Posted on 12/07/2004 4:36:16 PM PST by heye2monn
Air Force Academy Blamed for Sex Scandal Dec 7, 5:33 PM (ET) By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon's inspector general says a series of commanders at the Air Force Academy failed to recognize and deal with reports of sexual assaults against female cadets on campus, officials said Tuesday.
"We conclude that the overall root cause of the sexual assault problems at the Air Force Academy was the 'failure of successive chains of command over the past 10 years to acknowledge the severity of the problem,'" Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz wrote in a Dec. 3 memo to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, quoting his own report.
"Consequently, they failed to initiate and monitor adequate corrective measures to change the culture until recently," Schmitz wrote.
Last year, nearly 150 women came forward with accusations that they had been sexually assaulted by fellow cadets between 1993 and 2003. Many alleged they were punished, ignored or ostracized by commanders for speaking out.
Schmitz's full report was not released. A summary blamed - but didn't name - eight Air Force officials for their roles in the program that oversaw sexual-assault reporting at the academy.
In a press conference, David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said the Pentagon would soon implement a new military-wide policy protecting the confidentiality of people who report being sexually assaulted.
"First and foremost, we want victims to come forward for help," Chu said.
Outside investigations concluded the culture of the academy created conditions that contributed to the problem. That included lingering resistance to having female cadets at all: Last year, a survey of cadets found 22 percent did not believe women belonged at the academy, more than a quarter of a century after they were first admitted.
Academy officials say matters have improved since the assaults came to light.
Schmitz's report said academy leaders should have been better role models and should have kept a closer watch on their commands.
The Air Force also released a second report, from its own inspector general, finding that formal investigations of sexual assault at the academy were generally handled properly.
Chu, however, said, "The problem is deeper than handling of individual cases."
Gen. Michael "Buzz" Moseley, the Air Force's vice chief of staff, noted that all senior leaders at the academy had been replaced since the allegations came to light.
The military has had to deal with sexual assault issues across the services.
In May, a Pentagon task force found that victims of rape and other forms of sexual assault in the military have too often suffered additionally from a lack of support from commanders, criminal investigators and doctors.
The report, ordered in February by Rumsfeld after a number of sexual assaults against soldiers in the Iraqi theater came to light, described inconsistencies throughout the military in the treatment and investigation of such assaults.
Somehow this will be Bush's fault.
Always is.
AP hit piece written after the reporter viewed The Generals Daughter for background information.
Twenty two percent do not believe women should be at the academy? They are probably the ones causing 99% of the problems. These toads must feel their macho egos are threatened by having females there that can do everything they can do. What little sissies they are!
And just when I was thinking of encouraging my grandson to think about the Air Force.
Another increment in the incrementalism to destroy the military or, at least, make it into the welfare commune of liberalism and therefore, useless as tits on a boar hog.
I really doubt that!
Exactly. Or girls who get drunk, don't act like a lady, and then sober up.
I wonder what's changed?...
After seeing Linny Englund in her pictoral debut from Abu Garaib, let's not conclude that the boys are the only ones causing a problem here.
But, we all know if a president is to blame, it was the "one free grope" president. But, I won't name him.
I think it's sexist that men can't have babies
Damned if you do and Damned if you don't!!
I'm a former AF officer and served with female officers.
Back in the day, the physical training regimens were not identical for males and females, and generally speaking, they probably need not be -- but as soon as the reality that they are not the same is seen by male cadets, there is an instinctive surge of disapproval. It takes a minute to assess the difference and draw some conclusion about its fairness.
The problem is if one is exhausted at that moment one is not inclined to do some extra mental work to decide whether or not "they are getting off easy". One looks, one sees they are doing pushups from their knees and not their toes, or one sees that because they are there you have to memorize additional uniform regulations for inspections. It's extra work. It is never clear it is extra work that really needs to be done in order to kill the enemy most effectively.
The presence of women there is social engineering. There is no evidence that their presence wins wars more effectively then if they were not there. Winning wars should be the ONLY criterion for deciding admittance.
LOL LOL LMAO !!~!!!!
And there you have it.
You may be called a bigoted
sexist
misogynist
but I challenge anyone to refute the facts you state. Cannot be done.
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