AFA demotion earns support/ Panel endorses general's loss of star

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Aug 1, 2003 | by PAM ZUBECK

A congressional oversight panel backs the demotion of a former Air Force Academy superintendent as punishment for the sexual assault scandal, the panel's chairwoman said Thursday.

"They made a decision to remove a star from (Lt.) Gen. (John) Dallager, and we agreed with that," Tiller Fowler said.

Fowler heads the commission charged with deciding what went wrong and who's to blame, if anyone, for allegations the academy dismissed sex-assault reports.

It's the first public endorsement by an independent panel of a decision some called political.

Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to wrap up fact-finding, the panel heard testimony from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper.

He said he and Secretary James Roche, who demoted Dallager, haven't ruled out punishing others.

"We asked if final decisions had been made for accountability of other officers, and he said no, they were not going to be making any other final decisions until they received the other reports," Fowler said. "That's still an open question as to the other officers who were reassigned."

Jumper and Roche removed four top academy officers in March in response to the scandal, which triggered inquiries by the Air Force and Defense Depart- ment inspectors general, the congressional panel and the Air Force General Counsel's Office. The general counsel's June 19 report didn't place blame.

Jumper and Roche announced July 10 that Dallager will lose a star and retire as a major general.

Roche said Dallager "should have taken notice of the indicators of problems and he should have aggressively pursued solutions to them."

Some said the demotion is politically motivated, an attempt to satisfy the Senate Armed Services Committee, which pushed Roche to hold people accountable.

Roche's nomination as Army secretary will go before the Senate Armed Services Committee this fall.

The commission spent four hours Thursday in closed session listening to reports from inspectors general, who are examining how the academy handled cases dating to 1993.

Investigators haven't ruled out attempts to prosecute old cases, Fowler said.

"They're going through every case in the last 10 years and determining if there's any need to go back for further action," she said, declining to elaborate.

"It's a slow, time-consuming process," she said, noting investigators are reinterviewing everyone involved in those cases. They also want to talk to any women who were assaulted but never reported it, she said.

The panel's next step is unclear. A source close to the commission said members will start writing the report but could call additional witnesses.

The commission's report to Congress is due Sept. 22.

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