Currently Browsing: Blog

Sexual Assault In The Army

Thursday, 09 April 2009

By MG Mike Oates

Last September in this blog I asked you why people are not reporting sexual assaults. Right now the Army is experiencing an unacceptable level of sexual assaults against female Soldiers. For me, one sexual assault is unacceptable - but what is going on here? How do we reduce this trend?

Comments (42)

Comments are closed Thank you for your interest in this blog thread. While the blog will remain available for review, we close the thread to comments after 30 days.

In my opinion (this is from a female's point of view) there are 3 things that can happen to you when you report sexual harrassment/assault and it can be more than one:

You become a victim
You become a liar
You become a skank

The victim part is difficult to deal with because women have to be strong in order to work in a predominantly male environment. As a result, that female will be looked upon totally different and whether or not it's obvious is irrelevant, it hurts none the less.

A liar, people construe what they want. They'll believe what's going around and most times, it's that the female is making it up.

A skank, fellow comrades may believe you willingly put yourself out there and what happened is a result of your own behavior. And a reputation develops. Females are horrible and a lot of them can't be friends with each other. So we turn to male friends and sometimes that doesn't end well.

My point is that when you're with a unit and feel as part of the team; you really don't want to compromise that. And sometimes that means keeping things from people who can help and dealing with the issue alone.

Personal experience, on a deployment to AFG I was harrassed by a MAJ and a CPT. I had a NCO try to force himself on me and prior to the deployment I had avoided the wrong guy for the right reasons and he still got me. I didn't report the assault because he planned the whole thing out, he was gone the next day. I didn't think there was anything I could do. He had ETS'd. The CPT and MAJ I was building a report with the EO Rep in case they actually attempted assault so that I had long term documentation of their actions. However, during the course of this I was hit on by the EO Rep. That was awful! Not to mention my battle buddy filed a formal complaint against her NCO because he had been harassing her to come home with him and sleep with both him and his wife. Because of that complaint (she was rear det) the unit found her to be trouble and deployed her with us to AFG. I think that right there explains why SA/SH is not getting reported. There are consequences whether or not you believe it.

It's happening because some people(mostly guys) see something they want and take it by force. It's a reflection of rotten values and morals. Females are not to blame however, if the sexual policies were tighter downrange, maybe this would slow it down or stop it. I mean, let's be real-Some females at camp victory were running around without any self control or self respect. WOW, what a message to be sending to rotten people who have the itch and no morals!

Sex downrange should be banned-PERIOD-unless you're married. This behavior encourages sexual behavior and steers it closer to assaults and other stupid acts.

There is NO reason for sexual assault, so when it happens, FRY THEM. Don't AR15 and let them clean the floors, make them break rocks in the hot Iraqi sun, give them bread and water, and 4 hours of sleep a day.

If it were up to me, lashing would still be an acceptable methd of punishment

Sorry if I'm blunt and harsh, I just say it like it is

Sir,
I believe the best way to mitigate SA in our ranks is to return to standards in the Army. When I speak of standards, I would like to break it down to three subject areas: Recruiting Standards, Training Standards, and Discipline Standards.

Due to the ongoing mission we have supporting GWOT, the Army has reduced the standards of today's "acceptable" recruit. Where in the past a person was disqualified for service due to criminal records, that has since been waived to fill the ranks. Though we need a strong all-volunteer Army, we do not need to fill the ranks "at any cost." By lowering the standards of recruiting, we have consented to lower values...we have said, in essence, that it is OK to be a felon and wear the uniform of an American Soldier.

As for Training Standards, we need to do a better job of trainig Soldiers. Power point slides and company briefings on Co2 do not hit the core of our needs for Soldiers by themselves. We make Soldiers memorize the 7 Army Values, but have we ever asked a Soldier to define them or explain them to their fellow brothers and sisters in arms in a forum? I believe the Army today is managed at the team and squad leader level. What are we doing to train a rapidly promoted NCO to engage his Soldiers in the area of SA? I believe we need to develop training that focuses back on morals and ethics, the foundation by which Officers and NCOs are supposed to lead and live by. Ethical and moral training should be foundational training within the ranks.

Last, we need to be much more effective on how we discipline Soldiers at all levels of the Army. Growing up in the Army, I was always told, and later practiced, that discipline should always be swift, sure and severe. If a Soldier werer to ere, his or her punsihment should be no surprise to them. It should make them think twice about their actions, make an indelible mark in their life, yet still create room for recovery...if recovery were an option. Too often we do not exercise proper judgment and discipline. This then creates an environment that gives Soldiers the idea that they can "get away" with their actions.

Bottom line, Sir...it all falls on us, leaders of ourt great Army to do what is right and to train those we are blessed to lead and to correct them when they are wrong. We must always do the hard right over the easy wrong every time.

Great forum with lots of good comments. My thought on this issue: We, as leaders, don't do a good job of explaining the circumstances for each case. Soldiers and Family members often know one side of the story on the disposition of a case. Within legal constraints and confidentiality rules, leaders have to do a better job of publicizing the facts and disposition of SA cases.

To the rape advocates available on and off fort drum ...your service is duly noted ..It is however my understanding these rapes are occuring while deployed and not neccesarily 'ON FORT DRUM".There is alot of miles between Iraq and Watertown,N.Y ...My Idea is to have advocates that SOLEY WORK FOR THE FEMALES IN THE MILITARY AND ARE ASSIGNED TO THE AREA'S ..Iraq.Afghanistan,Iran...WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED MOST....not just in watertown,ny..i doubt that all victims are from watertown,n.y and they may not be getting the help they need..so the duty and responsibility lies with the military to do the right thing...and for this problem not to become a burden that our local counties and state goverment have to clean up .These women are in situations side by side with men and they need an advocate that is right there when an assault takes place to render immediate assistance to the victim and to arrest the perpetrator....time is of the essence in these situations and you need to be agreesive in your follow through.

Sir,
I understand we must protect the identity of the victims of sexual abuse / assault. But what about the the soldiers or civilians who commit the crimes? the installation news-paper place's mug shots of soldiers who get arrested or detained for DWI / DUI, why not publish the photo's of the people who commit the sexual abuse / sexual assault.

How about we invoke the maximum pentalty under UCMJ for a couple people convicted of rape? Maybe the possibility of death might run through the mind of someone before they decide its a good idea to sexually force themselves on someone, and they might have a change of heart.

Just last week (April 9th)there were courts martial proceedings on Fort Drum for a sexual assault case dealing with two males. The accuser came forward to his command to tell (his side) of what happened, the accused was interviewed by CID and confessed to the incident, and the case went to courts martial where he was found Not Guilty.
What's the use?
Imagine what that does to the assaulted soldiers morale.
Good thing he reported the incident, huh?
Bet it would have been different if it was a female making the accusations.

Try punishing the soldiers instead of the victims.

I used to counsel SA victims in Watertown, before moving to another part of the state. Every female soldier I saw had the same story. Several women were offerred to leave the Army and all were made to feel responsible. It's hard enough to be a female in the Army surrounded by arrogant, macho men who don't want you there in the first place. Then to be victimized by those same soldiers, who are supposed to be protecting you, and when you report the crime noone wants to help you. I feel terrible for these women. Shame on the US Military.

I agree with what someone else said below, it will be hard to enforce a standard when so many people lie and that is a shame. Sadly REAL sexual assaults do happen in the Army, but it's not as black and white as "kick the offender out" because often times people will lie in order to avoid getting a label within their unit. I have seen it happen!

The sad part is, most of the time the ones getting "swept under the carpet" aren't the real ones, but everyone sees it happening so it lowers the confidence of the Soldier who is actually assaulted that the Chain of Command will do anything. Just like the Boy Who Cried Wolf, leaders hear enough malicious complaints from people trying to avoid a label and when a real one happens, they can't tell the difference.

Sadly, I don't think it will ever get any better unless the Army were to seperate genders completely, which won't happen.

How about the soldiers who are sexually abusing our daughters and then being let go because they are getting shipped out to Iraq , I know of a couple cases now and do you feel that is fair? I feel bad for all the soldiers who are over there and risking there lives but stop letting the soldiers who are committing crimes get off with a slap on the hand .

Why don't they report it??? Where to begin......My daughter is an AIT student that was sexually assaulted by an NCO within 3 weeks of arriving there. They made a big deal of it and alot of promises that he would be taken care of. Taken care of was an understatement!!! Right before she was to graduate AIT she got a small infraction.....something that alot of AIT students do. It has since turned into a field grade Art 15. We fought it and an inequity was filed, the results came back but before she was told the outcome some new allegations were brought up that were ABSOLUTELY not true. I spoke to the Col. and was told her integrity was in question about the sexual assault charge that she and 3 other AIT females brought up against the NCO that assulted her!!!! This is why they don't tell.......the repricussion is too much!!! She has been held over 82 days to date. The kicker is that the NCO that assaulted her is STILL there.

One person spoke of not having civilian advocates and female advocates. I just wanted to state that there are civilian female advocates out there. There are two agencies that I know of. Both of these agencies are located on Fort Drum and one has multiple loactions off of post. The first is SARC(Sexual Assault Response Coordinator)The phone number is 772-5914. The other is The Victims Assistance Center of Jefferson County. They have multiple locations: Main office located at 120 Arcade Street in Watertown. The phone numbers are 782-1823 and 782-1873. There is an office in the Family Court building 163 Arsenal Street 4th Floor also in Watertown. The phone number there is 786-7400. The other location is on Fort Drum in the Behavioral Health Building. The phone numbers there are 772-2715 and 772-3281. All of the VAC advocates utilize an on-call system to respond to the scene of a crime or to the hospital for support. There is also a hotline number you can call 1-866-782-1855. All advocates have been trained in SA and DV counseling, and work with indviduals on a daily basis. These advocates are looking out for you!

I have read most of the suggestions here and pretty much agree with what everyone is saying. I am retired now and have seen some fair punishments, but most get swept under the "rug". The idea of a rehab move is a novel idea but that sometimes is as good as a "rug". What I believe to be a possible solution would be, to bring a facility to Fort Drum that would hold individuals that committ sexual assault, or seriously violtate an army regulation in general. There used to be a program called "school the Soldier" where people who needed an attitude adjustment would stay for a week for retraining. Maybe better yet we need a Confinement facility and give sexual assaulters an area where they can have group counseling by professionals.

I have difficulty believing that the number of sexual assaults have risen that much. I do believe, however, that victims have just started to report incidences more often. Once one victim has reported what has happened, it makes other victims more apt to come forward.
A lot of the responses here seem to have difficulty distinguishing the difference between two soldiers having a sexual relationship and one soldier assaulting another soldier. There have been countless studies that show that sexual assault and rape have very little to do with sex. Instead, those acts are mostly about one person's power over another person, expressed in a violent way.
If the military can get past thinking of this as a sexual problem and instead start seeing it as instances of violence by one soldier to another, it would be easier to come up with some sort of deterrent.
This is yet another issue that the Army has tried to cover up for years. I liken this to suicide prevention. No one gave a crap until there was national press coverage about it. Since I started seeing articles about sexual assault, I'm not surprised that the Army is now pretending to care about this as well.
The only way for sexual assault to stop is for there to be criminal prosecution and a real punishment for those who assault others. Letters of reprimand and loss of rank does not work. Prison does work. In addition, an environment where victims can report assault without fear of repercussions is required. Units need to stop trying to sweep things under rugs and keep things "in the family" for fear of making themselves and the Army look bad.

Sir,

One way to reduce and see change within the Army for Sexual assaults is to hold people who commit these crimes to a punishment. So many times I see people get away with it if you look at last year’s stats on sexual assault what only 12 percent of the offenders were punished this is a Command problem so many commanders do not take SA seriously and if I was a victim I would not report it to the Military either as they won’t do too much to the offender. This is not only a male; female problem males can be assaulted also. If the Army really wants people to report these crimes then start taking SA seriously and stop brushing it under the table. The UCMJ states that you can get life/Death for committing a sexual assault (RAPE). The average sentence for sexual assault is no time served and a discharged from the army. hmm something is wrong with this. The army and other services have worked so hard with the Sexual assault program to stress the importance of knowing what SA is and what to do if you are sexually assaulted but they leave it up to commanders to decide on a punishment. Start holding commanders accountable too then I bet you will see a change on how this is reported.

Sir, my daughter works the sexual assault enter on fort drum ,im sure u have met her. Rape is a crime no matter it b civilian or military and should b dealt with as such.My self, I think the laws are to lenient on rapists all the comments about there is so much pressure on our soldiers so they commit these crimes due to the pressure is just plain bogus.If that is the case,our streets would b filled with rapists as there is pressure on every one these days.i think ALL rapists should be punished severly rather civilian or military.

I read alot of the previou excuses of training and education, deployment issues etc. At a luncheon today a JAG staff member was rewarded becuase she sped up the process of completing prosucution actions. And as a firefighter I continually see the commander defend their enlisted for some of the stupiest actions that result in major damage. No one in the command structure wants to hold their soldeirs accountable. For a rape or other serious criminal action, require a mandatory criminal punishment equal to the civilian sector. If a commander or supervisor tries to hide it or reduce the punishment, they should be equally accountable. If you punish the supervisor for alck of action, they will quarantee it does not happen again.

Well after reading all the comments above I must agree with all but the one about removing females from the army. How stupid is that comment that would be called discrimination if I am not mistaken. Alot of females love to serve their country too. Being in the military a Service Member should be proud , respectful , loyal ect. the list goes on. Todays soldiers are not the same as years past. The todays soldiers are no longer addressing other males or females as yes sir or no mamn . They lack discipline too.
What happen to the good soldiers that were so polite and respected.
The only way woman are going to report the sexual assault would be if you SIR followed through ACTIONS speak louder than WORDS. You need to show them Soldiers that are assaulted that YES it matters and Yes the male Soldier will be unhonorabley discharged from the military with no chance of coming back . Once female Soldiers see this happening I am sure you will see more reports , then woman can and will feel confident and safe again.

As the BN S1 for 3-142 AHB we gather and distribute all the literature the Army gives us regarding this topic. One of our female junior enlisted Soldiers was nearly sexually assaulted in the shower trailer last week. She held the assailant at bay with a knife. We were later told this person admitted to other assaults at Camp Stryker. Our troop was to receive a reward for her actions which is now being held up. I'm sure the CG would like to meet the female Soldier.

Being in law enforcement for 20 years i can tell you the answer is detering....Anyone will do what ever they want if they get away with it...simple answer make it impossible to do and to get way with it.What you need is a womens advocate in these areas to be available for complaints and if there are rapes and they can be handled promptly and efficiently.These situations most of the time go unreported because there is no one trustworthy to tell.A female advocate shouls be someone from outside military ranks so there are no agendas and should be placed in all areas.I have been part of a male dominated workforce myself and understand that "we are women not men" we may do the same job but we are women and as such we have needs that are specific to our gender and it's about time the male dominated workforce took note......

I think a lot of the assault and drunk driving problems can be attributed to how long soldiers are away now. The year deployed and year home (don't forget that year is cut into with training and schools) leads on all sides to reckless behavior both home and away. Until deployments are shortened and time at home increased there will be no change in assault, DUI's and all of the above.

When reading Eric's 04/09/09 comment, I think he ment to use the word "accused" not "accuser". He said one should not simply move the accuser (who would be the one claiming to have been assaulted) to another unit and take some pay from him. I think he ment to say that the military shouldn't simply move the ACCUSED (the one who did WRONG) to another unit and forget it.
I am only clarifying this because, at first I was confused as to what Bric was saying and I don't want to see his message misunderstood or lost in the confusion. His message, THE MESSAGE IS IMPORTANT. Maybe female soldiers need to find help from someone outside the military who will bring a lawsuit against the military, against this crime, and protect them from the pseudo-heros who are giving the real soldiers, our REAL heros, a bad name.

being a victim at age 14 myself and being 17 now and having the courts involved was the most horrifying experience in my life. not everyone is brave enough to come forward many are to scared because of how they are threatened. many victims dont realize that its not their fault for what happened and by telling it could help someone else out. I am one of the lucky ones who realized that i could help someone else out even after being threatened.
To prevent this maybe the army should do a better screening of who they allow in. Maybe they should do a good psych evaluation or hook them up to a lie detector test just to see how they react when asked certain things.
Many people respond differentyl and if asked certain things they freak out. By reading body language you can tell a lot about a person.

It's not just the army that is dealing with this, it is everywhere.
most of the time its not a stranger that rapes you, it is a family member or a friend of the family. you just cant trust anyone anymore.

people need to be brave and tell if they fear something is going to happen or if something does happen because u can save someone else from going through it.

Sir,

I believe if more victims were aware of the privacy available to a victim under provitions of restrictions outlined to the Unit Victim Advocates, they would be more likely to come forward. One way to raise the awareness would be to have the Post Sexual Assault Prevention Coordinator or the DSARC to give classes all the way down to Company level, It could even be a part of Safety Day.

I am prior service female, and a DA Civilian. I was the only female in my unit for 2 years..FA unit. I got sexually harassed a lot, but I always put the guys in their place, after a few complaints from other male soldiers for third party sexual harassment it stopped for the most part..However, The guys were like "oh dont talk to her or you will go to jail" and things along them lines..it sucked! I didnt even report anyone because usually after I told them they need to quit, they did.

See they should have special classes just for female soldiers...On how to tell these guys to stop! to prevent a possible assault. yes, they have the sexual harassment classes and stuff but, its males and females in the class together..they should just have a class for females and make it like open discussions and not the typical slideshow/video stuff. Let these females know that it is not going to hurt their career to tell them to stop and then if they dont, they will not get in trouble for reporting it!!!

I also think that females should only be at brigade level, especially on this post! to many deployments and temptations. I know thats a long shot, though.

My husband just deployed and has recently told me, he is leaving me for a girl who was in his BCT, in one of the support units. ouch. How can i blame him though? he is on his fourth deployment..He is never home and there is plenty of fish in the sea...apparently.

Well I believe to combat sexual assault you need to enforce a fair standard across the board for all to follow, and I know we have the Army's Policy on Sexual Assault, this policy is a good one however it is not enforced to any real type of standard. In my 9 years here on Fort Drum I have been shocked to see a clear double standard when it comes to this Policy. Example, I watched male Soldiers get in trouble for flirting or making comments toward female Soldiers, however I have seen female Soldiers make comments to male Soldiers and get away with it. I have also seen alot of females try and use this policy to influence other Soldiers, sadly the hardest part of combating this problem is have the NCOs enforce these policies.

The Army's problem, and has been for years, is that the Army is letting in criminals and is more interested in quantity istead of quality. I remember when you couldn't get in if you had a record OF ANY KIND or even if you didn't have a GED. Now there is a waiver for everything! I remember a time as acting First Sergeant there were Soldiers that could not fire a weapon because they had records! I couldn't believe it! There also needs to be harsher punishments no matter the rank. I don't believe that we will solve the problem with classes or just removing females from the Army. We need to clean house and get all of those with records out of the Army and go from there. We should be proud of our Soldiers, not embarrassed by them!

Current problem--we want the Army to be comprised of people with high values, work for little pay, work stupid long hours, and we'll accept felons when we can't make numbers (as long as they are straight). In the mean time, we will continue to hammer leaders by holding them accountable when their Soldiers do this kind of stuff.

The fix---something has to give. There are not enough quality people who care to put up with all of this. Where is the real incentive to keep more of the quality so we can raise our standards (besides a bad economy--which will pass)? In the mean time, the one thing that is most certain to work--dishonorable discharge for offenders. A little jail time would not hurt either.

Rape has always been a powerful combination of power, control, sex, and violence. Sex is the weapon used against the victim so that the rapist obtains what he wants. I would think that with male soldiers in the army and the wars that are faced overseas, the pressure upon them is immense. In the army a soldier especially a male soldier can not be seen are weak or less than a man. How is he to feel if he is faced day in and day out with the possiblity of be shipped overseas to fight in a war he may not feel is right. There are many other pressures for male soldiers in the army other than Iraq or Afganhistan. However how many soldiers ask for help and seek out professional help? How willing is the army to help these soldiers or how quick are they to condemn them? Soldiers are strong !!!??? They are human. These pressures build and unfortunately violence has always been an answer. So why not take out these furstrations upon someone weaker than them. Rape becomes their vice to take back some control and assert they are still men and still in control of things in their own mind.

For a female soldier whom is raped by a male soldier, that is just the first of many. The army is not going to support her. The army is still seen as a boys network and the boys will look out for each other even when they know they are in the wrong. Where she was the victim of one, she will become the victim of many if not all. For her own best interest and in her mind and for her life she pushes it to the back of her mind, tries to forget, tries to move on with her life and her job, and the rape is never reported or never followed up on. Things have not really changed in all these years.

Male soldiers have to take responsiblity for their actions. When there are no consequences for the actions they can never take or learn responsiblity.

For female soldiers they have to stand up for each other and band together with each other. Women are a sisterhood first and foremost. Like men have their brotherood, women have their sisterhood. Men have to look out and watch out for each other. Male soldiers all see the signs when another male is aggressive with a woman and where that can lead. This society still turns a blind eye and the practice of empathy is lost, apathy becomes a new standard. Friends don't let friends drive drunk ... Friends don' let friends harm and victimize another.

I think the Army should be more open to the outside community. Let female soldiers whom are rape victims reach out to the outside community for help and support. The army still has the curtain up and the mentality that we take care of our own. NO THEY ARE NOT. Victims are still punished and the guilty so go free. This happens in the Army, other military branches, and all over this world.

The male soldiers need to know they are being watched, their is help out there for them to deal with pressure and problems in their lives, they need to know their are consequences for their actions and they shall brought to justice for their crimes.

The female soldiers need to know there are people out there in the military and in the community whom will listen and be there for them, whom will support them and stand by and with them. There are people out there whom deeply care and are there for them from the arrest report and hospital exam thru the trial and after the sentencing. Supporters whom will be there for them years after when a memory or flashback occurs, whom will listen and empathize and support their recovery.

The army, the male soldiers in trouble, the female soldiers whom are victimize need to be able to reach out for help and assistance and know that help, assistance, and support will be there for them. Many supporters have open arms and out reached hands to help, just that the other side has to take that first step and say "I need help, I need to talk."

Sincerely,
Leigh

First this has been going on for so many years you can't count them all on 20 pairs of hands. When a female soldier is assualted she is treated not as a victim but someone that asks for it. i.e. clothes, hair, makeup, smiling etc. the perpatraitor is not punished severely enough. Generally, a slap on the hand or sent away to a different post. The victim is then left feeling that no one believes them. is scared, or threathened. Why report it when you are going to be blamed for the outcome. Being a victim once is emough believe me.

How about not recruiting known felons in the Army? Criminal behavior begets criminal behavior. When I was younger, folks joined the Army to get off the streets and out of the gangs. Now we've invited the gangs into the Army.

It's not just the sexual assault - it goes to everything else too: indiscipline in the ranks, DUIs, other criminal actions. Trace it back to our lower standards of recruiting.

I doubt there is any one way of definitively reducing sexual assault. Continuing programs such as "Sexual Assault Awareness" and leadership at all levels continue to remind their subordinates its wrong, and no type is acceptable. Even Officer to enlistee relationship can result into problems, and must be address before it gets out of hand. The problem is not just an ARMY one, it is society, it begins at childhood, what is thought of just as innocent play develops into more in the adulthood. Some Soldiers I happened to be in earshot of while making my rounds in the motor pool, I can recall how they talked about their recruiters and how the recruiters tried to be a little to friendly, and then others would talk about their basic, and/or AIT "personnel in leadership positions" would try to make a move on a trainee or have a relationship all together. Then a behavior sets into the Soldier "if he or she doesn't have strong moral and ethic conscience" that mind set represents that kind of approach for sex is "ok". I do not know if it is legal, but a blizzard [Mountaineer] page section depicting a Soldier and type of sexual assault crime including punishment, may also deter those that maybe thinking of sexual assault. Like smoking sensation and alcohol anonymous, maybe a hot line or confidential appointment with a sex counselor, if the personnel is having thoughts of sexually assaulting someone. Or just straight ask, "when was that last time you had a steady relationship, when was the last time you had sex?" Guess being blunt and approaching from all angles is the only other way to go, give no room or breathing space for this type of atmosphere to develop.

Overseas...deployment, single and married Soldiers deployed. The cases of sexual assault can increase significantly. Continuing programs to deter sexual assault, and enforcing regulations at all levels does not matter what rank they are. One idea which is probably way out there and not even going to be considered, is just having a bordello near a base, and hire those particular people to curb the sexual appetite of society. Or shorten tours, 8 months to 1 year can be a long time for any type of relationship, without sex, can lead to problems. (guess that includes failing marriages and relationships)
But what I type here have no validation that society is at fault for the spike in sexual assaults cases. At least it is being reported in, and being treated quickly and fast. Good job to those E.O. selected personnel for quick responses to Soldiers reporting in.

I am female in the military and Have been deployed twice. On my last deployment I had a room mate that was a little more friendly towards the male soldiers then she need to be. Which is probably one of the reasons I did not spend much time getting to know her or spent anytime around her. I did not want all that attention around me when I had a job to do. About half way through the deployment she decided that she did not like all the attention she was getting ( which she did have a hand in creating in a way) so when male soldiers were making comments or trying to get her attention or rather push themselves on her and be very forward, she just went with it, and then would complain to me. I finally said something to the CMD and all they did was seperate her and send her to another FOB and still let the males get off with what looked like nothing. I think that there are many reasons why females are afraid to report it;
1- they are scared, 2- they feel that the CMD will look down on them and other soldiers will as well, 3- they feel like it is thier fault this is happening, when its not. 4- they feel nothing will happen 5- they think that its no big deal
I feel that alot of females in the army are very promiscuious and alot of them give those of us that are not a bad name, so alot of the male soldiers put all females into one catagory and think that we are all the same and are all promiscious. I know that this is not an excuse for these assaults to be happening, nothing is. They should not be happening at all. I think there needs to be more classes on sexual assault and what to do. I also think that these young soldiers need to hear from there chains of command that it is ok for them to go to their chains of command with these issues and know that their chain of command is going to take this seriously and that they are going to take the time to get to the bottom of the issue and take appropriate action. I think if soldiers heard this directly from their chains of command instead of in a Memo then they would be more willing to report the incidents. Also I think that a way to help this situation is there needs to be like a peer program or something like an anymous hotline that soldiers can call if they feel like they are being harrassed or waht to talk and don't feel comfortable talking to their NCO or OC.

My wife and I have been in the army for 6 years. My wife was one out of four female individuals that made a complaint about a certain NCO making sexual advances and even one female had been sexually assaulted by this individual. Now, me I would have loved to take care of this myself!! But me being an NCO and believing in the Army to take care of the matter, I left it alone. To me this whole matter got swept under the rug. The army says ZERO tolerance with this kind of behavior, but than allows the accuser to stay in the army. Oh yeah, not to mention the victims have to deal with all types of non-sense after it has been spread around the unit. Friends of the accuser, some in high positions, treated my wife like a dirt-bag after the whole process. So, to answer your question SIR if you want to reduce this type of trend, follow through and make sure these individuals get kicked out of the military with a dishonorable discharge. Since, the army has a zero tolerance this is what should happen anyways. Not lets move the accuser to another unit take half a months pay from him. Females in the army are not coming forward because of this, in my eyes. If the army would follow through with their ZERO tolerance and kick these predators out of the military, than I know the army will see a reduction in cases. After my wife’s matter I wish I would have taken care of the matter myself, because the army in my eyes looked the other way while this happened! I not going to use my name or anyone involved in this matter, my wife and others have been through enough. Oh, and by the way, this individual is still in the military and could be doing this to someone else RIGHT NOW!!

This is a very hard topic, I am a male spouse wife has been in the Army for the last 13 years and I have supported her all the times. And if something happened to her I am not sure what I would do, but I will be their for support. The question I have is does everyone know who to report sexual assault to, does the PV1 or who ever know where to go. Maybe they are afraid like that they where the ones who caused the assault, they need to know that they are the victims and they can feel that they can seek support without anyone knowing about it. They may need more education, have open forum bring it out on how to resolve the problem, they may need to feel comfortable talking to the councilors or be able to reach their councilors 24/7. How many times have their been coverups where commanders or senior NCO's abuse their rank to prey on the new soldiers who don't understand the military. Education is one tool holding people accountable is another. Bring in an outside agency to do the investigation and reports only to you as the commanding General. If anyone caught trying to coverup or not cooperating to there fullest then they need to be removed and treated as someone who is obstructing the investagaion and punish them as well, we are all in the military be you a private, NCO or officer or a military spouse we all belong to the military an sexual assault effects everyone, friends, neighbors the community. I leave you with this zero tolerance is zero tolerance stick to your guns an punish the guilty those who commit the crime and those covering it up.

The issue lies within the person. Many offenders don't know the meaning of the word "NO". I am the father of six children, two of which are girls. My father always told me you treat women like you want others to treat your Mother, Sisters or your Daughters. Alot of offenders don't live by this concept. It starts with the person first. Somewhere during there childhood days they may have had an issue with a person of the opposite sex. These offenders have never addressed their issues and resolved them the right way. So they pray on the opposite sex for personal satifaction. Is this right? By no means is it exceptable at all. I understand we do POSH/POSA training quarterly and it does effect some wh are willing to listen and pay attention during the training. We put Soldiers who commit DWI pictures in the paper for all to see. Why not place the Sexual Assault Offenders picture in the paper also. Maybe this would open up the eyes and possibly deter others from commiting the same offence.
The reports aren't being filed because of how people persive the victim. Lets not Victimize the Victim. Lets make sure that we have the right amount of senior leadership trained to fight the fight. make it maditory for all NCO's E-5 and Up attend the training post training class. Not just the classes that are given at BN and Company level.The more Soldiers we have trained the better the results. Make the punishment for these offences more strict and make an example out of those who commit these horrific acts.

First they are probably not reporting them because the Army really doesnt have the attitude of "We will take of care that for you", they are more of a sweep it under the carpet kind. Also, I would check into the claims first before I make it public, I hate to say it but about half of the female soldiers claim that after the fact because they dont want to get the label of "Military Whore", while my husband was deployed he told me of several female soldiers that their doors where revolving over their with male soldiers coming in and out all the time. That makes me sick that the female soldiers do that and the male soldiers do it but I guess all people arent perfect. Maybe they need to try to keep them seperated more, I know that will be more than impossible to do but something has to give. It just gives the rest of the female soldiers who dont do that a bad image/name, I AM NOT SAYING ALL FEMALE SOLDIERS ARE LIKE THAT. The woman that do , do that grow up and just go work on the street if thats the image you want. The male soldiers who do that to female soldiers with out them wanting you too, you are just disgracing the military and the soldier name.

The army does an exlant job of training poeple. But fails to look at the whole person they pick and chose what thay want in a person (Soldier) and leave the indvidual to there own resorces for other parts like sex orintation, hobbys, past time, sports. They offer choices but not guidance. For example: the Army has fantastic Craft shops that house an array of possibilities for crafts. If I wanted to make a chest set I could buy the materials, all the tools are provided, whats missing is knowlege of what it takes in time, money, and effort to create the chest set. There is no one that will sit down and give a play by play this is what it will take to make the set.
Sex it's not needed in the soldier so it's not addressed. What is the right outlet for sex in the Army? No gidance is givin on how to releace pentup pressures. The indivudual must find ther own release right or wrong.
If the indivual leans off the normal excepted path of beavior they must hide there erges. Normal being what socity (Poeple at large) says it is.

You have to understand the victim's way of thinking. The psychological damage that is done takes a very long time for the victim to recover. The victim cannot accurately assess what has happened and turns away from any real help out of shame and fear. October is Domestic Violence prevention/awareness month. I called the ACS Office here on Fort Drum last October and asked what they were doing to bring awareness/prevention of Domestic Violence. They told me they had set up a booth at the PX and were handing out material. Have the experts get involved not just one day of the year - but everyday.

Either make all females units or remove the females from the army.

I don't know how we can stop them any more than I know how to stop soldiers from driving drunk.

Sexual Assault In The Army

Browse

Support Your Soldiers

Opet's Odyssey