Sergeant Jailed for Homosexual Acts on Air Base

A U.S. Air Force sergeant was sentenced to 60 days in military jail after being found guilty of illegal homosexual acts at an American base in Germany, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday.

The court-martial was part of a military investigation into homosexual activities at Ramstein Air Base involving eight U.S. airmen, including a high-ranking officer.

The spokesman said Sgt. Mark Rayford of the 86th Operations Support Squadron at Ramstein was stripped of his rank, fined $1,000 and sentenced to 60 days’ confinement at a U.S. correctional facility at Mannheim.

A Ramstein military court Tuesday evening found him guilty of sodomy, solicitation to commit sodomy and indecent exposure, the spokesman said.

Rayford was the fourth airman to be court-martialed after the investigation uncovered homosexual activities last year at the giant base near Kaiserslautern in southwestern Germany.

President Clinton last year signed into law a policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” under which gay men and lesbian women can serve in the military so long as they keep their sexual orientation private. The law is expected to be challenged in court.