A military judge sentenced SSgt. Craig Leblanc to 30 months of confinement and a reduction in rank to airman basic, plus he will be dishonorably discharged, for sexual misconduct while he was a military training instructor at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., announced base officials. The judge of Leblanc’s general court-martial on Feb. 14 found Leblanc guilty of two specifications of making false official statements; one specification of obstructing justice; three specifications of violating lawful no-contact orders; one specification of absenting himself without leave; one specification of “maltraining” basic trainees; one specification of committing adultery on multiple occasions; one specification of wrongfully seeking to develop a personal, intimate, and sexual relationship with a basic trainee; and one specification of wrongfully attempting to develop a personal social relationship with a technical training student. The court found him not guilty of a specification of aggravated sexual assault, according to Lackland’s Feb. 15 release. Leblanc’s case was the eighth court-martial resulting from sexual misconduct by former MTIs at Lackland. (See also Making a Difference.)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…