Clearing the Fog of War

Ex-Lackland instructor not guilty in rape

A former Air Force basic training instructor was found guilty Tuesday of abusing recruits four years ago at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, but he was acquitted of raping an airman during a stint overseas.

Tech. Sgt. Bobby Bass, who is on trial at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Miss., faces as much as 33 years in prison, but prosecutors sought just 24 months' confinement.

Witnesses took the stand to recount how he treated them, with one saying boot camp had destroyed his career.

“He said that 'these incidents broke what I believed would happen and who I would become,'” said Col. Polly Kenny, a top lawyer with the 2nd Air Force in Biloxi.

The rape allegation was the most serious charge faced by Bass, who was an instructor at Lackland before and after a deployment to Kyrgyzstan. Kenny said jurors could have found him guilty of a lesser offense stemming from the incident at Manas Air Base, but did not. They did, however, decide that Bass had an unprofessional relationship with the airman, who said they shared alcohol before the alleged sexual assault.

One of 33 instructors accused of misconduct with 63 recruits and technical school trainees at Lackland since 2008, Bass was found guilty of a long list of charges alleging he abused recruits in a flight he led from Aug. 1-Oct. 31, 2009.

Jurors weighed punishment for about 80 minutes before breaking for the day. As they return to court this morning, the panel of two officers and six NCOs will consider a defense plea to give Bass hard labor.

“They asked for mercy for the family,” Kenny said, noting that the defense said confinement “should be measured in days, not months or years,” if ordered.

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Airman woke up as he was being raped

A former airman he said he awoke to find a training instructor having sex with him after a night of drinking on their base in Kyrgyzstan — and later learned he was positive for the virus that causes AIDS.

A doctor testified Friday that Tech. Sgt. Bobby Bass, who faces life in prison on charges of sexually assaulting the airman and abusing 16 other recruits in basic training, is not HIV-positive.

But the airman, identified as Victim 1, said his life unraveled after the incident and led to his dismissal from the Air Force on drug charges.

“He says he felt like, in a split second he had two choices: One, he could go absolutely crazy or two, he could just be quiet, and he chose to be quiet,” said Col. Polly Kenny, staff judge advocate for the 2nd Air Force in Biloxi, Miss., where Bass is on trial.

Prosecutors and the defense wrapped up their cases Friday without Bass taking the stand. He is among 33 instructors from Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland who have fallen under investigation for misconduct with 63 victims on the base.

Bass was a military training instructor at Lackland before deploying to Kyrgyzstan, and he returned to San Antonio to resume his duties after his tour. In August 2009, he took charge of an all-male basic training flight. Most of the allegations against him involve recruits under his command at Lackland.

The Air Force says he forcibly sodomized Victim 1 between Oct. 22, 2007, and Jan. 31, 2008, at Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan. Kenny said testimony showed the incident began when Bass and other airmen went to a base recreation center and drank beer. Troops there were given a ration of two beers a day.

Bass and some of the airmen later drank liquor in the victim's room. The victim testified he drank two cups and woke up at 3 a.m. as Bass finished having sex with him.

“Sgt. Bass leaned and whispered in his ear, 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen that way,' or something to that effect, crawled over him and left the room,” Kenny said.

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Lackland trainer on trial for abuse charges

A former Air Force training instructor faces life in prison on charges of sexually assaulting an airman and abusing 16 other recruits in basic training after giving bizarre orders to the victims — all men.

Prosecutors say Tech. Sgt. Bobby Bass, whose trial began Monday at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Miss., made trainees under his command at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland stand naked against a latrine wall, sometimes touching each other.

The Air Force said he made recruits perform physical training in a bathroom and watched as he ordered two of his trainees to rub a muscle cream on their genitals that increases blood flow.

None of the Lackland victims reported their mistreatment, and years passed before one airman, who accused Bass of sexual assault, notified authorities last year.

“I think that we're all concerned there are cases out there, not just from this incident but what we've discovered from the increased scrutiny and widening investigative effort that the Air Force has put into Lackland,” said Col. Polly Kenny, staff judge advocate for the 2nd Air Force in Biloxi.

“Certainly, we're discovering more now than we were and, yes, we are concerned that there are undetected and unreported offenses that have occurred or that may have occurred,” she said.

Bass is among 33 Lackland instructors who have fallen under investigation in what has become the Air Force's worst sex scandal. So far, investigators have found 63 victims, but they continue to look into new cases.

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Ex-Lackland instructor faces 16 allegations of cruelty

A one-time Air Force basic training instructor went on trial today facing two dozen allegations of cruelty and mistreating recruits, as well as sexual assault and forcible sodomy.

The Air Force also lodged two sexual assault charges against Tech. Sgt. Bobby Bass, whose court-martial began this morning at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Miss.

Prosecutors say the sexual assault cases took place at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, home of Air Force basic training, but few details were available and lawyers for the service couldn't be reached.

So far, at least 14 instructors have gone to trial at Lackland over the past year in a growing sex scandal involving trainers, recruits in basic training and technical school students.

The Air Force said today that 33 instructors have fallen under investigation for illicit contact with 63 recruits and technical school trainees in cases that go back to 2008.

Bass is accused of 16 specifications of cruelty and maltreatment, two specifications of wrongful sexual contact and four specifications of assault while a basic training instructor in 2009.

But there are two other allegations stemming from an overseas deployment from 2007 to 2008. Those charges include forcible sodomy and having an unprofessional relationship.

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