Panel blames AFA leadership for scandal/ 21 recommendations include

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Sep 23, 2003 | by PAM ZUBECK

WASHINGTON - A congressional oversight panel issued a blistering report Monday, saying the Air Force Academy's sex-assault scandal resulted from "leadership failure."

The panel issued 21 recommendations and called for further investigation of officers responsible, including generals, by the Defense Department Inspector General's Office.

Time and again, warning signals red-flagged the problem during the past decade, but officials, including two Air Force chiefs of staff, dropped the ball, the panel reported.

Moreover, the Air Force's most recent investigation, conducted this year by General Counsel Mary Walker, didn't report that officers knew of problems but didn't act. Walker also didn't report that members of her working group were involved in investigations years ago that uncovered problems with how the academy dealt with sexual assault.

"The panel believes that the Air Force General Counsel attempted to shield Air Force Headquarters from public criticism," the report said.

Walker's omissions, the panel said, undermine the credibility of her finding there was "no systemic acceptance of sexual assault at the academy (or) institutional avoidance of responsibility."

Walker, a presidential appointee, was not available Monday for comment. The Air Force issued a prepared statement, thanking the panel and saying officials will work with the Defense Department and Congress "as we move forward."

The much-anticipated report, released at a news conference in Washington, D.C., mirrors The Gazette's reports in recent months that the Air Force's top leaders knew of problems with sexual assault and didn't take action.

Problems at the academy came to a light in January when an assault victim sent e-mails to members of Congress and Air Force Secretary James Roche, complaining sexual assault reports were ignored and victims punished for rules infractions after they reported.

Roche ordered Walker to investigate. Three other inquiries also were launched, by the Air Force and Defense Department inspectors general and the seven-member panel formed at the insistence of Congress and appointed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Headed by former Florida Congresswoman Tillie Fowler, the panel unveiled its report in the hearing room where Fowler will speak Wednesday to the House Total Force Subcommittee. She'll brief the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

"We found a deep chasm in leadership during the most critical time in the academy's history - one that extended far beyond its campus in Colorado Springs," Fowler said. "Sadly, we believe this chasm in leadership helped create an environment in which sexual assault became a part of life. This panel has chronicled this crisis and the failures of leadership to effectively and aggressively respond.

"The warning signs were there but went unnoticed or were ignored."

Specifically, Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald Fogleman was told by the Air Force surgeon general in 1996, verbally and later in writing that "there are crimes here, felonies . . . this patient (the academy) needs major surgery, not just a Band-Aid."

Fogleman told the panel in an Aug. 4 interview he didn't have a clear memory of how he reacted, but he admitted Air Force leadership knew of sexual assault problems at the 4,000-cadet officer training school years ago.

Up and down the chain of command, officials knew of problems. Dean of Faculty Brig. Gen. David Wagie knew cadet survey results pointed to a hostile atmosphere toward women, the report said. And Gen. Michael Ryan, chief of staff from 1997 to September 2001, was given a report about the honor code that was "another indicator of potential problems in the culture at the academy."

The panel names Wagie, former Commandant Brig. Gen. Taco Gilbert and training group commander Col. Laurie S. Slavec for further investigation. It hints throughout that many officers should come under the microscope of the Department of Defense Inspector General's Office.

The probe should look at whether officers' past evaluations are accurate, whether past decorations are valid and whether assignments have been appropriate.

Air Force insiders say Inspector General Joseph Schmitz's office has interviewed key players.

The panel praised Roche and Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper, who implemented the "Agenda for Change" and replaced four academy officers in March amid the scandal.

They later demoted one of them, former Superintendent John Dallager, from three stars to two upon his retirement this month.

But Fowler called for additional measures to change the climate, more permanent internal and external oversight and some degree of confidentiality for victims.

Past Air Force investigations, in 1996 and 2000 as well as Walker's report this year, identified confidential reporting as a chief flaw. .

Panel members and victims argue, though, that without anonymity, victims who fear reprisal won't report.

Roche and Jumper abolished confidentiality in May. The academy was ordered to follow Air Force rules, which require victims to report to commanders and investigators so evidence can be preserved and justice meted out against perpetrators.