Air Force to review sex assault response programs at 15 bases

Sonja Barisic

Thursday, March 4, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

HAMPTON, Va. -- The Air Force is examining sexual assault response programs at all 15 of its Air Combat Command installations, including Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas.

The review covers policies and programs for reporting allegations and assisting victims at each base, not individual cases, officials said Wednesday at Langley Air Force Base, where the command has its headquarters. Langley had reports of 18 sexual assault cases since 1998.

The Air Force has asked each major command to establish review teams to visit their bases in light of recent allegations of improper handling of sexual assault cases, said Brig. Gen. Stephen Miller, chief of the ACC Sexual Assault Assessment Team. Langley was visited Wednesday.

Last year, a sexual assault scandal at the Air Force Academy in Colorado prompted a purge of the academy's commanders and new policies after cadets went public with allegations of assault and indifference from commanders.

Most of the units and programs at Nellis fall under Air Combat Command, including the 99th Air Base Wing, the 57th Wing, 98th range wing and the 53rd Wing.

The 99th includes all the operations necessary for running Nellis including security forces, while the 57th includes the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, Thunderbirds and the base's two remotely operated Predator squadrons. The 98th operates and maintains the 2.9 million acre Nevada Test and Training Range, and the 53rd includes the 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron responsible for developing new tactics for the F-15, F-16, A-10 and other aircraft.

The only units housed at Nellis that do not fall under Air Combat Command are tenant units such as the 820th Red Horse Civil Engineering Squadron, Nellis officials said.

An Air Combat Command review team is expected to visit Nellis on March 12 and 13 to review the base's awareness and response programs, base spokeswoman Capt. Angela Johnson said.

Sexual assault continues to be a sensitive topic in the military; Pentagon officials recently said there have been 106 reports of sexual assaults of troops deployed in the Middle East over the past 14 months.

"Sexual assault is a crime that has no place anywhere, especially in the United States Air Force," Miller said at a news conference. "This is a leadership issue and everyone needs to know that sexual assault will not be tolerated, every accusation must be fully investigated, victims will receive proper care and support and offenders will be punished."

The Air Force believes it already has "robust" programs but the teams will look at what can be improved, Miller said.

Three review teams each will go to five bases through March 17, spending one and a half days at each base. They will report their findings to Air Force leadership.

The 18 sexual assaults reported at Langley included two in 1998, three in 1999, seven in 2002 and six in 2003, said Capt. Jeff Glenn, spokesman for the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley. The base has 26,500 people, including 9,000 active-duty military, their families and civilian employees.

"The bottom line is, one case is too many," said Col. Frank Gorenc, commander of the 1st Fighter Wing. "... I'm concerned about making sure that we have an environment that is both professional and not hostile."

In three of the Langley cases, the accused retired in lieu of a court martial, Glenn said.

Eight cases went to court martial, where conviction can mean punishments including jail terms and bad-conduct discharges. Of those, six resulted in convictions and one in acquittal; records from one case were incomplete.

In two cases, people were convicted in civilian courts and discharged from the service. Five other cases resulted in administrative actions, in which punishments can include counseling, fines, reduction of rank and discharge.

Figures for sexual assault cases in the entire ACC were not immediately available, Glenn said.

ACC trains and equips forces to provide combat airpower to U.S. warfighting commands. More than 110,000 active-duty members and civilians make up ACC's work force.

The other ACC bases being visited by the review teams are Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, Davis-Monthan in Arizona, Shaw in South Carolina, Seymour-Johnson in North Carolina, Cannon and Holloman in New Mexico, Dyess in Texas, Beale in California, Mountain-Home in Idaho, Minot in North Dakota, Ellsworth in South Dakota, Offutt in Nebraska and Whiteman in Missouri.