Split verdict in first-ever Air Force general military trial

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — An Air Force major general in Ohio has been convicted by a military judge of one of three specifications of abusive sexual contact in the first-ever military trial of an Air Force general.

The charge faced by Maj. Gen. William Cooley during the weeklong court-martial at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio had three specifications, one alleging a forcible kiss and two alleging forcible touching in 2018. Cooley was convicted Saturday of the forcible kissing specification but acquitted of the other two.

Officials said the verdict marks the first court-martial trial and conviction of a general officer in the Air Force’s 75-year history.

A former commander of Air Force Research Laboratory, Cooley was charged with abusive sexual contact in an encounter with a woman who gave him a ride after a backyard barbecue in New Mexico nearly four years ago. Officials said the woman is a civilian who is not a Department of Defense employee.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/23/split-verdict-air-force-general-military-trial-00027353

[LudwigPastorius]

1. "Officials said the woman is a civilian who is not a Department of Defense employee."

It was his sister-in-law.

Now he's facing up to 7 years in Leavenworth. I bet they're going to love having an AF general there.

[Shipwack]

5. I doubt Leavenworth is in his future...

He's a general. My 20 years in the military and 55 years on this earth tell me that he won't pay the price an enlisted person would.

If he were enlisted, it'd be reduction in rank, fined a good portion of his monthly pay, then time in the stockade, after which he would be dishonorably discharged, eligible for no benefits. Good luck getting a job.

This guy will get off relatively lightly. Maybe reduction in rank, forced to retire, maybe with benefits and a pension. He has connections, will probably get a cushy job with a company he used to interface with when he was in the Air Force.

I'd be very happy to be proven wrong, though that’s not the way I’d bet.

[Angleae]

6. If this were a normal situation, he wouldn't been court-martialed in the first place.

Makes me wonder who he pissed off above him.

[LudwigPastorius]

7. You're probably right.

I was going on info from the USDB web site. It says it houses enlisted men sentenced to over 10 years, commissioned officers, and national security risks. But, it is also max security, which doesn't seem necessary in his case.

Wherever he ends up, I hope they don't treat him too well, and I hope it's for more than 12 months.

[childfreebychoice]

2. Makes ya wonder how many women under his command

He touched/maybe even sexually assaulted, all the way, who were too afraid to speak up. Prolly commit hari kari, rather than go to Leavenworth

[childfreebychoice]

3. Makes ya wonder how many women under his command

He touched/maybe even sexually assaulted, all the way, who were too afraid to speak up. Prolly commit hari kari, rather than go to Leavenworth

[twodogsbarking]

4. Deja vu.

[jgmiller]

8. Help me understand

I get the military side of this and I agree with others that he pissed someone off and maybe they wanted to have a sacrificial lamb. What I don't get is that she was a civilian, why wasn't he criminally charged by the local DA? He might be a General but isn't he subject to local laws as well if the victim isn't in the military?

[LudwigPastorius]

9. I can't find the relevant information, as to...

whether this occurred on base or off. Only that it happened in a Jeep somewhere in New Mexico.

If it was on military property, I think the DOD has jurisdiction.