Obama condemns big rise in sexual assaults in US military The number of US military personnel who have been sexually assaulted has skyrocketed, with 26,000 people saying they experienced "unwanted sexual contact" last year, according to a new defence department report. That was almost one-third more cases than two years earlier, leading to condemnation from President Barack Obama and members of Congress on Tuesday. Sexual assault is an outrage. It is a crime," Mr Obama said during a press conference on Tuesday, adding: "We have to do everything we can to root this out." If we find out somebody is engaging in this stuff, they've got to be held accountable - prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialled, fired, dishonourably discharged. Period," he said. The Pentagon report said anonymous surveys of military personnel found that 26,000 had suffered unwanted sexual contact, up from 19,300 in 2011. The number of sexual assault cases that were reported to authorities meanwhile rose from 3,192 in 2011 to 3,374 last year. The report was released as the military tries to deal with a slew of sexual assault scandals. More than 30 instructors at an air force base in Texas have been charged with a series of assaults on trainees, while the head of the air force's sexual assault prevention programme was arrested last weekend on charges of groping a woman in a car park. Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Krusinski was arrested after allegedly grabbing a woman in a car park near the Pentagon in northern Virginia on Sunday, and was immediately removed from his position in the air force's sexual assault prevention unit. Michael Donley, the air force secretary, and General Mark Welsh, its chief of staff, told lawmakers on Tuesday they were "appalled" by the incident. Senators from both parties said more needed to be done to combat the growing incidence of sexual assault in the military. Let me be clear. I am not satisfied with the progress to date," said Senator Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate's armed services committee. We must begin to eliminate this . . . scourge. Patty Murray, a Democratic senator from Washington state, agreed. "Not only are we subjecting our men and women to this disgusting epidemic, but we're also failing to provide the victims with any meaningful support system once they have fallen victim to these attacks," she said. Chuck Hagel, the new defence secretary, has ordered military leaders to step up their efforts to combat sexual assault. "Sexual assault is a crime that is incompatible with military service and has no place in this department," he said. It is an affront to the American values we defend, and it is a stain on our honour. [The Pentagon] needs to be a national leader in combating sexual assault and we will establish an environment of dignity and respect, where sexual assault is not tolerated, condoned, or ignored. Additional reporting by agencies