Air Force general first to face court-martial on sexual assault charge

A two-star Air Force officer charged with sexual assault last year will face court-martial on the charge, the service announced Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. William Cooley, the former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, would be the first general from the service to be court-martialed since the military arm was created in 1947.

“After a comprehensive review of all of the evidence from the investigation and the Article 32 preliminary hearing, I’ve informed Maj. Gen. Cooley of my decision to move his case to general court-martial,” Air Force Materiel Command head Gen. Arnold Bunch said in a statement. “I can assure you this was not a decision made lightly, but I believe it was the right decision.”

Cooley in November was charged with one count of sexual assault following an Aug. 12, 2018, incident in which he “allegedly made unwanted sexual advances by kissing and touching a female victim,” according to an Air Force statement.

The incident took place when Cooley was off duty in Albuquerque, N.M., and involved a civilian woman who is not a military member or Defense Department employee.

Though the charge wasn’t brought until November, Cooley in January 2020 had been relieved of his command at the Air Force Research Laboratory, as he was under investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

A second investigation, ordered by Bunch in October, was led by Lt. Gen. Gene Kirkland, head of the Air Force Sustainment Center at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.

Kirkland recommended the one charge, which includes three specifications of sexual assault under Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The Air Force then convened in February for an Article 32 preliminary hearing, where a senior military judge reviewed the evidence. The process is much like a civilian grand jury proceeding, where a judge determines if there is enough evidence to bring a case to a formal trial. 

The Air Force statement stressed that “just as in civilian criminal proceedings, Cooley is presumed innocent until proven otherwise by competent legal authority.”