Air Force relieves commander over sex scandal

FDNY, You just may have something there. Returning to what worked in the past is not always a step backwards.

In my basic training and in all the schools and instruction I had, I NEVER had this problem with ANY of my male instructors. Nor did any of the women I knew. Maybe we were lucky. Or maybe the US Navy attracts a higher class of men then the Air Force.

Folks, this garbage has been happening for so much longer than the public realizes. I went through 11 years ago and can think of at least one incident that happened while I was going through my six weeks. Bottom line is we need to go old school since this new crew of instructors seems to be pulling things of biblical proportions and segregate: males TIs with male flights and female TIs with female flights. We also need to have a more stringent screening process. Just because a special duty may be hurting for bodies, doesn't mean it's okay to lower standards to let some power hungry sex fiends be in charge of raising civilians into Airmen. As for the Group CC, it's crappy that this mans career is so negatively affected by a bunch of horrible human beings. Furthermore, the apathy and lack of diligence in upholding the core values that coworkers and direct leadership may have exhibited is appalling. While this did happen on the CC's watch, I wonder if he knew about it prior to this all coming to a big ugly head in the news? It is not like this man can hold everyones hands throughout the day; that is why we have supervisors, section chiefs, First Sergants, and Sq/CCs. And if we're going to can the Group CC, then where does it end? Technically it's on the Wing CC and MAJCOM CC and even the Chief of Staff's watch. WHY do we hem these folks up before we give them a chance to do anything about the situation? I want to know if he KNEW about it and did nothing- THAT is where he would have failed as a Commander. We can preach and preach and preach toward a certain environment, but if the hearts of the TIs are set on doing wicked things, no amount of setting the right environment is going to do any good.

sfmedic18D: I honor your service as a veteran myself and agree with your comment you made about this issue. Col. Palmer was definitely a scapegoat for a situation in which the AETC command tried to cover up.

sfmedic Sounds like you had a large cup of testosterone with your breakfast this morning. Also sounds like you're trying to re-open the Army versus Air Force rivalry. I agree with Briannas tha the First Shirt's and Senior Enlisted Advisor's should have gotten envolved. That's their job, to protect their boss, the Commander. Apparently they were too lax in their jobs. When both fail, it's S.O.P. to replace the commander and clean house. Yes, I'm retired military; USAF 20 years.

The first line of defense is the First Sgts. They let the Commander down. Also the Chief enlisted advisor was he asleep? All should be fired, not just the top dog. The Chief enlisted advisor has turned out to be a desk job and yes man. Make him retire. General Whip Wilson, would have been on top of this. General Lemay with his cigar would have been out walking and looking in these store rooms at all hours.

As a retired special operations CSM (US Army) I can see the COL has spent many years in the special operations field. SOPS is not for the weak and lazy desk jockies which about 60% of the AF are. A true warrior is one who is as meet the enemy eye 2 eye as the COL and I have. His awards and badges prove he is a true warrior. I am sure General Officer rank was a sure thing for him until now. My question, what about the Senior NCO support channel? 38yrs in the Army, I know, without a doubt the Senior NCO support channel/system knew far more about this issue than the COL did. How sad is it to see a true combat veteran (not some FOB panzy) be taken down by his fellow comrades instead of the enemy. The media is clueless about the military and the support system both officer and NCO. My friend of many years was killed today in the Stan by some insurgent he was fooled by. Google: CSM killed in the Stan. When I was presented with my 3rd purple heart, I knew it was time to retire. The AF is using the COL as a scapecoat to satisfy the political agenda. Notice how Gen Schwartz (AF top General) quickly threw in his retirement paperwork before the crap hit the fan. Remember the Navy Tailhook scandal, took out the entire Navy change of command. Just goes to show you, the guys at top run like cowards run the fire fight gets heavy.

It's standard procedure to fire the group/squadron/even wing commander when something this blatantly stupid, immoral and illegal happens in his/her unit. Everything that happens in the unit is ultimately the commander's responsibility. It's up to the commander to set the culture and standards for the unit and make it clear that Air Force core values of integrity, service, and excellence will be upheld by everyone and nothing less will be tolerated. I'll bet the next commander will be making that VERY clear. But over time, complacency can creep in, so hopefully the lessons learned from this travesty will be passed down to future commanders.

Welcome to the military way. Cover it up and find a scapegoat.

As a retired USAF CMSgt, and a former Military Training Instructor and Supervisor, I believe that more MTI's and their supervisors, and perhaps some of their Squadron Commanders, may have heard "rumors" about the allegations. Because they did not report the "rumors" as they let their "protect their own" mentality, ahead of their personal integrity, it took some time for the abuses to stop. Had anyone, stepped up immediately, I believe the abuses would have been stopped much sooner.