Air Force Academy panel pushes for investigation of leaders

The Pentagon should hold previous Air Force leaders accountable for systematically failing to effectively address sexual misconduct at the Air Force Academy for at least a decade, an independent panel said Monday.

The seven-member panel appointed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in May recommended that the Pentagon's inspector general conduct a thorough investigation of previous leaders, including three academy officials who were replaced after the scandal erupted and one who continues to serve as the institution's dean of faculty.

"Although the immediate and past leaders of the academy cannot be blamed for the situation they found when they arrived at the academy, they should be accountable for any failures of leadership that occurred on their watch," said the report, which contained 21 recommendations for preventing sexual misconduct at the school.

Former Rep. Tillie Fowler, R-Fla., who heads the panel, said its members did not try to determine what "actions should or should not be taken" against Air Force leaders. But the report did recommend that the inspector general "consider the adequacy of personnel actions taken, the accuracy of individual performance evaluations, the validity of decorations awarded and the appropriateness of follow-on assignments," when assessing appropriate disciplinary action.

The panel did not advocate holding current Air Force Secretary James Roche and Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper responsible for leadership failures in regard to sexual misconduct at the school because of their swift response to the matter once it came to their attention in January, Fowler said. Roche has put a series of reforms in place , including improving the mentoring system for cadets, providing more training to counselors and ensuring that the school's Board of Visitors has greater access to cadets.

Roche's handling of the scandal is likely to be a factor in the Senate's decision on his pending nomination as Army secretary.

The panel pointed out the failures of specific individuals, including former academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. John Dallager, who was forced to retire at a lower grade because of the scandal; former Commandant Brig. Gen. S. Taco Gilbert III; former Training Wing Commander Col. Laurie Slavec; and current Dean of Faculty Brig. Gen. David Wagie.

"The panel has uncovered substantial information showing that Air Force headquarters had serious and repeated indicators of a problem," the report said. The panel blamed the school for failing to monitor its "unique confidential reporting program that had the potential of interfering with the ability to investigate sexual assaults at the academy," and cited disturbing trends involving sexual assault, harassment and illegal alcohol consumption that emerged from surveys of cadets over the past five years.

Earlier this month, at its last public meeting, the panel criticized the Air Force for failing to exercise sufficient oversight of the academy.

Fowler and other panel members also said the Air Force General Counsel's June report investigating sexual misconduct at the academy did not thoroughly examine the issue of accountability among Air Force and academy officials. "We raised some questions as to omissions in that report," Fowler said, though she noted that the report contained some "good things" and was helpful to the panel in preparing its own review.

Fowler presented the panel's report on Monday to Rumsfeld, Roche and other top Defense officials. She will testify before Congress on the panel's recommendations later this week.