RAF MILDENHALL, England — The woman was sleeping in a dormitory on a U.S. air base in Germany, surrounded by Air Force police, troops with whom she had just spent 120 days in Iraq.
It was September 2003 and the Air Force members were on their way back to their bases in England following a successful deployment.
“This woman should have been in the safest place in the world,” said Capt. Matt Blue, who secured the conviction of an Air Force security force member who climbed into bed with the woman in an attempt to rape her.
After a recent three-day court-martial, Airman 1st Class Nathan Wilson, 21, of the 100th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, was found guilty of attempted rape for his actions on Sept. 4, 2003, at Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany.
The judge sentenced Wilson to one year of confinement, a bad-conduct discharge, total forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank to airman basic and a reprimand.
Wilson had been charged with rape and burglary with the intent to commit rape. He entered a plea of guilty to indecent sexual assault, but that plea was ultimately denied in favor of a prosecution on the rape charge.
Blue said the troops were returning to England with a stopover at Rhein-Main. During the one-night stay, Wilson entered the woman’s room, removed his pants and climbed into bed with her while she was sleeping.
Blue noted that the woman and her attacker had just shared a successful and safe deployment to a hostile part of the world. She had reason to believe that any danger was behind her and she was surrounded by comrades in arms, who were there to protect her.
“That’s one of the things that is most troubling about this,” he said.
