The probe by the air force's general counsel was ordered after a burst of complaints that female cadets had been ignored, and sometimes punished, after reporting sexual assaults by upperclassmen at the elite service school.

There have been an average of 14 allegations of sexual assault a year over the past decade, but on average only six a year have been investigated, the report said.

The investigation reviewed only the academy's processes for dealing with sexual misconduct -- not the specific complaints made by more than two dozen cadets, which were brought to light by Colorado Senator Wayne Allard. Those are being investigated by the Air Force's inspector general.

The general counsel's probe found "no systemic acceptance of sexual assault at the academy, institutional avoidance of responsibility, or systemic maltreatment of cadeys who report sexual assault."

However, it said "the focus on sexual assault issues had varied over time and lessened in recent years, and a number of culture and process matters are problematic."

"Collectively, they produced a less than optimal environment to deter and respond to sexual assault or bring assailants to justice," it said.

The report faulted a system of reporting allegations of abuse that shielded the confidentiality of victims from commanders at the school and largely left to the victim the decision whether to prosecute.

"Consequently, there may be very little information to act upon to deal with assailants, and delays in cadet decisions to provide information can significantly impair the ability to obtain the evidence necessary to a successful prosecution," it said.

"This has the result of impairing the academy leadership's ability to assure justice and to prevent commission of cadets who are not fit for military services."

The investigation also found that while the academy's leadership was engaged in sexual assault issues in the early 1990s when it launched a program to deter it, attention gradually waned.

That, along with other factors, "produced an environment less attentive to victim concerns and factors in academy life affecting sexual assaults, and which was less capable of a coordinated response to individual cases than in earlier years."

About 16 percent of the academy's 4,000 students are women, who were first admitted in 1976.

"In some ways, the acceptance of women has not been complete, as evidenced by harassment of some female cadets by some male cadets that began with the first women and has persisted at some level to the present day," the report said.

"In other ways, women have been very well accepted, meeting fully the expectations for their success as cadets and future officers."

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