| By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force said on Wednesday that one quarter of its basic training instructors will be women following widespread sexual harassment and abuse of female recruits at a Texas base. The change comes after months of disclosures of sexual misconduct at Lackland Air Force base in Texas. In a report, Major General Margaret Woodward, Air Force Director of Safety Programs, described a flawed basic training structure that led to "the opportunity for abuse of power." The report was released at the same time as the U.S. military finds itself caught up in a sex scandal involving David Petraeus, a retired four-star Army general. Petraeus stepped down as CIA chief on Friday following revelations that he had an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, a reserve officer in military intelligence. The report makes 46 recommendations including one, which the Air Force says it will apply, that would require one in four basic training instructors to be a woman. Currently one instructor, usually a staff sergeant, oversees a training unit of some 22 recruits, men and women. Now there would be four instructors overseeing two units, with at least one of those being a woman. "This will require a female target of 25 percent of total (training instructors)," the report says. About 22 percent of the Air Force is female, but many of those women are in specialized technical positions. INTEGRATED TRAINING TO STAY Eleven instructors at Lackland have been charged with offenses ranging from inappropriate behavior to sexual assault. Five have been convicted or pleaded guilty at courts-martial and have been sentenced to terms ranging from 30 days to 20 years in prison. The others are in various stages of the military legal process. Continued... |