Col. Jason Costello, of the North American Aerospace Defense Command-Northern Command headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, is accused of sexual assault and assault and will face a court-martial in October.
Costello is accused of three specifications of violating Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which forbids sexual assault, and his court-martial at Peterson is scheduled to go from Oct. 1 to 13, according to the Air Force’s online docket.
NORTHCOM spokesman Michael Kucharek said Costello is currently assigned to the command’s training and exercises directorate, helping develop training and war game scenarios.
He is still on active-duty status, Kucharek said, but “he has been removed from all operational duties and is currently working projects as directed by his chain of command.”
According to the charge sheet provided by Peterson, Costello allegedly had sex with an unidentified sleeping woman in Rhode Island between late October and December 2014, when he knew or should have known she was asleep.
He is also accused of digitally penetrating an unidentified woman between September and November 2012, without consent and with the intent to gratify his sexual desire.
And he is accused of touching an unidentified woman’s breasts and genitals over her clothes without consent on more than one separate occasion between December 2012 and August 2014.
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Costello is also accused of two specifications of violating Article 128 of the UCMJ, or assault. According to the charge sheet, he allegedly struck an unidentified person’s face with his hand in November or December 2013. And he is accused of unlawfully grabbing an unidentified person’s arm, wrist and hand with his hands.
Costello has been in the Air Force for nearly 23 years. He previously served as commander of the 325th Training Support Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. According to an article posted on Tyndall’s website, he also served as an F-22 instructor.
The Colorado Springs Gazette first reported the charges against Costello.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
