Nellis official: Base leads way with sexual assault program

Jace Radke

Friday, March 12, 2004 | 11:19 a.m.

Nellis Air Force Base's sexual assault response programs could be used as an example for all of Air Combat Command, according to the head of an Air Force review team visiting the base today.

"Nellis is unique in that it took on the issue of sexual assaults over a year ago," Col. Mary Hertog, head of the review team, said. "Nellis is well in the lead on this issue, and there is real potential that the programs here can be used as a benchmark for all of Air Combat Command."

Hertog leads one of three review teams looking at policies and programs to prevent and respond to sexual assaults as part of an Air Force-wide assessment.

The review covers programs for reporting allegations and assisting victims at each base, not individual cases, according to officials at Langley Air Force Base, where the Air Combat Command has its headquarters.

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

Last year a 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 sexual assaults and indifference from commanders.

Nellis instituted a sexual assault prevention program that includes both educational and counseling components in February 2003, said Col. Gerald Sawyer, commander of the 99th Air Base Wing, at a press conference this morning.

"Here at Nellis we take sexual assault very seriously, and we consider even one sexual assault to be too many," Sawyer said.

Sawyer said the Air Combat Command's inspector general's office recently praised Nellis' program, which includes a partnership with the Las Vegas Rape Crisis Center.

Program coordinators meet with unit supervisors and offer training in how to prevent sexual assaults. Newly arriving airmen at Nellis also receive awareness training.

The program also features peer counselors, who are available to meet regularly with victims of sexual assault.

"We're trying to hit every single echelon, so that everyone is educated about how to report, get help and prevent sexual assaults."

In 2003, three sexual assault cases involving Nellis were reported, and all remain under investigation, base officials said. Langley had reports of 18 sexual assault cases since 1998.

All 15 of the Air Force's Air Combat Command installations are expected to be reviewed.

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 of the operations necessary for running Nellis, including security forces, while the 57th includes the 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 422nd 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.

Air Combat Command trains and equips forces to provide combat air power to U.S. commanders. More than 110,000 active-duty members and civilians are a part of the command.

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.

The other Air Combat Command bases being visited by 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.

The review teams will present their findings to Air Force Leadership in April, and the reports may then be released to the public.