WASHINGTON -- The secretary of the Air Force has pledged to begin major changes at the Air Force Academy in dealing with female cadets who report sexual assault.

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Secretary of Air Force Speaks With 7NEWS About Changes At Academy

Dr. James Roche responded to a 7NEWS investigation which revealed that former and active female cadets who report assaults are often punished and sometimes drummed out of the academy.

7NEWS investigative reporter John Ferrugia spoke to the Air Force chief. Ferrugia said Roche is dealing with a political nightmare.

He is getting lots of questions from senators, parents, and the military.

On Wednesday, Roche made it clear that there is a serious problem at the academy which he is committed to fix.

The secretary of the Air Force minced no words. He said the climate and culture of the Air Force Academy must change.

"There is something wrong here. It's not right. We should never be in a position where the U.S. Air Force commissions a criminal. And from my point of view, any one of our cadets who assaults a woman sexually is a criminal. And we don't want that person flying a plane with a couple of thousand pounds of bombs under his wing. We simply don't want him in our Air Force. We want him out," Roche said.

And in stark contrast to the initial reaction to our 7NEWS investigation by academy officials, Roche made it clear this is not a problem created by victims.

"Look, antisemitism is not something Jews fix. Racism isn't something minorities fix. This is not something women at the academy fix," Roche said. "This gets fixed when the men at the academy, the cadets, the males, say that they will not tolerate among themselves anyone who does something like this. Or who harbors someone who does something like this. Or shuns someone who comes forward. That's the cultural change we have to make sure happens."

Ferrugia: This culture is not made up of just the cadets, it's made up ...
Roche: I agree with you...
Ferrugia: It's made up of an administration who tolerates this.
Roche: It is made up of an Air Force Academy that I believe that has thought of itself for too long as a university that is in the Air Force as compared to an Air Force institution that lives up to Air Force standards.

"They have to start behaving like officers. And all who surround them, faculty etc., have to start to understand that. If they don't, I want them gone," Roche said.

Ferrugia: Will women at the Air Force Academy, when this is over, be able to come forward and report sexual assault without retribution?
Roche: Yes, absolutely ... We have got to make sure that if someone comes forward, it's not open season on their life.

And that, said Roche, is his challenge -- to refocus investigation on those who victimize.

"The point is, if we don't get rid of these people, they could kill. They could misuse aircraft, they could do a bunch of other things because they have bad judgment and bad character, and they must go," Roche said.

Female cadets heard all this 10 years ago and found nothing really changed, Ferrugia said. Even so, Roche will take his message to the Air Force Academy Thursday night when he addresses the cadets.

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