( CNN ) -- In response to an Air Force colonel 's overturned sexual assault conviction , Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is asking Congress to limit military commanders ' authority to toss out court-martial verdicts . `` These changes would increase the confidence of service members and the public that the military justice system will do justice in every case , '' Hagel said in a statement Monday announcing the initiative . Hagel also wants to require commanders who change court-martial sentences to explain their decisions in writing . The effort comes in response to the case of Air Force Col. James Wilkerson . The F-16 pilot was freed last year from a Navy brig four months after a court-martial convicted him of sexually assaulting a woman at his home outside Aviano Air Base in Italy . Acting under the military justice system 's Article 60 , the Air Force 's top commanding officer in Europe , Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin , exercised his power as `` convening authority '' of the court-martial to overturn the conviction . Sen. Claire McCaskill , D-Missouri , a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee , was among those expressing outrage over the decision . `` As we are trying to send a signal to women ... I question now whether that unit that that man returns to , whether there 's any chance a woman who is sexually assaulted in that unit would ever say a word , '' McCaskill said during a hearing in March . Lisa Windsor , a former Army Judge Advocate General officer , said any base commander has authority to do what Franklin did , but `` I 've actually never seen that happen before , that a convening authority would completely overturn the case . '' Hagel ordered a review of the Uniform Code of Military Justice , and Monday 's announcement is the result . The Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretaries of the various services support the changes , he said . `` Despite the attention and efforts of senior leaders throughout the Department of Defense , it is clear the department still has much more work to do to fully address the problem of sexual assault in the ranks , '' Hagel said . `` This crime is damaging this institution . There are thousands of victims in the department , male and female , whose lives and careers have been upended , and that is unacceptable . '' About 19,000 men and women suffer sexual assault each year in the military , former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last year in announcing a Pentagon effort to stop the crime . Panetta noted that only about 3,200 of those assaults were reported . About 10,700 cases -- 56 % -- involved male victims in 2010 , based on anonymous reporting collected by the military . CNN 's Brian Todd , Josh Levs and Ashley Fantz contributed to this report .
Defense secretary moves to curb commanders ' judicial power . Initiative ##s from pilot 's first sexual assault conviction . Air Force commander threw out verdict , acquitted himself .