Charges of Abuse

The Air Force was correct earlier this week to want an immediate investigation into alleged sexual assaults and rapes at its academy. But it chose the wrong investigators. If female cadets are to have confidence in the outcome of an investigation and parents are to believe they can send their daughters to the academy safely, the examination of suspected crimes there must be by an independent office, and the appropriate one is the Defense Department’s inspector general.

The U.S. Air Force Academy’s own work confirms this. At least one-fifth of cadets, and many more female cadets than male, said in an academy survey last month that they lack confidence in academy programs to help sexual assault victims. After Sen. Wayne Allard of Colorado notified the Air Force that his office had been contacted about alleged sexual assaults at the academy in Colorado Springs, at least six more women in the next couple of days called his office to report they too had been assaulted. The number of complaints now stands at 10 and is growing; the women did not come forward before, some said in news stories, because they did not believe the academy would examine their complaints fairly. This is no time for an internal investigation, as Air Force Gen. John Jumper acknowledged Wednesday when supporting a broader review.

That review was requested by Sens. Susan Collins and Joseph Lieberman, chairman and ranking member respectively of the Senate Government Affairs Committee. They have asked Defense Inspector General Joseph Schmitz to look into assertions that academy officials failed to properly investigate instances of rape or other sexual assault and failed to prosecute the perpetrators. There is a further question of whether the academy retaliated against some of the cadets who reported being assaulted.

These are difficult issues and will be made more difficult by the fact that some of the charges are not new. Nevertheless, the inspector general should quickly accept the senators’ request and convey to all cadets his intention to make a fair review of the charges. Repeated examples of sexual misconduct in the military, most notably Tailhook back in ’91, require each new charge to be examined closely and reported to the public as completely as possible if the academies are to keep their reputations as valuable places to train some of the nation’s most accomplished young men and women.

The inspector general could help both those who have made complaints and the Air Force itself by treating the current charges seriously and investigating thoroughly.