Air Force Academy freshman dropouts reach unusual rate

Air Force Academy freshmen bailed from basic training last summer at a slightly higher rate than the 10-year average, despite officials scuttling harsh training measures amid the sexual assault scandal. \nConversely, the class that will graduate in 2007 posted the lowest first-semester attrition rate in a decade. \nThe class also turned in the highest aggregate grade point average in at least 20 years for fall-semester freshmen, chalking up a 2.92 on a four-point scale. \nAn academy official said the basic-training washout rate is not statistically significant from other years and credited the class' academic performance to fewer "academically at risk" students admitted in June. \nAlthough every class is different, attrition rates may be a window to how the academy is performing as it reshapes programs in response to claims that academy officials ignored sexual assault reports and punished some who came forward. \nThe scandal, uncovered a year ago, prompted several investigations and unprecedented changes in training and cadet life. \nAn Air Force investigation completed in June found 53 percent of allegations of cadets sexually assaulting other cadets during the past decade involved freshmen victims, although freshmen represent only 29 percent of the student body. \nFreshmen victims also said they felt targeted in a system they think fosters vulnerability to sexual assault by giving upperclassmen control over freshmen in almost every aspect of training and living. \nIn response, Air Force leaders ordered a more moderate basic training, although rigorous physical and mental exercises remain part of the drill. \nFreshmen who arrived June 26 were the first spared the traditional screaming from upperclassmen and other demeaning tactics that officials have said contributed to cadets developing a greater loyalty to peers than to the Air Force. Such behavior was curtailed to bring cadet basic training in line with Air Force training standards. \nDuring the six-week basic training, including 17 grueling days in the Jack's Valley wilderness area, they washed out at 5.9 percent -- the lowest rate in three years, although higher than the 10-year average of 5.3 percent. \n"That's not a major aberration," said academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker. "That's in line with what we'd expect. I don't think that is statistically significant." \nHe noted the figures include those leaving for any reason, including medical and personal reasons, academic failure and honor violations. Cadets can leave the academy before junior year without incurring a debt or obligation to serve. \nDuring the fall semester, 2.5 percent left -- the lowest percentage in at least a decade. \nIf the class has an average attrition rate this semester, it will have lost 12.1 percent of its members during its first year -- among the lowest in a decade. \n"They could be a class that has a lot more motivation," Whitaker speculated, calling the newest class "more prepared than past classes." \nThe class had an overall high school grade point average of 3.9. It scored in the 95th percentile on the math portion of the ACT and in the 88th percentile on the English portion. Sixty-seven percent were Honor Society members. \nA gender breakdown of those who have left wasn't available. Females comprised 17 percent of the 1,302-member class when it arrived. \nHistorical data show females consistently wash out of basic training at a higher rate than males. The rates are more comparable when overall attrition is considered. \nDuring the last decade or so, about one-fourth of each academy class left before graduation -- a marked improvement over the 1960s and 1970s when cheating scandals and resulting expulsions helped drive the attrition rate to higher than 30 percent, Whitaker said. \nThe highest attrition rate was for the Class of 1975, which lost 46.2 percent of its members.