SSgt. Ryan Deraas, a former military training instructor at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., pled guilty to two charges and eight specifications of misconduct for assaulting two recruits and pursuing five inappropriate relationships with trainees, reported the San Antonio Express-News. As part of his plea bargain, Deraas admitted to having sex with a woman who was still in technical training school, according to the newspaper’s March 5 report. Without the deal, Deraas faced up to one year in jail. Instead, a military judge sentenced him on March 5 to three months in jail and give him a bad-conduct discharge, reported the Express-News. “I have no one to blame for my actions. I made horrible choices,” said Deraas during his court-martial. Deraas’ case was the ninth court-martial resulting from sexual misconduct by former MTIs at Lackland. So far, 32 current and former trainers have come under investigation for personal and sexual misconduct against 62 alleged victims, according to the newspaper.
The Defense Department hasn’t seen an increase in domestic violence reports among military families since the new coronavirus crisis began, despite the COVID-19 pandemic reportedly causing a spike in such activity across the globe, the head of the Pentagon’s Office of Military Family Readiness Policy told reporters Oct. 29. However,…