Air Force Sexual Assault Teams Did Not Follow Rules

Audit: Air Force sexual assault teams skipped training, missed background checks 
The News Tribune
BY ADAM ASHTON
Staff writer
May 9, 2015

Military service members at Joint Base Lewis-McChord frequently participate in sexual harassment and assault training. In January, I Corps Command Sgt. Maj. James Norman participated in a conference for noncomissioned officers. U.S. ARMY — Courtesy

A large majority of Air Force personnel chosen to work with victims of sex assault were not properly trained or did not go through background checks before beginning their assignments, according to an April 2014 audit obtained by The News Tribune.

The results were so striking that the military began making corrections before the Air Force Audit Agency even completed its report, according to the document.

Since then, Air Force officials told the newspaper, they have adopted more thorough training standards for airmen selected to work as sex assault response coordinators and victim advocates.

“That cannot happen anymore,” said Kimberly Dickman, chief of training and development for the Air Force Sex Assault Prevention and Response program.

The audit, conducted in 2013 and early 2014, looked at the qualifications of almost 2,500 Air Force personnel who were chosen to work with victims as sex assault response coordinators or victim advocates.

It found that:
• 117 of them did not participate in initial training before beginning their work.
• 852 of them did not participate in required refresher training.
• 826 of them did not receive the background checks the Air Force is required to conduct.
• 167 of them did not have security clearances.
• Altogether, 1,435 sex assault response coordinators and victim advocates had flaws in their records either from deficient background checks or from missed training.
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