Sex Scandal In Air Force: Sen. John Cornyn Finishes Apply Over USAF Chief Of Staff Candidate Mark Welsh

The White House pick for Air Force chief of staff was affirmed by the Senate Thursday as members of Congress continued to press the serve for answers about the widening sex scandal at a Texas air base.`

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, ended his hold on the nomination of Gen. Mark Welsh later meeting with the candidate to discuss the scandal at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, which has been roiled by accusations that instructors sexually assaulted female recruits.

"It's clear General Welsh shares my engrave concerns over the situation at Lackland," Cornyn said in a argument. "General Welsh demonstrated a genuine resolve to improving Air Force-wide policies to prevent a reoccurrence of the grossly unacceptable conduct that took place at Lackland." Welsh was supported by voice vote.

President Barack Obama had tapped Welsh to substitute Gen. Norton Schwartz as the head of the Air Force this month.

Among the steps Cornyn sought were a review of current Air Force policy and training on sexual assault prevention, fraternization amongst serve members and the organization of basic military training units at Lackland, with special attention to the ratio of officers to beginners.

Lackland is where every American airman gets basic aiming, with about 475 instructors for approximately 35,000 airmen who graduate each year. About 1 in 5 recruits are female, while most teachers are male.

Last month, a former instructor was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a military jury after he was convicted of rape and sexual attack. Military officials said last week that the number of instructors under investigation total 15 and the number of alleged victims had enhanced by seven to 38.

Across the Capitol, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley; Lt. Gen. Richard Harding, who is the judge recommend general; and Maj. Gen. Leonard Patrick faced questions from members of the House Armed Services Committee around the ongoing investigation at Lackland.

"We expect the Air Force to be open and transparent with the consequences of its investigations. Today's briefing is a good step in that direction, but this committee expects to be fully communicated as this issue evolves," the committee chairman, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., and the top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, said in a statement.

But one of the 11 members who attended the session was frustrated with the lack of data. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said the secretary and two generals were not able to answer fundamental questions about the inquiry.

"They didn't have results as to whether they (the women at the base) are being surveyed or interviewed. They didn't have answers as to how many detectives were handling these cases. They didn't have an answer on what the aiming was for these investigators, whether they were sophisticated, trained detectives or brand new on the job," Speier said in an interview after the closed session. "They didn't have any answers."

Speier said the officials repeatedly said the investigation was on-going.

"It's not going to get fixed until these military teachers realize that their jobs are on the line," Speier said.

The Air Force later said there are 39 members of the AETC Commander's require Directed Investigation and there are additional criminal investigations and questions ongoing at this time.

Rep. Nikki Tsongas, D-Mass., said she was pertained that the Air Force was narrowly interpreting the rules on a victim's access to counsel. She said lawmakers created clear that they would continue to seek answers.

"I think they heard that this is an issue that we assume extraordinarily seriously," Tsongas said.