Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Air Force Academy is investigating its athletic department regarding an alleged culture of misconduct among cadet athletes that included sexual assault, drug use, and cheating on tests.
• The academy’s superintendent, Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson, has asked the school’s inspector general to conduct the investigation, which was prompted by an investigative report by The Colorado Springs Gazette.
• The Gazette’s report was based on hundreds of pages of documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, along with dozens of interviews with academy and sports officials.

Dive Insight:

Johnson said in a statement just before the Gazette article ran that the investigation “will help in eliminating subcultures” that don’t align with the academy’s core values. The Gazette report points to several examples of alleged misconduct. At a 2011 party, Air Force football players allegedly had sex with women who had been given a drink with a date-rape drug and who did not remember the events. The academy’s Office of Special Investigations looked into the events and broadened its investigation to include other alleged misconduct, and three of 32 cadets investigated were court-martialed and discharged. Six other cadets resigned, and three more were kicked out of school for other misconduct. But, according to the Gazette, the investigations office kept its investigation under wraps and academy leaders didn’t learn about it until later.