Air Force ‘Will Not Tolerate’ Sexual Assaults, Cadets Told

Air Force Secretary James Roche told 4,000 cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Thursday that the “bums” and “criminals” who had sexually assaulted female students would be rooted out and the prestigious institution should expect wholesale changes in the weeks ahead.

“The conduct of some of our cadet population, albeit quite small, is not only morally reprehensible but at times criminal,” Roche said to a packed campus auditorium. “We will not tolerate anyone who sexually assaults another. We do not want you in our Air Force. We don’t want you among us. We don’t want you to sully the uniform.”

Air Force investigators are reviewing the academy’s sexual harassment policies after more than 20 female cadets said they had been raped or assaulted. The victims said the academy either ignored their reports or tried to retaliate against them for making the allegations.

Roche expects the investigation to wind up in three weeks, and then he and Gen. John P. Jumper, Air Force chief of staff, will decide the next move. Roche said one of the places he will be looking to make changes is in the academy’s sexual integrity and education program.

“Expect major changes and expect them across the board,” Roche said. “Nothing angers me more than bad officership -- nothing.”

Roche also said the inspector general’s office at the Department of Defense would look into every sexual harassment case filed at the academy to see if due process was followed. The office will also investigate the three other service academies to see if similar problems exist.

Roche’s speech came a day after Jumper told reporters in Washington that he supported a wide-ranging investigation into sexual assault charges at the academy.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), the ranking Democratic member of the panel, have urged an independent investigation of the charges.

This isn’t the first time the Air Force Academy has been accused of covering up or blaming the victim in sexual assault cases. A 1994 report from the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, found that 78% of the 90 female cadets at the academy reported either sexual assaults or unwanted sexual advances.

In some of the recent cases, the women said when they came forward they were asked if they were drinking or fraternizing with upperclassmen, leading many to feel the academy was justifying the assaults. Of the 20 women who have come forward, eight are cadets and 12 are academy graduates.

Roche said he would not tolerate blaming the victim, covering up incidents or failing to report a fellow student.

“I will not tolerate a single unreported criminal act on the part of our cadets. I will not tolerate any retribution against any victim,” Roche said. “It is reprehensible for a rapist or anyone who protects these bums to become leaders of airmen.”

About 18% of the academy’s 4,000 cadets are women.

Before Roche’s speech, Sarah Miller, a 22-year-old cadet from Enola, Pa., said she found the sexual allegations “very shocking.”

Miller works with the Cadets Advocating Sexual Integrity and Education Program, set up to help abuse victims. It also operates a hotline for those reporting rape and other problems.

“I think it’s a horrible thing and no one should have to go through it,” she said. “We are a direct reflection of society. I have full faith in my classmates, but we are very shocked right now about what’s happening.”

Miller said she had never experienced harassment at the academy.

Cadet 1st Class James Carroll, who also works with the sexual harassment program, was adamant that nothing was out of order at the academy, echoing Miller in saying it was simply a cross section of society.

The 23-year-old from the Stockton, Calif., area said the program had been supportive of victims. And he didn’t think changes were in order.

After Roche’s speech, cadets were allowed to comment or ask Roche questions.

One cadet asked, “If a female cadet unwisely drinks too much and is sexually assaulted, what kind of retribution will she face?”

Roche said nothing a woman does justifies sexual assault.

“We cannot create a climate where it is easier and safer for a woman to go to a TV station than to us,” Roche said.

Another female cadet said she was upset by the image that the assaults have given male cadets.

“They are being viewed as rapists and misogynists instead of the upstanding young men they are,” she said.

Roche said there was a fringe element tarnishing everyone at the academy.

“The only way we are going to fix it, is to fix it,” he said. “We can’t fight it, we have to fix it.”