A worldwide inspection of U.S. Air Force facilities uncovered more than 631 pornographic movies, videos, DVDs, posters, magazines and other material that were either stored on computer servers or displayed in common areas at bases, according to a report released Friday. The hunt also found 31,585  other instances of "unprofessional" and "offensive" material -- including some that was racially insensitive, it said.

The  search and report come on the heels of allegations that sexual misconduct is rampant within the Air Force and mounting complaints from Congress and women's groups that the service has tolerated a "culture"  of disrespect for women. Other branches of the U.S. military have been the subject of similar complaints.  

Maj. Joel Harper, an Air Force spokesman,  confirmed that criminal investigations have been launched into some of those responsible for the material and said that some personnel may be subject to possible court martials. All the pornography and offensive material has been either removed or destroyed, Harper said.

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The purpose of the inspection was "to send a message that this type of stuff is not acceptable in this day and age," Harper said. "Some of this was clearly inappropriate."

An especially high number of improper materials were found at the Air Education and Training Command in Texas, which includes Lackland Air Force Base, the report said.  More than 30 instructors there are already under investigation for sexual misconduct—including allegedly sexually assaulting trainees --  and the issue will be a subject of a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee next week. Among the material found at the command on common computer drives, according to the report, were 144 pornographic posters and graphics -- including some "glorifying suicide" and "racial" in nature -- and 13 videos at showing "sexual images" as well as "killings and torture." Another video removed from the command was entitled "Achmed the Dead Terrorist."

Material found and removed at other bases included Maxim magazines "with scantily clad women in provocative poses"  and photos of a "clothed lady performing oral sex" and a "female in tank top with beer bottle between breasts," it said. Other less explicit material, deemed less serious but still inappropriate,  included a shirtless photo of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and a “Ken' Doll dressed only in swim trunks."

The worldwide inspection of all Air Force bases was ordered last month by Gen. Mark Welsh, the service’s Chief of Staff, who directed commanders to “document and remove as contraband” any material they deemed “unprofessional or inappropriate” – defined as “detrimental  to a professional working environment” as well as “lewd, obscene or pornographic images or publications.” Harper said it was up to individual commanders to determine what constituted “inappropriate” materials.

Welsh acted after Jennifer Smith, a technical sergeant at Shaw Air Force Base, filed an administrative complaint alleging "systemic and intentional sexual discrimination" against women in the Air Force. Smith, a 17 year veteran of the Air Force, told NBC News that she found highly offensive and "disgusting" pornography stored on computer servers and in songbooks at the base -- as well as some that she said were stored in classified vaults.  

"I have served just as long and just as hard as any male has and for them to put that type of pornography out there was degrading," she said.  

As the numbers  of women serving in the military has increased over the years, it has led to mounting complaints of rapes, sexual assaults and other misconduct. The Pentagon estimated that there had been as many as 19,000 sexual assaults against members of the military in 2011, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed  vigorous action to attack the problem. 

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Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday ordered the Pentagon to dig into and determine why an alarming number of generals and admirals have been snared by a variety of ethical lapses and misconduct allegations, headlined by the admitted marital infidelity of former four-star general and ex-CIA Director David Petraeus.

According to a statement released by the Department of Defense, Panetta believes that while the "vast majority" of U.S. general officers continue to abide by traditional ethical standards, he has nonetheless become concerned about the spike in alleged misbehavior among a rising number of flag officers spanning the Army, Navy and Marines.

"Over the past several months, the Secretary has spoken with the service secretaries, service chiefs, and combatant commanders about those instances when senior officers have not lived up to the standards expected of them. This has been an ongoing discussion reflecting shared concerns," the DOD release said. "This week, the Secretary directed General Dempsey to work with the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to review how to better foster a culture of stewardship among our most senior military officers.  This process is intended to reinforce and strengthen the standards that keep us a well led and disciplined military."

Panetta was in Thailand Thursday as part of a visit to Asia. Neither Panetta's order nor the DOD statement mentioned Petraeus, who has been under FBI investigation, or Marine Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, who is involved in the Petreaus case. Allen has denied any wrongdoing.

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In addition, three other top-rung commanders have recently been punished by the military or remain under investigation for alleged misconduct:

• Army Gen. William Ward, the four-star general who once led the U.S. Africa Command was demoted Tuesday amid accusations that he spent thousands of dollars on lavish travel. He was stripped of one star and will retire. In August, a Defense Department Inspector General’s Report said Ward took an 11-day trip to Washington and Atlanta, costing $129,000 but spending just three days on official business.
• Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair is accused of 26 violations of military law including forcible sodomy, wrongful sexual conduct, possessing pornography while deployed and conduct unbecoming of an officer. According to prosecutors, the alleged sexual assaults happened in Afghanistan, Iraq and Germany, as well as at military bases in the United States. In May, Sinclair was removed from Afghanistan, where he’d served as a deputy commander for support. An initial military hearing has ended, but there has been no decision on whether to proceed to a court martial, The Associated Press reported.
• Navy Cmdr. Joseph E. Darlak and top officers of the San Diego-based Navy frigate USS Vandegrift were relieved of duty on Nov. 2 after a boisterous, drunken port visit to Vladivostok, Russia. Darlak was removed, the Navy said, after an investigation found he had exhibited "poor leadership and failure to ensure the proper conduct of his wardroom officers" during the three-day September stop, the Associated Press reported.

Ward, Sinclair and Darlak have not commented publicly about the charges against them.

Some military observers see the recent spate of high-profile cases of alleged misconduct as a much larger issue affecting the armed forces.

Directing combat operations on the far side of the world has separated many general officers from their families for the better part of a decade while they live in “an alternate-reality universe” – culturally insulated along with other brass – while being increasingly viewed as “untouchable,” said Frank Wuco, a retired U.S. Naval intelligence chief.

That distance and divide can put military commanders at risk of losing their moral compass, said Wuco, who hosts a weekly radio program in Tampa, Fla. In the late stages of Wuco’s intelligence career, he attended multiple meetings with then-Gen. David Petraeus who, at the time, was leading U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Wuco describes the former four-star general as “down to earth,” but he said the social status of many U.S. generals has ballooned to new heights during the two wars (Iraq and Afghanistan), allowing American military leaders to “begin to live in this kind of artificial bubble.”

“With the senior guys and the flag officers, this is like the new royalty. We treat them like kings and princes. These general officers in the military, at a certain point, become untouchable,” Wuco said. “In many cases, they get their own airplanes, their own helicopters. When they walk into a room, everybody comes to attention. In the case of some of them, people are very afraid to speak up or to disagree. Being separated from real life all the time in that way probably leaves them vulnerable (to lapses in moral judgement)."

But Thomas Ricks, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, disagrees with the notion that military leadership is more insulated and that they have had their heads clouded by adulation. To Ricks, the problem is squarely centered on a wholesale loss of accountability across the landscape of the American armed forces.

"It is because the U.S. military has lost hold of the idea of accountability - that is, rewarding success and removing failures. And so people get promoted kind of mindlessly, and aren't punished when they fail repeatedly over the years," said Ricks, who also writes a blog for ForeignPolicy.com called “The Best Defense."

"Ultimately, when their failure becomes public, they may get punished. Bottom line: Today being a general is like being a tenured professor. You can do a lousy job and keep it, but if you embarrass the institution with moral lapses, you will get bounced," Ricks said.

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As for the reports of Petraeus’ infidelity – as well as any unreported sexual dalliances involving other military leaders – ex-intelligence chief Wuco contends such behaviors within the highest levels of the military “are nothing new.”

“This type of cheating, while definitely alarming, is not off limits to the military,” Wuco said. “This is classic ‘men of a certain age.’ You’re looking at a guy who’s up there in age. He’s been working his ass off his entire adult life, separated from all of the good times everybody else has been having. I don’t think it’s anything more than: it made him feel good. It was good for his ego. He was holding the attention of a younger woman. It’s a classic story across every center of society.”

In fact, two of America's most venerated generals - Dwight D. Eisenhower and Matthew Ridgway - were known to have had romantic flings during World War II and the Korean War, but their infidelities didn't make news and certainly didn't cost them their commands.

A third World War II hero, Gen. George S. Patton, also had an extramarital affair, according to the book, "Patton," by the late Martin Blumenson.

"We’re in a different time now," said Robert O. Kirkland, a military historian who teaches at the University of Southern California. He called the Eisenhower and Ridgway liaisons with women other than their wives "documented in the historical record."

"Maybe some things in the past were overlooked," Kirkland said. "They’re now enforced."

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Prostitutes in Colombia who were paid for sex by Secret Service personnel last month days before President Barack Obama visited the South American country had no ties to drug cartels or terrorist organizations, a source with knowledge of the investigation tells NBC News. 

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the information was included in a 24-page written response from Secret Service officials to congressional committees investigating a recent prostitution scandal involving members of Obama’s advance security team.

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As first reported earlier Wednesday by the Washington Post, the response indicated that bureau investigators have determined that nine of the 12 women who accompanied the Secret Service personnel to their rooms at the El Caribe hotel in Cartagena were paid for sex, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. The women were picked up at four different clubs, the source said. 

 

Investigators still are trying to interview two other women involved in the incident, which occurred prior to the Summit of the Americas on April 14-15, the source said. 

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Seven of the Secret Service personnel at the center of the probe have resigned, one has been terminated and one has retired, NBC News has reported previously. Three others have been cleared of serious misconduct but given administrative punishment.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and ranking Democratic Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., issued a joint statement in response to the letter received late Tuesday from U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan. 

"We appreciate the Secret Services' detailed responses to our questions,” it said. "Director Sullivan's cooperation with our oversight efforts underscores his commitment to understand the extent of the problem and ensure that this unacceptable conduct does not occur again.” 

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The 12 Secret Service personnel at the center of the investigation were among 175 members of the service in Colombia during Obama’s visit. They were among 135 staying at the hotel El Caribe, the source said. 

The source also confirmed that bureau investigators are looking into a separate report by a Seattle-based investigative reporter that Secret Service personnel may have engaged in similar misconduct in El Salvador prior to a visit by Obama in 2011.  

According to the source, investigators looked through records from the trip, spoke to supervisors and gone through timelines, but so far have found no evidence of misconduct. They are also trying to talk to Chris Halsne, the reporter who wrote the story, but he was unwilling to divulge his sources, the source said. 

NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Kelly O'Donnell contributed to this report.

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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A Marine who criticized President Barack Obama on his Facebook page has committed misconduct and should be dismissed, a military board recommended late Thursday.

The Marine Corps administrative board made the decision after a daylong hearing at Camp Pendleton for Sgt. Gary Stein.

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The board also recommended that Stein be given an other-than-honorable discharge. That would mean Stein would lose his benefits and would not be allowed on any military base.

The board's recommendations go to a general who will either accept or deny them. If the general disagrees with the board, the case could go to the secretary of the Navy.

Vote: Should Marine be kicked out?

Stein's lawyers argued that the 9-year Marine, whose service was to end in four months, was expressing his personal views and exercising his First Amendment rights.

"We're truly surprised and disappointed but it was an honor to fight for a hero like Sgt. Stein and every other Marine's right to speak freely," Stein's defense attorney Marine Capt. James Baehr said.

Free speech groups line up to back Tea Party Marine

Stein addressed board members during Thursday's hearing, telling them he loved the Marine Corps and wanted to re-enlist, Baehr said.

During the hearing, the prosecutor, Capt. John Torresala, said Stein went as far as superimposing images of Obama's face on a poster for the movie "Jackass."

Torresala argued that Stein's behavior repeatedly violated Pentagon policy that limits the free speech rights of service members, and said he should be dismissed after ignoring warnings from his superiors about his postings.

The government submitted screen grabs of Stein's postings on one Facebook page he created called Armed Forces Tea Party, which the prosecutor said included the image of Obama on the "Jackass" movie poster. Stein also superimposed Obama's image on a poster for "The Incredibles" movie that he changed to "The Horribles," the prosecutor said.

Security clearance removed
Torresala also said anti-Obama comments by Stein that were posted on a Facebook page used by Marine meteorologists were prejudicial to good order and discipline, and could have influenced junior Marines.

Stein's security clearance was taken away and he has no future in the Marine Corps because he can't do his job without that clearance, Torresala said.

"The Marine Corps community views the command's lack of action as some kind of knock on good order and discipline," Torresala said. "Our own people are questioning why this Marine is not being held accountable."

Baehr said during the hearing that prosecutors were trying to dredge up any damaging information they could against Stein.

"There is no basis in this case," Baehr said. "Sgt. Stein has broken no law."

Baehr expressed after the hearing that he hoped that the recommendation would be rejected by the general, saying the case will go forward. "The issues are too important for this to end today," he said.

The military has had a policy since the Civil War of limiting the free speech of service members, including criticism of the commander in chief.

Pentagon directives say military personnel in uniform cannot sponsor a political club; participate in any TV or radio program or group discussion that advocates for or against a political party, candidate or cause; or speak at any event promoting a political movement.

Commissioned officers also may not use contemptuous words against senior officials.

'Dangerous'
Backed by a team of lawyers and congressmen, Stein has said he is fighting for his constitutional rights and should be allowed to stay in the military. His lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union contend his views are protected by the First Amendment.

"Think about how dangerous this could be if the U.S. government can prosecute you for something you say on your private Facebook page," Baehr said.

Stein has said his opinions are his own and has put a disclaimer on his Facebook page saying so. His attorneys argued service members have a right to voice their opinions as long as they do not appear to be presenting their views as being endorsed by the military. They say the Pentagon policy is vague and military officials do not understand it.

The Marine Corps has said it decided to take administrative action after Stein declared on Facebook that he would not follow orders from Obama and later clarified that statement saying he would not follow unlawful orders.

Stein could face other-than-honorable discharge while seeing his rank reduced to lance corporal and losing his benefits. The nine-year veteran was set to finish his service in four months.

Desk job
He said he was removed from his job at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego last month and given a desk job with no access to computers.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a former Marine, wrote a letter to Stein's commanding officer stating the sergeant should not face dismissal for an opinion shared by a majority of Marines.

Hunter said he was referring to Stein's statement that he would not obey unlawful orders. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., also expressed support for Stein.

Stein said his statement about Obama was part of an online debate about NATO allowing U.S. troops to be tried for the Quran burnings in Afghanistan.

In that context, he said, he was stating that he would not follow orders from the president if it involved detaining U.S. citizens, disarming them or doing anything else that he believes would violate their constitutional rights.

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