The US Air Force has chosen a woman to lead its basic training unit where dozens of female recruits said they were sexually assaulted or harassed by male instructors.

The air force said Colonel Deborah Liddick would take command of the 737th Training Group at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, next week.

Her appointment comes amid a sex scandal that has rocked one of America's busiest military training centres and caught the attention of Congress.

Six male instructors have been charged with crimes ranging from rape to adultery.

Col Liddick is already stationed in San Antonio as chief of the maintenance division at the former Randolph Air Force Base. She will take command on Friday.

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