Air Force combat aviator gets accused of rape by whackadoodle guy with a history of making unsubstantiated rape allegations. The accuser claims to have been working undercover for the Air Force to ferret out HIV-infected men who were planning to intentionally spread HIV to military men through sex parties. Hence his nude presence in the hot tub with the aviator. (The shrewd local detective observed wryly in his official report: “It should be noted that [the accuser] could not give me an answer as to why he, himself, had gotten naked.”) The police investigate and find not just no evidence of rape, but what appears to be a made-up story. The Air Force investigates, too, and finds no wrongdoing.
With me so far? Here’s where things really get crazy.
In defending himself, the aviator argues it was consensual sex and in so doing reveals himself to be gay. That is in apparent violation of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and now the Air Force is trying to boot him out of the service, just one year before his 20-year hitch is up and he gets his pension. Megan Carpentier has the details.
David Kurtz
David Kurtz is Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of Talking Points Memo where he oversees the news operations of TPM and its sister sites.