Sen. 
John Cornyn (R-Tex.) placed a hold on the nomination of Gen. Mark Welsh to be the next Air Force Chief of Staff, citing his concerns over the incidents of sexual misconduct by Air Force military training instructors at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in his state. “My hold on General Welsh will remain until I feel the Air Force is adequately addressing the unacceptable situation at Lackland and taking corrective steps to reform their training program to prevent this from happening again,” said Cornyn on July 27. Already the Air Force has found two former MTIs guilty of sexual misconduct, one of whom will spend 20 years in confinement. Just last week, the Air Force said the number of MTIs under investigation had risen by three to 15, and the number of alleged victims had grown by seven to 38, reported the Associated Press. The Air Force’s widespread efforts to stop sexual assaults in its ranks are “not working,” Welsh told the Senate Armed Services Committee during his July 19 confirmation hearing. “Everyone is trying to do the right thing and figure out some way of stopping this, but the fact is we haven’t even reversed the trend,” he acknowledged.
The Air Force could conduct an operation like Israel's successful air campaign against Iran's nuclear sites, military leadership and air defenses, but readiness issues would make it risky, airpower experts said. Limited spare parts and training, low mission capable rates and few flying hours would put a drag on USAF's…