A divorced, single mother, 1st Lt. Eva Gutierrez Logsdon admits to having a relationship, but she denies that the man she was involved with was in her chain of command. Logsdon also denies charges of indecent assault and lying under oath.
"The fraternization prosecution in the Air Force is four times as great for females, so that if you're a woman, you're much more likely to be brought up on this enlisted officer thing than if you're a male," said Tod Ensign, one of Logsdon's attorneys.
In her defense, Logsdon is firing back with photographs and stories about the conduct of male officers at the air base.
"She allegedly violated the customs of the Air Force," said Louis Font, another attorney of Logsdon's. "But the photographs prove that officers and enlisted at the highest ranks fraternize all the time."
Logsdon says the photographs show male officers and enlisted women, socializing at wild, drunken parties, including one officer who will testify against her. Logsdon claims these people are members of the "Command Barstoolers Association," a secret society of pilots and navigators.
Logsdon and her lawyers will put the customs of the Air Force on trial at an investigative hearing that begins Monday. If she has to, Logsdon said she will fight the charges all the way to trial.
"Drop the ridiculous charges and just let me go on with my life," Logsdon said. "I've been living like this for four months and it's like a living hell."
Officials at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base acknowledge some airmen might belong to the Command Barstoolers Association on their own time. They say the Air Force does not condone the group, but membership in itself is not a violation of military policy.
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