Real and to be expected?

Real and to be expected-a natural consequence of how Congress and perhaps leadership is approaching the real and very important issue of preventing sexual assault?

Military.com reports, In Survey, Lackland DIs Rip Leaders, Fear Recruits, 29 May 2014.

A survey of basic-training instructors conducted during the worst sex scandal in Air Force history revealed a sharp distrust of senior commanders at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and a widespread fear of recruits.

In what might seem an obvious consequence of how the issue of sexual is being addressed:

“I am terrified I’m going to have my career ended by a trainee that drops a comment because I hurt his feelings or they just don’t like me,” one instructor wrote in the survey. “Leadership does not back us up. At all,” the instructor continued. “I’ll give it to you in a nutshell: trainees run this place, MTI’s are afraid constantly of getting in trouble over hurting a spoiled 18-year-olds’ feelings, and no one is willing to change that,” one instructor wrote.

I’m not certain these thoughts are limited to MTIs at Lackland. And perhaps this is a consequence of denial as well as training that only a complaining witness is to be believed. As evidence of the leadership the article goes on:

Rand found that more than half of the instructor corps worked more than 11 hours a day last summer, and that two thirds of “street” MTIs — those who train recruit flights — slept five hours or less a day. Another one-third of supervisors and other instructors also said they slept five hours or less a day. Camerer (the wing commander) said he was surprised to learn of the problem, but added that some instructors told him “they just didn’t want to leave their flight.” (Emphasis added.)

Cooperation and teamwork are necessary elements of leadership, and vital to a correction of problems.

Instructors also expressed concerns about interaction of Col. Deborah Liddick, commander of the 737th Training Group, with those running the group’s eight training squadrons. One said, “It is very apparent that she does not trust anyone who is an MTI and she continues to discredit the feedback given to her on decisions made.”

But wait, the wing commander said that, “I need my MTIs to know we listen to them.”

Perhaps the Rand Survey can be extended throughout the Services as part of sensing sessions and a 360 view of how sexual assaults in the military are being addressed in actuality.