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What the records don't show are the total number of infractions committed by cadets against fellow cadets. As of Thursday, at least 10 of those cases involved allegations that a cadet attacked another cadet.
But a 1993 report found that "disturbing numbers" of female cadets said they were assaulted, fondled, harassed or discriminated against, and "only a fraction of these instances have been reported."
Air Force Secretary James Roche has said military records show 56 incidents of sexual assault and rape over the past 10 years.
Thirty-three current and former cadets have reported sexual assaults to U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., with many saying that academy commanders ignored, shunned or even disciplined them after they came forward with the allegations. They also say their attackers often went unpunished.
Two separate Air Force investigative teams are at the academy looking into the allegations.
According to the new documents, punishments in the 23 known cases vary as widely as the offenses. They range from verbal or written reprimands to confinement in a military facility for four years. But the most severe punishments resulted from courts-martial, which likely were the result of charges of sexual misconduct involving attacks on civilians, not fellow cadets.
Between 1990 and 2002, six cadets have been hauled off to military court to face charges ranging from rape to indecent acts. Five were convicted, and one was acquitted. The acquittal came in a 1995 case in which a cadet was accused of raping another cadet.
The two most recent cases were in 2002 and involved sexual assault - sodomy in both cases - by a cadet against a civilian. One incident happened at the Colorado Springs-based academy, and the other occurred in California, said Pam Ancker, a spokeswoman for the academy. In both cases, the cadets were kicked out of the academy and the Air Force. One cadet is currently serving a two-year term. The other was sentenced to two months of military confinement.
Cadets, records show, are more likely to find themselves disciplined through the administration.
Since 1996, eight cadets have been kicked out of the academy and Air Force for charges of sexual misconduct. A ninth case is still being reviewed, said Ancker. All nine of those cases involved allegations that a cadet sexually assaulted another cadet. Ancker said it is most likely that the cases resulted in administrative action because there was not enough evidence to go ahead with a court-martial.
Cadets, records show, are also censured - a formal reprimand - and funds are withdrawn from their student accounts.
Records obtained from the Pentagon show that between 1992 and 1996, eight cadets were reprimanded under what is called Article 15 - a non-judicial form of punishment that is the equivalent of a civilian plea agreement - for infractions ranging from forcible sodomy to indecent language. In a majority of those cases, cadets were ordered to have $558 taken out of their students accounts.
Valerie Burkes, another Air Force spokeswoman, said no cadets have been punished under the Article 15 guidelines since 1996.
The reports also reveal how widespread rape is in the Air Force. Between 1990 and 2002, 399 members of the Air Force were court-martialed for rape offenses. There were 604 cases of sodomy brought to the military court for members of the Air Force during that same year.
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