Thousands sign petition urging full probe of Air Force Academy scandal
More than 2,300 people, including military service members and veterans, have signed a petition demanding a thorough investigation of alleged sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy.
The petition, drafted by anti-domestic and sexual violence groups across the country, will be formally delivered Friday to Tillie Fowler, chair of the seven-member independent Defense Department panel investigating the allegations of sexual violence at the Colorado Springs, Colo. academy. The panel is holding a public hearing Friday in Colorado as part of a visit to the academy to review the school's policies on handling sexual assaults.
"We are deeply concerned that the investigations currently underway are focused more on protecting the military's image than on protecting the victims of these horrific assaults. We demand a thorough, unbiased, professional investigation guided by consultation with the full range of experts in the field of sexual violence," the petition stated.
The panel headed by Fowler is one of four investigations into the Air Force Academy scandal. In addition, the fiscal 2004 Defense authorization bill, which is headed to conference committee, contains a provision creating a military-civilian task force to investigate sexual harassment and violence at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
At the independent panel's first public meeting on June 23, Fowler pledged to "conduct a thorough, fair and reasoned investigation," but also said that the group "will not be sidetracked by those with ideological or political agendas."
"The priority of this panel is to ensure today's young women cadets of the Air Force Academy have a safe and secure learning environment," said Fowler, a former Republican representative from Florida who served on the House Armed Services Committee. "These girls' parents must be assured of the safety of their daughters as they send them off to school."
The petition also asked that victims who testify before the panel be granted privacy, confidentiality and protection from reprisals by assailants, peers or military officials.
The petition comes at a time when some anti-domestic and sexual violence groups are opposing President Bush's nomination of Air Force Secretary James Roche to be Army secretary.
Last month, the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, along with other organizations, sent a letter to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee asking them to block Roche's nomination, claiming that he does not have the "leadership or responsibility necessary to command the position of secretary of the Army."
"Roche's inability to convey leadership, rational judgment and justice in the face of the sexual assault allegations should be proof enough that he is not qualified for the position," wrote Gail Burn-Smith, president of the board of directors of the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, in the letter.
The Senate committee received the nomination from the White House on Tuesday.
Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Terrance Holliday defended Roche's response to the allegations of sexual assault at the academy and the secretary's character.
"There are some accusations made in the letter that I really don't see a lot of merit in," Holliday said. "I believe that if you take a look back to the statements that Secretary Roche and [Chief of Staff] Gen. John Jumper have made, they have taken responsibility to make sure that the situation will be corrected," he said.
Roche, Holliday said, "is a widely respected leader in the Air Force, both on the uniformed side and the civilian side. People like him very much; they like his management style. He is a man of great integrity. If he moves to the Army, we are a better organization for having him, and they will be a better organization if they get him."
Roche replaced three top school officials in March as a result of the scandal. He and Jumper have been widely praised by Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo. and others for their swift response to the controversy and their commitment to putting in place a series of reforms at the school.
But Allard, whose office has been contacted by 60 former and current cadets who alleged they were sexually assaulted at the school, has also charged that the Air Force has failed to hold leaders accountable for "the climate that resulted in so many alleged sexual assaults."