Air Force sets application record from women despite scandals

By Pam Zubeck
The Gazette

COLD SPRINGS, Colo. (KRT) -- A record number of women have applied to attend the Air Force Academy despite a year of turmoil triggered by the sex assault scandal.

With the Oct. 30 application deadline approaching, the academy received 2,962 applications from women as of Oct. 27.

That’s 34 percent more than the 2,212 received four days before the deadline a year ago.

It’s the highest number to apply since the academy began accepting women in 1976.

The total number of applications, 11,838 as of Oct. 27, is 14 percent higher than the 10,380 received last year at this time. Applications last exceeded 12,000 in 1990.

Academy officials credit the spike to “an element of patriotism,” the ease of online submissions adopted two years ago and steps taken to address allegations the academy's climate is hostile to women.

Academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker said officials hope the surge in female applicants demonstrates a heightened “trust and confidence” in the overhaul of cadet training and reporting procedures to prevent sexual assaults and deal with attackers.

“We hope some of it is attributed to the attention the academy has gotten over the last year and the action we’ve taken to alleviate sexual assault - all those things we have done to take this place to the next level of excellence,” Whitaker said.

After the Oct. 30 deadline, academy officials will begin winnowing applications to 1,300.

“The class size remains roughly the same,” Whitaker said, “so obviously the competition will be keener for that same number of slots.”

The academy was thrust into the national spotlight a year ago when dozens of former and current female cadets alleged the academy ignored their sex-assault reports.

Some said they were punished for coming forward.

The claims prompted a housecleaning of top officers at the academy and unprecedented changes in how cadets live, train and study and who provides guidance. Officers are required to have more specialized training, for example.

The allegations also prompted a series of investigations, including a Pentagon inquiry that some officials predict won't be complete until March or later.

Insiders say the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has taken a watchdog role in the scandal, won’t schedule further hearings until the investigation by the Defense Department inspector general is completed.

The committee has promised to give women who say they were assaulted a chance to testify.

Who else will be called likely hinges on the inspector general's findings.