The Air Force Academy’s New Sexual Assault Cover-Up—Why Trump and Hegseth Must Demand Accountability Now

A disgraceful scandal is once again exploding at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs: multiple cadets are being investigated on the football and soccer teams due to allegations of sexual assault and harassment; now classified as “hazing”. Instead of receiving justice, these Cadets report being threatened by Academy leadership with Article 15 punishment if they speak to the press or anyone outside official channels, forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that silence them and protect those in power.

This is not speculation. According to multiple whistleblowers inside the Academy, including victims themselves, senior leadership directly ordered these NDAs under the authority of the Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, and Commandant of Cadets, Brig. Gen. Gavin P. Marks. These actions further validate the Department of Defense’s own 2024 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, which found a 20% increase in reported sexual assaults at service academies between 2022 and 2024, underscoring a systemic failure to protect Cadets.

It’s a pattern: since 2003, the Academy has been embroiled in repeated sexual assault scandals—from the 2003 “Culture of Rape” exposé to a 2017 Pentagon report ranking USAFA with the highest rates of unwanted sexual contact among the three service academies. Time and again, Academy leadership has prioritized image and sports prestige over justice for Cadets. History is repeating itself yet again.

Yet Colorado’s Congressional delegation—including Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and Reps. Jeff Crank of the Academy Congressional District, CO-5 — have been silent. Not one has called for an independent investigation. Not one has demanded accountability for a command climate so toxic it threatens to destroy lives before these Cadets even earn their commissions.

The Air Force Academy sits at the center of a community that aspires to be the permanent home of U.S. Space Command. How can Colorado Springs claim to be the ideal hub for America’s most advanced warfighting mission when its military leaders cover up sexual violence against future officers and its congressional representatives refuse to act?

America needs a change in leadership at USAFA. President Donald Trump and  Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, both champions of reforming military institutions and standing up for the rank-and-file, should publicly demand the immediate relief of Lt. Gen. Bauernfeind and Brig. Gen. Marks from command. These officers must be removed from the Air Force entirely to send an unmistakable message that covering up sexual assault has no place in the U.S. military.

The Department of Defense should suspend plans to keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado until Colorado’s representatives prove they care more about the lives of Cadets than football trophies. Military readiness isn’t just about technology; it’s about moral leadership. A chain of command willing to sacrifice victims of sexual assault for reputation will never lead effectively in peace or war.

America’s sons and daughters who answer the call to serve deserve better. Survivors of sexual assault deserve justice—not threats. The nation deserves leaders who will defend integrity over institutional rot.

President Trump and Secretary of Defense Hegseth: it’s time to call for the relief of these failed leaders, and to show the Air Force Academy—and the country—that our military’s core values still mean something.

@realDonaldTrump

@PeteHegseth

@laurenboebert

@SenatorBennet

@SenatorHick

@JeffCrank

@JeffHurdCO

@GabeEvansCO

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