As if the military has not received enough bad press after
the federal lawsuit, filed last year by dozens of victims of sexual assault and
rape, depicted in the documentary “The Invisible War”, it appears that it’s
going to take an act of congress to put an end to the ongoing abuse of our military veterans. Order the Dvd
here: http://invisiblewarmovie.com/
In the October 1st issue of the military tabloid
Navy Times, the front page titled “PURE HELL”, is the story of hazing against
167 recruits who were forced to conduct physical training exercises in their own waste;
urination and feces. Read the article
here: http://www.navytimes.com/
While veterans are willing to put their lives on the line
everyday so Americans can sit-back and enjoy their “wanna be” lifestyles of the
“rich and famous”, depicted by the countless, in my opinion, senseless reality
TV shows. Sadly enough, it appears that no one seems to care about
the ongoing abuse and human rights violations of our military veterans.
For those of you who have an ounce of care and concern left
in your heart to help US, I make a plea to you to help US petition Congress and
President Obama to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Acts to provide for better
protection of ALL Americans human rights.
Furthermore, without our military veterans, American
citizens will not have the freedom and liberties WE have become so accustomed
to.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
A Proud Military Veteran
I’m not surprised to see this hazing. The so called leadership fails to perform and then when the crap hits the fan they can do nothing but say that they are going to hammer the RDCs that were put in place by the leadership. This crap should be flowing up-hill too. If the proper selection was made for a commanding officer, then the commanding officer should have made sure that the RDCs were the proper people to do the job. I think I would have “lost confidence” in this CO and fired him for letting it happen. That, of course, raises the question of how some COs are able to blame others for their failure, while other COs are fired for failure to lead. Where were this CO’s checks and balances within his command? How did it get to this point and go on for so long?
ReplyDeleteYou brought up the matter of the eight service members who have filed suit. Have you heard any status lately? These assaults are also a result of leadership failures and all the leadership can do is spend more money on training that already exists. The last I heard, the Navy was hiring live actors to put on shows about what is and is not appropriate behavior. To do that, you have to gather everyone to watch when videos that have been in existence for many years, and do the same thing, can be viewed by anyone, anywhere. Throwing more money at something isn’t going to fix the underlying problem.
I read some time ago in one of your postings that Admiral Greenert didn’t recognize “the problem” of sexual assaults. That was quite the statement from him after the years of training that he had to have received subject of sexual assaults. But, I wasn’t surprised with that statement either because of the culture of cover-up at the senior levels. It’s not that things were never reported, but those who did the reporting, the Whistleblowers, were retaliated against by the very organizations that were supposed to protect them. We’ve even heard about the Navy’s Queen of Denial. I’m forgetting her name at the moment, but she was once the Deputy Naval Inspector General, and she essentially blew-off the Whistleblowers, covering for the commanding officers who allowed these assaults to happen within their command.
I just read another article yesterday about Secretary Panetta ordering the services to improve the quality of sexual assault prevention training. How many ways can you say just don’t do it? It all goes back to the “culture of cover up” and people like the Queen of Denial who allowed those who reported things to become the victims. Actually, I think I recall where the Queen of Denial was actually blaming the victims and saying that they were responsible for their own safety. Hey Ms. Denial, do you really think the victims are asking to be assaulted/raped?
Anon, Wow you really had quite a but to say about this blog. I've been trying to bring closure to my former life, as a military officer and pursue a writing career. But when I read stories like this one it deeply saddens me to see the more things change, the more they remain the same. That is why I'm calling for a petition on behalf of ALL Americans to amend the Civil Rights Act to protect our human rights.
DeleteWhile finishing my memoir I conducted many hours of legal research on the U.S. constitution as well as civil rights cases, since the Dred Scott case. President Obama is a constitutional lawyer and he is also the Commander in Chief of our military, with a simple stroke of the pen he can fix this problem!! Until then all we can do is pray for the safety of our active duty veterans who are in more harms way in a non-combat war zone.
Speaking of the eight assaultees, an Army brigadier general, BG Jeffrey A. Sinclair, has been arrested for forcible sodomy, multiple counts of adultery, and inappropriate relations with female subordinates.
ReplyDeleteNow, Mr. Panetta has required that sex assaults be reviewed at least at the O6 level. Did anyone else think that was a ridiculous decision --- since these are the ones who think they're above the law are are most likely to engage in the behavior. I mean, why would anyone think that just because someone made O6 or above without getting caught, that they are holier than anyone else.
Anon, Let's see if he's prosecuted, then we will know whether the Good ol Boys are still practicing selective prosecution.
DeleteConcerned Parent
DeleteSyneeda, I have a child who suffered abuse in this very story at Great Lakes in June. We contacted our Congressman and filed an I.G. complaint. I am seeking sources of council for her. My child lost confidence in the Navy due to this incident and was out processed due to medical reasons last month. Any guidance is appreciated.
Concerned Parent,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about your daughter, no one, absolutely no one should be mistreated like this in any workplace environment. Because of the publicity behind this story hopefully you and your daughter will receive a better resolution than other whistle blowers who filed IG complaints or Congressional Inquiries.
If she's been discharged my advice is for her to enroll at the nearest Veterans hospital and undergo a psychiatric evaluation. The doctors on their staff would be able to provide her suitable counseling as she continues to recover from her trauma.
It's amazing that there are so many stories of complaints being made with an Inspector General and nothing is done. I think the first anonymous is talking about Jill Loftus. She covered up the sex assaults and now she's in charge of the sexual assault prevention office, but hasn't come up with any prevention solutions other than more training, and blaming the victims. If you ask most people, they would probably wonder why we are paying for a senior executive service employee to come up with a minimum wage solution that hasn't worked before and most likely won't work in the future. She's still taking care of her cronies in her current job, just like she was when she failed to deal with sexual assaults when she was the IG.
ReplyDelete