Air Force launches a big change in basic training
Protect Our Defenders President Col. Don Christensen (ret.) is featured in this article from the San Antonio Express-News:
Retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, president of the advocacy group Protect Our Defenders, said he hoped the program would help but said nothing would change until the military justice system is fundamentally altered — removing commanders from the legal process.
“Training programs are important, but they will not fix an inherently unfair system. In the military, your rapist’s boss decides whether or not a sexual assault allegation is investigated,” he said. “This puts commanders in an impossible position and is why more than 85 percent of troops continue not to openly report the crime.”
Neither the debate over how to fix such problems nor the idea of instilling core values into airmen are new. Indoctrination into military culture always has been a part of early training, which aims to recast free-thinking civilians into troops prepared to follow orders and execute them. Capstone will offer a more detailed curriculum than the airman’s school, with top Air Force leaders saying it ought to better better prepare young airmen for what is ahead.
