HOUSTON — A top Air Force general testifying at a congressional hearing Wednesday about the growing sexual scandal at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas said officials “clearly failed” to establish order and discipline among instructors at the base.

The hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, which is streaming live on the committee’s Web page and CSPAN, started with testimony by the Air Force’s top commander, Gen. Mark Welsh III, and Gen. Edward Rice Jr., head of the training command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.

Rice noted that “the vast majority of our instructors served with distinction in a very demanding duty assignment,” however, “we clearly failed in our responsibility to establish order and discipline among our instructors.”