012	#7
CORRECT	Skittles	Aug 2012	#10
Maybe the AFOSI knows something USA today doesn't	gejohnston	Aug 2012	#13
In former USAF myself, I know how it works	stevenleser	Aug 2012	#15
I understand that,	gejohnston	Aug 2012	#17
Looks like he is being made the scapegoat	itsrobert	Aug 2012	#3
The way I read it he did a good job. I'm confused.	virgogal	Aug 2012	#4
Did you read the article?	virgogal	Aug 2012	#5
Reading the article more closely....	DeSwiss	Aug 2012	#6
Looks like there is more to come...	Yeah Its Spin	Aug 2012	#8
Time will tell.	DeSwiss	Aug 2012	#9
A two-star general is now investigating alongside a separate criminal probe	Yeah Its Spin	Aug 2012	#11
A Two Star General invetigation??? That means a one star General or a Colonel is involved somehow	happyslug	Aug 2012	#14
Not in this case, unless that person is covering up for something	stevenleser	Aug 2012	#16
Inaccurate headline - poor reporting by USA Today. In the military, "Dismissal" of an officer	24601	Aug 2012	#12

Response to maddezmom (Original post)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:12 PM

Yeah Its Spin (236 posts)

1. Good

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Response to Yeah Its Spin (Reply #1)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:16 PM

stevenleser (13,724 posts)

2. Not how I read it, it isnt.

The person being dismissed assumed command AFTER the scandal had broken and initiated a wide-ranging investigation into wrongdoing that unearthed all of the problems.

It seems he is being punished for fixing the problems because the fixing caused the command and the Air Force some embarrassment.

Unless I am reading this wrong, he is not the bad guy here.

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Response to stevenleser (Reply #2)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:23 PM

ManiacJoe (5,629 posts)

7. That is the way I read it, too.

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Response to stevenleser (Reply #2)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 07:03 PM

Skittles (87,027 posts)

10. CORRECT

he's a fall guy

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Response to stevenleser (Reply #2)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 11:40 PM

gejohnston (12,830 posts)

13. Maybe the AFOSI knows something USA today doesn't

I don't take much at face value. I'm guessing AFOSI is running the investigation at this point. That being the case, they really don't care about Palmer or the general for that matter.
That said, that is how the Air Force works. The squadron commander and the group commander gets fired for poor supervision. On my last trip to the middle east, a young airman got extremely drunk (blew a 0.35) at the Royal Omani Air Force NCO club. The USAF MSgt sitting next to her got in trouble, and the captain over her (who wasn't there) got in trouble as well.

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Response to gejohnston (Reply #13)

Sat Aug 11, 2012, 04:51 PM

stevenleser (13,724 posts)

15. In former USAF myself, I know how it works

The wrongdoing was not a product of this person's leadership, he undertook to fix it.

The OSI are not the folks who removed this person, his commander did. If OSI were in the belief that he was engaged in wrongdoing, they would refer charges to the convening authority to initiate an article 32 hearing. Thats what the OSI does, they investigate wrongdoing. They do not determine fitness for command.

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Response to stevenleser (Reply #15)

Sat Aug 11, 2012, 05:54 PM

gejohnston (12,830 posts)

17. I understand that,

My point was that he could be a OSI target himself, or he simply did a poor job of trying to fix it. Either could get him removed from command. I did not mean to imply that the OSI took any action themselves.

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Response to Yeah Its Spin (Reply #1)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:16 PM

itsrobert (9,112 posts)

3. Looks like he is being made the scapegoat

He just took command when the first rape was reported. He EXPANDED the investigation. You don't think this abuse was going on before he took command?

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Response to Yeah Its Spin (Reply #1)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:17 PM

virgogal (7,430 posts)

4. The way I read it he did a good job. I'm confused.

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Response to Yeah Its Spin (Reply #1)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:18 PM

virgogal (7,430 posts)

5. Did you read the article?

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Response to Yeah Its Spin (Reply #1)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:20 PM

DeSwiss (17,459 posts)

6. Reading the article more closely....

...it appears he was the ''good guy.''

He assumed command just after Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, an instructor, was accused of raping one trainee and having sex or improper contact with several others, the Air Force Times writes. In late July, Walker was sentenced to 20 years and a dishonorable discharge for rape, aggravated sexual contact and multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault.

Palmer expanded the investigation into instructor-trainee relationships. Besides Walker, two other instructors have been convicted, four more are facing court-martial and eight others are under scrutiny, the Times says. At least 38 possible victims have been identified.

Palmer in November started addressing recruits in their first week of basic training, telling them, "You are my neighborhood watch" and urging the trainees to report any instructors who make sexual advances toward them.

- It looks to me as if they got rid of him because he was making them look bad by obeying the law and looking out for the safety of those under his command.......

K&R

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Response to DeSwiss (Reply #6)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:48 PM

Yeah Its Spin (236 posts)

8. Looks like there is more to come...

Officials tell The Associated Press that the Air Force has relieved Palmer, a top commander at Lackland Air Force base from his position in the wake of a widening sex scandal.

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Response to Yeah Its Spin (Reply #8)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 06:52 PM

DeSwiss (17,459 posts)

9. Time will tell.

- It always does.

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Response to maddezmom (Original post)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 07:08 PM

Yeah Its Spin (236 posts)

11. A two-star general is now investigating alongside a separate criminal probe

A two-star general is now investigating alongside a separate criminal probe, which military prosecutors say could sweep up more airmen. Advocates for female service members and members of Congress have started taking notice.

"It's a pretty big scandal the Air Force is having to deal with at this point," said Greg Jacob, a former Marine infantry officer and policy director of the Service Women's Action Network. "It's pretty substantial in its scope."

Yet there are signs the Air Force still doesn't have a handle on the full depth of the problem. Staff Sgt. Peter Vega-Maldonado pleaded guilty earlier this month to having sex with a female trainee and struck a plea deal for 90 days' confinement. Then he acknowledged being involved with a total of 10 trainees — a number previously unknown to investigators.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47960915/ns/us_news/t/widening-sex-scandal-rocks-texas-air-force-base/#.UCWTD6DgxUA

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Response to Yeah Its Spin (Reply #11)

Sat Aug 11, 2012, 01:23 AM

happyslug (10,878 posts)

14. A Two Star General invetigation??? That means a one star General or a Colonel is involved somehow

In the Military, you can NOT investigate someone of superior or equal rank. Thus Colonels can NOT investigate Colonels. "Full Bird" Colonels can investigate Lieutenant Colonels but NOT the reverse.

Now, to be on the safe side, the Military will appoint someone well above the ranks involved, so that if it is bigger then it is at first believe, the investigator hopefully would still be higher rank (During the Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal, the investigating General asked to be relieved for he ended up investigating another General of the Same Rank. The investigating General realized he was no longer dealing with lower ranking personnel but equal rank and realized he had to be replaced by a higher ranking general which is why he asked to be relieved.

Thus it looks like a Colonel is being investigated, but may be a one star general, but I lean to a Colonel or Lieutenant Colonel.

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Response to happyslug (Reply #14)

Sat Aug 11, 2012, 04:57 PM

stevenleser (13,724 posts)

16. Not in this case, unless that person is covering up for something

The officers in charge of the basic training squadrons are never involved directly with trainees. The NCOs conduct all of the training. My entire time at basic in Lackland, I think I saw officers twice, and both times they were giving speeches to multiple squadrons of new airmen.

If a Lt. Colonel or Colonel is involved in wrongdoing, it is an after the fact kind of crime like a coverup, but in a case like this one that would also be hard to believe. The commanding officers at Basic training in Lackland do not work as closely with the NCOs as they do in other situations and thus arent close enough to the to want to risk as much as a major coverup to save them.

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Response to maddezmom (Original post)

Fri Aug 10, 2012, 11:22 PM

24601 (2,536 posts)

12. Inaccurate headline - poor reporting by USA Today. In the military, "Dismissal" of an officer

is equivalent to a Dishonorable Discharge for an enlisted service member. It may be part of a sentence by a General Court Martial for certain offenses under the UCMJ.

The proper headline would have said that the Officer was Relieved of Command.

Typical journalist mistake - often when the reporter has no military experience.

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