Prompted by nearly 100 accusations of rape involving US Air Force personnel in the Pacific region, the service said tonight it has launched an investigation into how sexual assaults are being dealt with.
The move is the latest in a recent series of reports detailing problems of sexual attacks and alcohol abuse in the US military.
Defense Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld quickly expressed concern over the issue.
"One cannot read the kinds of reports you're referring to and not have a deep concern about the armed forces, because we do hold ourselves to a higher standard," he said today at a Pentagon news briefing.
Last month, the secretary ordered a wider probe into Pentagon measures to prevent sex attacks within the ranks after a spate of reports of male troops abusing female comrades in Iraq and Kuwait.
The Army has launched a similar investigation of those incidents.
"What we need to do is to get the facts and to come to some judgments. And that is the process that we initiated when we had the first clue," Mr Rumsfeld said.