The Air Force is to court martial a general for the first time in its 74-year history after a decorated two-star leader allegedly sexually assaulted a civilian woman.
Major Gen. William Cooley, a father of three with a 20-plus-year career in the Air Force, was accused of forcibly kissing and touching the woman on Aug. 12, 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
A court-martial is the military’s highest level trial court that tries service members for the most serious crimes, and punishment for each offense is outlined in the ‘Manual for Courts-Martial.’
It is military protocol for active duty service members accused of crimes to stand trial before military tribunals rather than civilian courts.
Air Force Material Command commander Gen. Arnold Bunch, who was the General Court-Martial Convening Authority in this case, said in a statement that had ‘comprehensive review’ of all of all evidence and came to this decision.
‘I’ve informed Maj. Gen. Cooley of my decision to move his case to general court-martial,’ Bunch said. ‘I can assure you this was not a decision made lightly, but I believe it was the right decision.’
Air Force Major Gen. William Cooley, a decorated officer with more than 20 years in the military, becomes the first general to face court-martial in the military branch’s 74-year history.
Major Gen. Cooley was awarded seven major accommodations for his military service.
Cooley was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal and Air Force Achievement Medal.
He joined the Air Force out of the ROTC in 1988 as a second lieutenant and entered active duty in January 1990 after completing a master’s degree from the University of New Mexico.
Cooley climbed the ranks until the Air Force promoted him to major general in July 2018.
Despite the long, prestigious career, victim advocate groups like Protect Our Defenders, view this historic action is a major win because it shows no one is above the law.
Retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, president of advocacy group Protect Our Defenders, which connected the victim with her pro bono attorney, put Wednesday’s announcement into perspective.
“The overall prosecution rate of sexual assault among the Air Force is 4 percent, so that means 96 percent of the time, these cases don’t even go to trial,” he said. “Then add that he’s a general.”
But the Air Force’s decision ‘tells me that there’s a strong case here,’ Christenson told Military.com.
Christenson told Military.com that the Air Force’s decision ‘tells me that there’s a strong case here.’
There is a possibility the trial may never happen if he offers a plea deal in exchange for a cap on his punishment or offers to retire, and it’s accepted by the judge, Christensen said.
But this is going to be ‘unique,’ he said, and will likely take awhile to go to trial because the Air Force needs to find eight officers with seniority over Cooley who will be fair and impartial to serve as the jury, Christensen said.
He estimates that there are only about 100 Air Force officers with more seniority.
The sexual assault charge was brought against Cooley in November 2020, and an Article 32 hearing, which is similar to a civilian grand jury, was held on Feb. 8, 2021.
This is the Air Force Research Laboratory at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Cooley was relieved of his command of the Air Force Research Laboratory at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio in January 2020.
The trial of a court-martial is similar to a civilian criminal trial, but the major difference is the foundation that guides the trials.
A military criminal proceeding is guided by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), which provides the foundation for military law in the United States, while civilian trials use rights and laws established in the Constitution.
Just as in civilian criminal proceedings, Cooley is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
DailyMail.com contacted Cooley’s lawyer, Daniel Conway, for comment.
