US air force 'deaf to sex claims'

By Nick Childs
BBC Pentagon correspondent

Senior commanders overlooked reports of sexual allegations

US military commanders downplayed allegations of sexual assault against female cadets, a Pentagon investigation has found.

Colorado's air force academy has been hit by a series of accusations of sexual abuse going back to 1993.

All the senior commanders at the centre have been replaced since the allegations came to light in 2003.

The Pentagon is introducing measures to protect the identity of people reporting assault.

Confidentiality

The academy in Colorado, which trains cadets to become air force officers, has been a major focus of serious allegations of sexual assault against female cadets.

Dozens of women have alleged assaults going back to at least 1993.

The inquiry concluded that successive chains of command over the past 10 years failed to acknowledge the severity of the problem.

The Pentagon has had to deal with a range of allegations of sexual assault across the US military.

It is introducing a series of measures to improve the situation, including, in particular, to protect the confidentiality of people reporting assault.