In a letter released Thursday by Acting Secretary of the Air Force Peter Teets to Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the Air Force revealed that it will not take administrative action against anyone as regards confirmed and repeated sexual assault at the Air Force Academy, RAW STORY
has learned.
Advertisement
"The Acting Secretary of the Air Force has reviewed the Department of Defense Inspector General's (DoD/IG's) report and the Fowler report on sexual assault problems at the AF Academy," Teets wrote. "After considering all the facts and weighing all the interests at stake, the Acting Secretary found that no administrative action is warranted against those officers identified in those reports as bearing some responsibility for Academy's sexual assault problems."
"The Acting Secretary gave significant weight to their uniformly excellent and lengthy service and to the fact they were not intentionally or willfully derelict in their duties," Teets added. "He also found that any mistakes or misjudgments some of them may have made are mitigated by the complexity of the issues faced, the necessity of policy tradeoffs and compromises, and the difficulty of measuring program effectiveness."
Rep. Slaughter blasted the Pentagon for what she considered "sidelining" victims of sexual assault.
"It is reprehensible that the rights of sexual assault victims are so easily sidelined by the Pentagon as 'too complex' to address," Slaughter remarked in a statement to RAW STORY. "This is the kind of 'head in the sand' approach we would have expected from the military in the 1950's; in 2005 it is an abomination. Where is the accountability?"
"What the Pentagon clearly doesn't want to discuss, and what all Americans should know, is that women are being sexually assaulted on an ongoing basis in the military and at our nation's military academies by their colleagues," Slaughter continued. "Is this the best we can do for young Americans who put their lives on the line to protect our freedom?"
Leniency towards sexual assault in the military has long been viewed as standard practice.
A November 2003 article in The Denver Post noted that twice as many accused Army sex offenders were doled out administrative punishment as were court-martialed.
"In the civilian world, four of every five people arrested for rape are prosecuted," the Post noted. "Nearly 5,000 accused sex offenders in the military, including rapists, have avoided prosecution, and the possibility of prison time, since 1992, according to Army records."
Slaughter has been an outspoken advocate for changes in the military's policies toward sexual assault.
In March 2003, Slaughter sent a letter to Secretary of the Air Force James Roche calling for a meeting to discuss the topic of sexual assault in the Air Force Academy. Concurrently, she asked the leadership of the House Armed Services Committee encouraging the committee to conduct a full investigation of sexual assault of women at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
In March 2004, Slaughter led a hearing on sexual assault in the military. In May 2004, the U.S. House unanimously passed an amendment championed by Rep. Slaughter that would require the Pentagon to develop a comprehensive and uniform policy to prevent and respond to sexual assault of women in the military.
RAW STORY hopes to carry the letter in full this weekend.
Air Force to take no administrative action on sexual assaults