Air Force Academy snooping revisited

[yortsed snacilbuper]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Eric Thomas was a third-string linebacker at the U.S. Air Force Academy who also played a far more secretive role on campus: He was a confidential informant, one of dozens of student spies assigned by the academy in the past decade to investigate drug use and sexual misconduct.

But the Air Force shut the program down in late 2012 after news reports revealed its existence and prompted angry reactions from alumni. The investigator who had managed Mr. Thomas was transferred to a job emptying trash cans and vacuuming offices, and Mr. Thomas was expelled for misconduct after the Air Force disavowed his undercover work.

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[Sheldon Cooper]

1. The Air Force Academy's response comes as no surprise.

In the wake of those convictions, reports of sexual assault at the academy — a statistic that Air Force leaders regularly cite as a barometer of confidence in the system — almost doubled. This year, after the informant program ended with no further convictions, reports fell by half, according to academy officials.

As Operation Gridiron ensnared more and more football players, it drew the scrutiny of top commanders, who began to push back against investigations of members of the football team, Enos said.

In his letter to Congress, Sgt. Enos said Lt. Gen. Michael C. Gould, the superintendent in 2012 and 2013 and a former quarterback on the team, had repeatedly interfered in cases.

In an interview, Gen. Gould, now retired, called the suggestion that he had interfered with the investigation “preposterous,” citing the academy’s willingness to punish several players last year.

Protect the football team at all cost.