Protect Our Defenders

Lawmakers chided the services for not addressing the issue sooner.

Amid social unrest, the Air Force leader makes a plea for black lives and announces a review of the service’s justice system.

All but four presidential candidates support changing the way sexual assault and murder are prosecuted in the military.

In today’s Federal Newscast, search space-force on USAJobs.gov, and you’ll come up with 39 jobs, and not clerks or mail room staff, either.

Important senators endorse Air Force Gen. John Hyten’s nomination to be Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, but others question his leadership ability amid allegations of sexual assault.

Anti-sexual assault groups are concerned by DoD low prosecution rates.

Retired Air Force prosecutor joins Federal Drive to talk about the history of sexual harassment and retaliation problems within U.S. military academies

The Defense Department received more than 5,000 reports of sexual abuse last year, an increase of 50 percent over 2012. Leaders say the numbers show victims have more faith that the military will take their cases seriously. Not everyone is so optimistic. In our special report, Trust Redefined: Reconnecting Government and Its Employees, Tom and Emily spoke with Paula Coughlin on Federal Drive. She blew the whistle on the Navy’s Tailhook scandal in the 1990s. Today she is a board member of the victims advocacy group Protect Our Defenders.

It’s been 23 years since the Tailhook scandal rocked the Navy, and the Pentagon is still struggling to eliminate sexual assaults from the military. The number of reported cases is on the rise, but is counting cases alone solving the problem?

The Air Force said it has identified 59 victims at a basic training facility. Thirty-two instructors are among those who have been accused or convicted of committing sexual improprieties with trainees. Senior leaders say they must do more to stop the problem.