There are 20 military training instructors are now under investigation for inappropriate relationships with trainees at Joint Base San Antonio; five have already been court-martialed. This week, the Air Force set up a special hotline for trainees and others to report cases of sexual abuse.
Joint Base San Antonio sent an email to about 300,000 former Air Force trainees, asking them to call the hotline if they were subjected to sexual abuse or witnessed an incident. Joint Base San Antonio Spokesman Brent Boller said the Air Force is seeking to uncover any old cases that went unreported for fear of retaliation.
"The email is part of our outreach efforts to current and former airmen to encourage them to help us uncover allegations of unprofessional relationships, sexual misconduct and sexual assault," said Boller. "Tips can be made anonymously to a 24-hour hotline."
More than 350,000 trainees have gone through the Lackland Air Education Training Command program in the past ten years.
The effort also aims to prevent future cases of abuse. The hotline is available to current airmen to report incidents now and in the future as well as relatives, friends, or others who know about cases of abuse that have gone unreported.
The hotline number is 210-652-0008 and is answered at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.
