As a young woman brutalized while serving her nation, Brakey is, tragically, not alone. An astonishing 54 sexual assaults have been reported at the academy in the past 10 years, Air Force leaders now admit. Revelations of the attacks are stoking fury on Capitol Hill and triggering military investigations of the Colorado school, as well as at the academies at West Point and Annapolis. Called to account before Congress last week, Air Force Secretary James G. Roche acknowledged that the true number of rapes is certainly much higher, since some victims were presumably too frightened or embarrassed to report the incidents. “There’s probably another 100 that we’ve not seen,” Roche said.
Aware of the Navy’s bungled handing of the Tailhook sexual-assault scandal in 1991, military leaders are vowing to root out and prosecute sexual predators. Letters have been sent to the parents of 200 female students slated to enter the academy this fall. Air Force Chief of Staff General John Jumper last Friday acknowledged the problems go deeper than just some wayward cadets, suggesting a possible review of the military chain of command. “Nobody has been absolved of anything,” he said, “including me.” Some victims say their claims had been dismissed by superiors at the academy. In some cases, the women themselves were reprimanded for improper fraternization or for drinking. Jumper promises that such procedures will change. “We’ll deal with felony first,” he said.
After Brakey was attacked, she says, she was wracked with anxiety and shame. She would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. Her grades slipped. Brakey was summoned to a review board and questioned about her erratic behavior (she was dismissed from the academy in November). She found solace in a group of other cadets with similar accounts–women whose claims had been ignored. “Everywhere girls were turning, they were getting shut off,” she said. Brakey organized a group of victims, urged them to document their cases and publicized their plight.
Her cause is finally getting attention. Now she hopes that other women can serve their country without worrying about enemies in their own ranks.
