On March 31, Air Force Secretary James Roche and Air Force Chief of Staff, General John Jumper, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee to address mounting allegations of sexual misconduct at the United States Air Force Academy, and what has been described as systemic indifference and hostility toward alleged assault victims. On April 2, by voice vote, the Senate approved an amendment to the FY2003 supplemental appropriations bill (S. 762) that calls for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to appoint a seven-member panel that would assign blame for the problems at the Academy. The Senate investigative panel would begin work May 1 and report back three months later.
In January, after being contacted by a number of current and former female cadets who were allegedly sexually assaulted or raped, Armed Services Committee member Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) sent a letter to Secretary Roche asking him to conduct a complete Air Force investigation into the complaints. Sen. Allard’s office has since set up a hotline to field assault allegations. To date, they number 42; however, at the hearing, Sen. Allard cited Academy surveys that showed over 200 cadets said they had been sexually assaulted between 1998 and 2002.
“The Air Force has said that the current leadership didn’t know about this problem,” said Sen. Allard. “I disagree. I believe they chose to ignore it.”
Both Secretary Roche and Gen. Jumper met with the committee on March 25, in a closed-door session in which they revealed the dismissals of four top officers in charge of the academy: superintendent Gen. John Dallager, second-in-command Brig. Gen. S. Taco Gilbert III, vice commandant Col. Robert Eskridge, and the commander of the cadet training, Col. Laurie Slavec.
The dismissals of the Academy officers marked a sea change in both policy and practice for the Air Force, which had maintained that the problems at the Academy were systemic, and not the fault of the leadership. All four dismissed officials were exonerated from blame for the incidents, which allegedly occurred under their watch, a decision met with exasperation from Senators.
“We have a clear pattern of reports of sexual assault where the response of the Air Force Academy is to blame the victim, and that is unacceptable,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). “And we also have a clear pattern where it seems to me that no one is going to be held accountable for the climate that has made young women cadets fearful of reporting and leads to reprisal if they do, and that is unacceptable.”
Committee Ranking Member Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) echoed Sen. Collins’ objections. “It is incredible that the pattern persists of victims of assaults being discouraged from reporting the incidents, that their complaints were not fully investigated, that they were ostracized by other cadets, and that they, the victims, were punished by the Academy for infractions brought to light only because they reported that they had been assaulted.”
The next day, both Secretary Roche and Gen. Jumper testified before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Total Force.
Subcommittee Chair John McHugh (R-NY) noted that “such a loss of confidence in leadership is a cancer that if left untreated will destroy a military organization.” He added, “It means that the terrible personal price being paid by female cadets who are abused by others at the Academy will continue.”
Acting Ranking Member Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) said that while it was important to hear from the witnesses, she felt “like it’s déjà vu all over again” because “only nine years ago a representative from the GAO testified before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Force Requirements and Personnel on the need to further efforts to eradicate sexual harassment at the Service Academy.” She questioned whether the Academy has conducted “routine, systematic evaluations” since that report, saying that the alleged incidents demonstrate “a systemic, cultural bias and lack of respect for women.”
Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM), a graduate of the Air Force Academy as well as the first and only female veteran to serve in the U.S. Congress, called for an independent review of the recommendations for reducing sexual assault at the Academy. She stated, “We don’t want sexual predators in our Air Force or in our Academy. An environment—which seems to prevail at the Academy—in which large numbers of women believe that if they report a violent crime it won’t be handled appropriately, is cancerous. Strong action must be taken to restore safety for women, and restore confidence in the integrity of the Air Force.” She added that women must be accepted as “full partners in our nation’s defense.”
