US News

Military ‘booze’ excuse

The Air Force’s top general cited excessive boozing and a lack of respect for women as contributors to the alarming number of sex assaults in the military.

“We have a problem with respect for women that leads to many of the situations that result in sexual assault in our Air Force,” Gen. Mark Welsh told reporters in a lengthy interview in his Pentagon offices.

Welsh said combating the problem, which he characterized as a crisis, is his No. 1 priority as Air Force chief of staff.

He said he reviews every reported case of sexual assault. Last year, there were 792 in the Air Force.

He spoke one day after he and other military leaders were summoned to the White House to discuss the sexual-assault problem with President Obama, who has expressed impatience with the Pentagon’s failure to solve it.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday ordered the military to recertify all 25,000 people involved in programs designed to prevent and respond to sexual assault, an admission that the problem has spiraled out of control.

He said this step, which also applies to the military’s approximately 19,000 recruiters and must be completed by July 1, is one among many that will be taken to fix the problem of sexual abuse and sexual harassment within every branch of the military.