The commander of the 322nd Training Squadron has officially been relieved of command because his the airmen under his command failed to provide trainees opportunities to report alleged mistreatment, a spokeswoman for Air Education and Training Command said.
Lt. Col. Dat Lam was relieved of command on Thursday and has been reassigned to a unit outside of the 37th Training Wing and outside the basic military training environment, said Maj. Toni Whaley. The move comes after Lam was temporarily reassigned in February.
Col. Michelle Edmondson, 737th Training Group commander, had lost confidence in Lam's ability to command due to his "repeated inability to enforce compliance with expectations and standards within his squadron," Whaley said in an email Friday to Air Force Times.
"Lt. Col. Lam's subordinate leadership team continued to negatively affect morale and violate standards and training expectations while under his command," Whaley said in an email.
On his Linkedin page, Lam says he served as commander of the training squadron from June 2013 to April 2015, and he is currently "transitioning."
His prior assignments include serving as commander of the 627th Civil Engineer Squadron at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, his Linkedin page says. He also speaks Vietnamese.
"Command is a privilege," Whaley said in the email. "When commanders fail to meet the Air Force's expectations and standards, senior leaders have the responsibility to address the performance and hold them accountable."
