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Air Force Commander Dismissed Amidst Sex Scandal

Cara Palmer |
August 11, 2012 | 10:35 a.m. PDT

Executive Producer

The scandal at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, has resulted in a change of command. (Marco, Creative Commons)
The scandal at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, has resulted in a change of command. (Marco, Creative Commons)

The Air Force dismissed Col. Glenn Palmer, commander for basic training, due to a sexual-assault scandal, USA Today reported.

Col. Eric Axelbank removed Palmer from his position. Axelbank lost confidence in Palmer, who had been a commander at Lackland Air Force Base for a year, during which a sexual assault scandal involving instructors and recruits came to light. Palmer was dismissed after Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, one of the instructors, was sentenced to 20 years for rape and aggravated sexual assault.

Palmer had expanded the investigation, initially focused on Walker, into other instructors. Now, two other instructors have been convicted of similar charges, four others now face court-martial, and eight more are still under investigation.

Axelbank decided to replace Palmer as a way to move forward, although he acknowledged that Palmer “did not create the environment that created the misconduct.” There are reportedly more than three dozen female trainee victims of male instructors.

 

Reach Executive Producer Cara Palmer here; follow her here.



 

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