He just saved the taxpayer's some long term cash from his actions! Kudos! he strayed far from the standards of acceptable conduct. No tears here.

Everyone of the sentences was too light. Reduction in rank, still allowed to serve? 90 days for rape and sexual assault? No wonder the Senators were lighting the generals up over this fiasco. Not only did they foster an environment that allowed it to happen, the UCMJ and court-martials did very little to impress upon anyone the severity of their crimes.

As an Instructor myself I think that these Airman had their priorities all wrong. It is not hard to do the right thing by these new recruits that are sent to us to learn their profession. The way I have kept out of trouble while Instructing is by staying professional and doing what I was assigned to do, teach Soldiers their new MOS. By keeping your interactions with the students professional it helps to quell a lot of the problems that may arise. Ensuring that the students always have a Buddy with them whenever you speak to them when not on the podium is key. Many of us have had squads and platoons we have been in charge of and we are used to knowing our subordinates and in order to do this we must speak with them at length. I see that one of the main problems in the Instructor environment is that some Instructors have difficulty realizing that yes they are Soldiers but only to a point. We cannot interact with them as we did our former Soldiers. TRADOC is a different animal, understanding the regulations that govern it is the key here. I feel for the families and the victims of those who were preyed upon by the Instructors who misused the opportunity to mold these students into future medical Soldiers and Airmen. Instead of using their knowledge and skill to give they used them to steal the innocence from these Airmen and pride from our people. I urge all of you out there weather you Instruct or not if you see a coworker, no matter their grade or position, doing the wrong thing by these students, even in the slightest of ways, say something to them about it. You never know you might just prevent an issue before it even begins or at least they will realize that they are not as slick as they think. Most of these students that come to us are fairly young and are very impressionable so it is up to us to educate them in their chosen profession and the military way of life. To me it's like taking a platoon to combat, as far as their families are concerned, I am charged to keep the students safe and bring them back safe and better than when they arrived to me. Remember complacency kills and lead by example. We weren't sent here to make new friends, we were sent here to make new Soldiers!

L.D.R.S.H.I.P., it's not just an acronym, it's a way of life!!! Army Strong!!!

Thank you,
v/r
SSG Espinosa