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Recruiters guilty of having sex with recruits

Two Air Force recruiters have been convicted of having sex with women seeking to enlist.

Staff Sgts. Brandon M. Donovan and Jonathon M. Fehl, of the 332nd Recruiting Squadron in Oak Ridge, Tenn., both pleaded guilty to multiple sexual misconduct charges at May 30 courts-martial. Both men were charged with wrongfully making sexual advances toward, or seeking or accepting sexual advances from an Air Force applicant and with adultery.

Both were reduced to E-1 and given a bad conduct discharge, and are now on appellate leave status while their cases are given customary reviews, according to Maj. Sean McKenna, an Air Force Recruiting Service spokesman.

The charges stemmed from Fehl and Donovan’s having sex with a female recruit between June and November 2005, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, which first reported the story Friday. It was not clear whether the men were having sex with the same recruit.

The sergeants were relieved of duty Feb. 12, after an Air Force investigation into their actions. Between that time and their courts-martial, Fehl and Donovan were transferred to recruiting service headquarters at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, and given “duties other than recruiting,” according to an e-mail from McKenna. The Oak Ridge recruiting office is currently vacant, and other airmen in the 332nd have been filling in while a permanent replacement is sought.

An Associated Press investigation in 2006 found that more than 100 women who had looked into joining the military became victims of sexual misconduct at the hands of recruiters. The report, published in the Sept. 11, 2006, Air Force Times, found that 19 Air Force recruiters were disciplined for misconduct between January 2004 and September 2006, nine of whom received Article 15s and seven of whom went before courts-martial. Three received letters of reprimand or counseling.

“As evidenced by their actions, [Donovan and Fehl] failed in their mission,” said McKenna’s e-mail. “The Air Force and Air Force Recruiting Service have a zero-tolerance policy and will not accept inappropriate conduct — period.”