An anonymous survey of Military Training Instructors conducted at Lackland AFB, Texas, found MTIs are overworked, mistrusted by their chain of command, and fearful of trainee retribution, reported the San Antonio Express-News. Safeguards put in place after the MTI sexual abuse scandal created conditions more stressful “than being deployed in a hostile environment,” stated feedback gathered in last summer’s independent survey. “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,” another MTI wrote, according to the May 28 Express-News report. The RAND Corp. study, which was commissioned by the Air Force, found that more than half of the 200 MTIs polled routinely worked more than 11 hours a day with five or fewer hours of sleep. Col. Mark Camerer, commander of the 37th Training Wing, said the service has “gone a long way” in fixing many issues and more recent polls show improvement, according to the article.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.