Target In A Wild, Bluenosed Yonder Tight-Jawed Righteousness It’s Not A Crime For Which Flinn Should Lose Her Career.

America’s first female B-52 pilot, facing a court-martial for adultery next week, has become the U.S. Air Force’s new Hester Prynne.

Lt. Kelly Flinn, grounded by the Air Force’s puritanical double standard for its women officers, has been banned from the B-52s at Minot Air Force Base.

The Air Force’s fallen heroine - honored as a 14-year-old at Space Camp, trained at the U.S. Air Force Academy, praised by an instructor last September as an “outstanding officer and aviator” - faces a maximum nine-year prison term.

Her tale reads like a tortured Nathaniel Hawthorne novel.

Flinn fell for a civilian who lied to her, claiming his marriage was headed for divorce.

The affair was a mistake, which Flinn readily admits. But it’s a mistake we daresay a few male officers have made over the years with penalties considerably less severe. A lieutenant colonel in Minot, accused of an adulterous affair with his secretary last year, was fined $4,660 and given a reprimand.

And remember those 140 Navy officers involved in Tailhook? None of them was ever court-martialed.

Perhaps, in the aftermath of recent highly publicized sex scandals, the military has decided to crack down on sex, period. It appears unable to make the distinction between private, consensual relationships and actual sexual abuse, which involves a clear violation of power. Women wind up unfairly persecuted.

Lt. Col. Karen Tew, court-martialed for adultery March 11 at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Ill., shot herself between the eyes five days later. Her suicide illustrates the grave results of the Air Force’s tight-jawed righteousness.

Adultery often has tragic consequences. But it’s not a crime for which Flinn should lose her career, nor for this should the Air Force lose its million-dollar investment in her training.

Sen. Slade Gorton, nobody’s idea of a militant feminist, became so incensed over this case last week that he demanded the Air Force dismiss its court-martial. Gorton recommends less severe penalties, such as counseling, a formal reprimand or a fine.

We agree, but given the Air Force’s outdated double standard, we fear Flinn will be back in the air in a B-52 under only one condition - with a single scarlet letter, “A,” painted on the bomber’s nose.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see “Her calling requires exemplary conduct”

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