500 military sexual assault cases a week: Our view

The Editorial Board | USA TODAY

If Saturday Night Live were satirizing the military's mishandling of sexual assaults, it couldn't do much better than the incident that occurred 12:30 a.m. Sunday in Virginia, not far from the Pentagon.

A colonel who leads a program to prevent sexual assault in the Air Force was arrested on charges of — you guessed it — sexual battery. Police said he was drunk and allegedly groped a woman's breasts and buttocks. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski was quickly removed from his job.

Well, good. But the possibility that the Air Force managed to put a lout into such a sensitive job speaks louder than the swift firing. The colonel's alleged behavior is further indication that women in the military continue to be vulnerable to rape, anguish and injustice because the Pentagon's attempts to fix the problem have been inept.

Successive scandals have invariably been followed by tired apologies from a succession of Defense secretaries, ballyhooed blue-ribbon investigations and half-baked reforms. A mountain of evidence suggests the problem not only persists but is getting worse:

On Tuesday, President Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel vowed a crackdown. Hagel announced an array of initiatives, but they just nibble at the edges.

Hagel opposes an essential change to military justice. In the civilian world, women report assaults to police without fear that their bosses will find out. Independent prosecutors — who know neither the woman nor the accused — decide whether to pursue charges.

In the military, such matters are decided by commanders, who have inherent conflicts.

Several members of Congress are seeking to put those decisions where they belong, in the hands of military prosecutors. Hagel argued the final authority should remain with commanders. He's wrong, and until this fundamental change is made, the Pentagon's efforts will continue to be an unfunny joke.