The commander of the Red Arrows, the aerobatic team of the Royal Air Force (RAF), has been suspended while an investigation takes place regarding his alleged relationship with a junior team member that led to a pregnancy and pressure to have an abortion.
According to LBC, Wing Commander David Montenegro, Officer Commanding the RAF Aerobatic Team, allegedly had an affair with the team member in 2017 which resulted in a pregnancy. Relationships between military personnel are prohibited, especially when one of the members is of a superior rank.
The accuser shared her claims with the Daily Mail.
“I’d never been sure if I wanted children,” she said. “I’d just got on with my career. But the minute I knew — and I knew I was pregnant before I did the test — I realised I wanted to be a mother. I wanted to keep this baby. It’s astonishing how powerful that feeling was. I told Monty. He was very shocked.”
She said that Montenegro, who is the father of two and in a relationship with his children’s mother, told her that he didn’t want to lose his family. “He also said, ‘You know, it’s a bunch of cells. It’s not a baby.’ I thought that was manipulative,” she shared.
She added, “We had this conversation about how if I had the baby he couldn’t be a part of its life for the first two years because of his career plans and family commitments. I said fine, I can do it on my own.”
However, she said, he didn’t want that either. “He said he couldn’t imagine not being in a child’s life,” she explained.
But, a few weeks later, she suffered a miscarriage while with Montenegro in a hotel room. “I had been bleeding for some time but I finally lost it then. I was in a terrible state,” she said. “He cried too but I think it was from relief.”
She added, “It wasn’t his problem anymore. It was a really lonely time for me. I really didn’t have his support. He was never really there for me. I deluded myself that he was.”
Yet, she claims the relationship continued for another eight months. She has since left the Royal Air Force, saying that the “culture was toxic” there.
The details of the alleged affair emerged following Montenegro’s suspension while on a tour of the Gulf states and in the midst of other shocking scandals among the Red Arrows. Forty-three members have claimed sexual misconduct against other RAF members, and have given 240 hours of evidence that suggests bullying, misogyny, and harassment occurring within the organization. So far two pilots have lost their jobs.
“The RAF is aware of historic allegations from 2017 that have been made against the current Officer Commanding the RAF Aerobatic Team (The Red Arrows), which will be thoroughly investigated,” said a spokesperson for RAF. “Pending that investigation and without prejudice, the individual has been removed from post. We will not be commenting further while the investigation is ongoing.”
