Khaberni - Maariv newspaper revealed a "shock" in the Israeli Air Force, where approximately half of the students of course 191 were tried and sent to prison after drinking beer during a weekend at a hotel.
According to Maariv, all the students, who were scheduled to graduate at the end of this month, were in the hotel after a week of "Chain of Captivity" (Operation Protective Edge) which is considered a special activity. The students were asked to stay in isolation in the hotel's suite, but several of them received visits from their families, and about 15 students drank alcohol during the "healing/interpretation" sessions.
An investigation conducted by a commander at the flight school revealed that one of the leaders allowed alcohol consumption, which included each of them drinking a single beer bottle, and this incident will be treated with utmost seriousness.
The incident began with individual signs, as some leaders suspected that a part of the students received visits during the same weekend, and the entire story was not revealed until after conducting two investigations.
15 students were tried and sent to prison for durations ranging from three to seven days. Other students were subjected to lighter penalties. As for the commander with the rank of major, he will be referred to an evaluation committee to determine his professional future.
On its part, the Israeli army said that the course was conducted in continuation of the war, and because of the war, the course was adapted with some content modifications, and parts of the content might have been removed. The air force is investigating whether this had a direct impact on the handling of the serious disciplinary incident.
In addition, the immediate and professional response of the flight school commander was appreciated by the Air Force commander, who emphasized that there would be no tolerance for ethical issues that form the basis of the force's values and instructed to enhance the image of leadership in all training frameworks based on the values of the Israeli Army.
In the next few days, as usual in flight school, the final review committee for the course will be held, and it is currently unclear whether the incident will affect the future of the students to become pilots in the Air Force.
