KUNSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — An Air Force fighter pilot acquitted Thursday of charges he raped one female officer and attempted to rape another was given a reprimand and fined for a separate charge on Friday.
Capt. David T. “Tom” Still, an Air Force Academy graduate, was reprimanded for violating a general order and fined a total of $4,000 after pleading guilty to having sex with an enlisted female, military judge Lt. Col. Eric Dillow ruled in a Kunsan Air Base courtroom.
Prosecutors had asked for the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge and time in jail.
The sentence now will be passed to the base commander, who is the convening authority. The Air Force will then determine Still’s future within the service, including whether he will fly fighter planes again.
“It’s not over yet, but it gives him hope for a new day, and a new opportunity for his career,” his defense attorney, retired Lt. Col. Frank Spinner, said following the trial.
Still had pleaded guilty earlier in the week to violating the general order during the night of Jan. 1 and early morning hours of Jan. 2, 2006. A female enlisted airman testified that she and Still ducked out of a party and had sex multiple times at the Dragon Hill Lodge on Yongsan Garrison in Seoul.
Still was cleared of drunk-and-disorderly charges stemming from his behavior that night.
Throughout the week’s trial, Spinner portrayed the alleged rape incidents as partially due to “Thirsty Thursdays,” welcome and farewell parties for pilots called “sweeps,” and other drinking-themed nights.
During sentencing testimony for his general order violation Thursday, family friends from Still’s home in Washington state talked about his previous fight against cancer and active church involvement.
Still participated in the Officer Christian Fellowship at Kunsan, along with the female captain whom prosecutors alleged that he raped.
Friends from Still’s academy days and former co-workers all testified that while they didn’t condone Still’s general order violation, the incident did not change their opinion of him.
Still, who remained stoic throughout the trial, teared up following the Friday sentencing as he hugged his mother.
The alleged rape and attempted rape victims, one of whom was crying, were led out by court officers to a private room.
When asked about his feelings on the verdict, Still said he had no comment.
In an unsworn statement on Thursday, Still apologized to “the people he has hurt” and to his country, and said he hasn’t consumed alcohol since April 2006. He said he is a different person when sober.
“That person is someone who is the opposite of everything I believe in,” he said.
