E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSNineteen veterans and active-duty service members from the Army and Air Force allege in a new lawsuit filed Friday that they were sexually assaulted while in the military and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other leaders denied them their constitutional rights of due process after reporting the crimes.
The suit seeks monetary damages, though no precise figure was named. It is the fifth lawsuit of its kind filed by Susan Burke, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney.
The 15 women and four men named in the suit were all retaliated against after reporting rapes and were denied the right to have their cases heard by an impartial party, Burke said. In the military, senior commanders are in charge of determining whether reported sexual assaults will be referred to military courts.
Related: Victims of sexual assault in military say brass often ignore pleas for justice
“Anyone who has looked closely at these types of cases knows that we have a disgraceful system,” Burke told NBC News. “It is controlled by the chain of command. These rape survivors were all denied entry into a court system, and they were retaliated against.”
While each case has different facts on the time and place of the assault, they demonstrate a pattern of a systematic failure of leadership and oversight, Burke said, explaining why Panetta is named in the suit.
The lawsuit filed Friday comes on the heels of a rare case of an Army general being charged with sexual assault and a scandal at Lackland Air Base in San Antonio, Texas, in which at least in which at least a dozen military instructors are accused of sexually assaulting young female recruits.
Related: Army general accused of sex misconduct
Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair, who has served 27 years, including tours of Afghanistan and Iraq, on Wednesday was charged with forced sex on a subordinate and other offenses. He was relieved of his duty in May and recalled to Fort Bragg, N.C., where the charges were referred to military investigators.
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., joined a news conference in San Francisco announcing the new lawsuit.
Watch US News videos on NBCNews.com
In November 2011, Speier introduced legislation in Congress to reform the military justice system and the way it handles cases of rape and sexual assault. H.R. 3435, the Sexual Assault Training and Oversight Prevention Act (STOP Act), would create an impartial office made up of civilian and military experts within the military to review cases of rape and sexual assault. The bill has 133 bipartisan cosponsors.
For his part, Panetta has moved to change how sexual assaults are reported and dealt with inside the armed forces. In April, he issued new policies requiring that more senior commanders handle sexual assault complaints. And on Tuesday he ordered all military branches to improve the quality of sexual assault prevention and training.
However, Burke, and activists claim those moves fall short.
"This has been going on for years," Burke said. "Clearly, keeping these cases inside the military system isn't working."
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Summer's over, but drought persists; two-thirds of contiguous US affected
- Lucky 13 brings $202 million for Powerball ticket sold in Iowa
- Authorities hunting for 73-year-old accused of killing his daughter-in-law
- Video: Helmet camera captures soldier shot in firefight
- No fix for 'Jesus rifles' deploying to Afghanistan
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
I really hope they bring the change that is so dearly needed when handling rape in the military. It is a broken system, and it is a total disgrace how they currently handle attacks on fellow service women and men. These commanders should be ashamed, and drummed out of the military.
I hope the women win in court.
I have a good lady friend that is a lifer military...she does not consider herself pretty and she has told me of numerous times she was 'asked' and sometimes not too nice when deployed or stationed here. She got thru it all by telling them they better kill her aferward because she will do a Lorena Bobbit on them the minute they turn their backs. Most laughed it off but she at least got thru her tours without being assaulted.
Not to say it is right, but the boys' club expects the girls who join to put out. Frat boys pretty much expect the same. Some of the institutions have been around for a long time and they will not change easily or quickly. There needs to be enough females in a position of power to balance the prejudice.
It really sounds like you condone their behavior. Boys will be boys? Not when it comes to my daughter. Her rapist's trial is quickly approaching.
To Rebullxtasy above:
..."the US military are filled with obnoxious perverts/bigots alike". You must be thinking about that little club you belong to. It's called ....BASTMBTWLYE" Blacklist and smear the military because they wouldn't let you enlist". They must have spotted you as a meallymouth fart sniffer and told you to get hell out of the enlistment office... you need a mouth wash and are stinking up the place. That kind of slime coming out of your mouth indicates years of living in ignorance and perversion. FOO!!
In the United States of America, there should ultimately be no such thing as power with impunity at this stage of things. Everyone should be answerable to someone in some way at some point. The 'Good ol' Boy' system should be obsolete, a joke from the distant past. We really still have so very very far to go.
Fifteen women and FOUR men???? Really? Just wow!
19 people with the balls to put it out there for some justice. Blessings and luck to each of them.
This was a concern prior to allowing wemon to serve, they said it won't be a problem, well it is.
Fifteen wemen and 4 men?
@rubullxtasy, you know what?your marque sounds like something found in a petri dish, is there such a thing as a queer bacterial slime that can reproduce on its own? a slime that requires no defenses because it is so repulsive that it has no natural enemies, if so then that would be considered a noxious life form and would be destroyed upon discovery, you should lay low, and stay out of sight.
my dad is retired navy..he was a yeoman ..this admiral told him if he didnt go along with what he wanted from my dad that his career in the navy would go no where...he's 85 now and about 6 yrs ago he finally reported what happened to JAG...
Mr. Christenson, with no due respect, stop spamming your stupidity all over, seriously you;re nothing but punk ass idiot.
D Buck-2239568, it wouldn't have been a problem except for they continued to allow dishonorable scum like you to join.
I know at least one who did not make it through because she was assaulted, and the one who assaulted her - well, he did make it through just fine.
All branches of the service - including reserves and national guard - have this happen. I was in the Army reserves for years, as a cook, and there were times I took a butcher knife to bed with me for protection. Many otherwise fine, upstanding men would go crazy hooking up with women during the two week summer assignments and occasional weekend field training exercises, acting like they hadn't seen a woman in years.
They told me, "It's a man's world, so suck it up soldier." And it was the officers who were the worst and most offensive predators, they were in charge and they were supposed to be "Leaders".
It won't change. Without changes to the military justice system and the chain of command, which leaves discretion about reporting and punishment of rapes and sexual assaults up to an individual rather than a legal process, such assaults will continue
Most of the rapes occurred stateside, not in overseas deployments.
"Take the story of Marine Lt. Ariana Klay, who was gang raped by fellow service members, including one of the 191 convicted last year. He spent 45 days in the brig for adultery and indecent language, and was paid $7,000 a month while incarcerated, according to Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for military rape victims".
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Pentagon-response-on-rape-in-military-not-enough-3496444.php#ixzz27oeimuWD
So much for HONOR -
There seems to be a conservative mind-set that allows the twisting of science reducing women to cuttlefish who can choose whether or not they become pregnant. It denies who women are in every way.
There is nothing new about women in the military; plenty of women served in World War II, and they were not just states-side. But the rate of assault now looks like people who are trying to gain power. This is not just the military, but it is frightening.
rape is a power trip, nothing to do with sex. They will always have narcissists in the military praying on those they perceive as weak. And yes, men have been raped too in the military. If you think the cover ups for women being raped in the military is absurd, just imagine the extend of cover ups when a man gets raped. I hired a Panamanian maid when I was stationed there because I felt sorry for her. She was raped by an Army Sgt and gave birth to a child because Panama is a catholic based country and does not allow abortion. The Sgt was tried in military court, served 7 years in Leavenworth. He was also ordered to pay this woman child support upon release. He got himself killed while driving drunk shortly after he was released. This woman never got a penny of child support from her rapist or from the Army. She was stuck raising this kid that she didn't want in the first place. I often wondered what kind of future will this kid have.
I want to support our troops. I want to respect our military. But now that our military is more concerned about breastfeeding in uniform instead of behaving with honor toward their own comrades and protecting their honorable and prosecuting their scum, I have lost all respect for the military. I can only hope that my brother-in-law marine isn't among the pricks that can't feel powerful unless they become a rapist.
Dragonheart:
You'd better hope your brother-in-law doesn't read your diatribe above. He's likely to come back and wack some decency into your brain. You can't lose something you never had.. respect for the military. FOO!!
Hey, Ole Ed, you're the fool here. That is evident from your posts. I doubt you ever served and if you have, I'm glad you're out. The military is better off that way. And yes, I served. I have respect for anyone who serves who doesn't support the actions that hurt others. Get a clue.
Ed seriously, why are you talking like your some kind of bad ass, you're a coward behind a keyboard, you aren't capable of anything more than calling people names, if you ever met them face to face even the weakest would hand you your ass on a platter.
It was always our fault no matter how many bruised we had,,, black eyes from any beating. You shouldnt have been there..You better be quiet or youll be looking at a court martial.
Lack of comments show that this is still "a woman's issue." Anyone who has put in any time in a military uniform or supporting a military uniform knows that the system is a dictatorship and he who has the rank rules. There is no such thing as an impartial jury within the ranks. Good luck with your lawsuit but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Really?
Yes, the four men. Because rape is not about sex, it is about asserting one's power over another person.
rEbULlXtAsY:
Yes, and Pat Tilman's family wasn't about to be intimidated into silence.
Unfortunately, silence has had the ability to cover far too many dirty little military secrets. It's not the "plebes" who lack the honor, it's the leadership who cover up.
Relasky???
Ha!! So now the military is a communist organization. Your doing great and admitting you are a bloody A$$hole!!!
Janelle:
You are quite correct. Like Obama and the Democrats want to exert complete power over Americans.
Ole-Ed:
Wake up and smell the crap Ole-Ed. The exertion is not a one party rodeo.
More like Ole Fool. You can always identify a neocon-taliban by their warped sense of reality/truth, and they are forever obsessed with Obama and blame the other political party for everything including the weather.
Hey Ed, you sound like one of those child molesting catholic priests.
El toro poo-poo. UCMJ takes precidence. Shyster lawyer looking for fame and glory at tax-payers expense.
Jay:
Right on!!! 100% !!
Ole Ed doesn;t want to say much about rapists because he's a depraved child molester apparently.
Very recently, NPR reviewed a documentary film on sexual assault in the military. The film discusses the cases of women and men who were raped or otherwise sexually degraded by comrades or superior officers. Given that military protocol demands that one must go up the chain of command to report grievances, reporting a superior is well nigh impossible. The film is titled, "Occupational Hazard," quoting the statement made a high ranking officer defending what passes for military procedure. When asked about women who had reported sexual assault, he responded that rape was just an "occupational hazard" for women who choose a military career.
Anyone with a daughter, granddaughter, niece, etc. might want to suggest the young woman check out this film if she is considering the military as a career. Clearly, this applies to like-minded young men, unless a potential recruit is the size of,maybe, Tom Brady.
As was said umpteen years ago when "Rusty" Calley and Ernest Medina "walked" after the Mi Lai massacre investigation: Military justice is to justice, as military music is to music.
Malinda:
The military has never really accepted having the "little woman" interfering in their boys club and their "boys will be boys" attitude is disgusting.
We used to call it military injustice system. Been there and seen it in person.
Women should boycott the military so the little 'boys club' can go f*** themselves instead.
it is a system that needed to be fixed long ago now hopefully that fix will also come with a system of checks and balances to keep someone from holoring rape after a willing episode then being angry over something else and creating a false case.
also before you totally bash these young men and sometime women they are the sons and daughters that you all said couldnt do any wrong while growing up and find themself in strange situations with all that self control that parents didnt instill into them theses days
WTF???
I gotta agree with Debi... WTF?
Deano is one of those little boys who think women want him and when they laugh at him he gets very angry and starts remembering all the horrible things his mommy did to him.
military rank rules regardless of how much an idiot the ranking officer/NCO is. so when men have the majority of the power and rank...guess what...women's rights go right out the door. the military officers all talk a good game...but the majority of them care about nothing but how to get promoted. anything in the way of that promotion will be buried as quickly as possible. that includes getting a bad OER because a woman in their ranks reported a rape! they are not going to let some silly little woman's complaint get in the way of their next promotion.
Senecafalls:
I put 26 years of my life in the United States Air Force.... 1948 to 1973 Nothing like that EVER happened in my career. I wonder what service you served in to be so misinformed???
I heard the Airforce was better, I wish I would have joined that. Instead, I went U.S.Army, Petroleum supply specialist. A Lieutenant threatened to ruin my career if I didn't go away with him one weekend when I was stationed in Taegu Korea. I was 19. I said go on and ruin my career because I didn't believe he could give orders like, "She won't f*ck me, so go f*ck with her until she cracks", well he must of made something up because first I started hearing that I was a trouble maker, then it got worse so that even my barracks sgt was after me. The two years I spent in Korea were almost constant mental torture. I was a soldier. I didn't get to feel like a hero of my country. He made an example of me so he must have been after some of the other girls. I've always wondered if anyone let him date rape them because they didn't want to be chased around by higher ranks acting like drill sgts in the barracks and scorned in person by higher ranks at their job.
It culminated in me complaining above those ranks which got me into trouble for that, but actually got them to stop. They tripped over their own lies. One of the staff girls from my barracks who was harassing me, who worked in the office, ran in on the meeting about my treatment and called me gay and then a racist. Gay didn't work because this was during a month when I was dating an MP I met when avoiding them and everyone knew I was going out with him and I've never looked at another woman anyway and she couldn't come up with any scenarios where I acted gay with anyone. Racist didn't stick because she waited too long to add it. It was an obvious back-up accusation. And I said "so which is it, am I gay or a racist". that ended that.
The general would talk to me kindly, then started inviting me to the officers club, I was a PFC! I said I didn't believe that was right, I wasn't even an officer and I politely refused. He kept after me when he would see me if I was on base after work when I was turning in my paperwork. I started avoiding him like the plague. This happened at the same time as the hazing. If I saw him after work in the ville he always looked drunk, and I almost always saw him first from down the street and walked the other way or hid in a shop.
I was supposed to drive the fuel trucks and work the pumps and get fuel from the pipeline, thats what I was trained to do, he tried to get me transfered to being his chauffeur. Because of the war, my office was already under staffed, I was not an extra worker I was one of 2 soldiers and 4 Koreans taking care of the fuel depot, its office, and all the fuel oil for 2 bases!! Fort William and Fort Henry. The heating system was still based on these big tanks we had to keep filled in every housing and office area. In winter it got below 0. You tell me why he was trying to get me transferred to his staff. I thought it was so he could privately rape me! When the motorpool tried to get me to drive his car, I lied and said I couldn't drive stick. They said how do you drive the trucks up the mountain to the Waegon pipeline access site then, I said I rode along with the Korean and he drove, and I did the paperwork. I was sent back to my office.
I went to a New Years party on William to blow off some steam and get away from certain people, and when it was over and I went to walk back to Henry where the female barracks was, another soldier who was very drunk offered blatantly to pay me for sex. I was partly drunk and he made me angry, so I said I wasn't a whore. He chased me halfway back to the other base.
I didn't re-up and I got the hell back to the states as soon as I could. Some of these posters say rape and things happened to them or others in the states.. I believe them, but I personally felt safer here than in Korea. Also you seem to be over looking the fact that you are a man, and not so often preyed upon as a woman is, Ed.
No the AF is no better. The grass is not greener the other side. Ole Fool's memory is tainted. I was also stationed in Korea. I've seen it all; the culture of abuse is deeply ingrained in Korea since we've been there. The Master Sgt in charge of pilot equipment maintenance was a woman and I saw how she was treated by the pilots and by the enlisted serving under her. There were no shortage of obscene drawings plastered on her locker every morning when she arrived to change. She would just quietly take them down and save them in a folder. She showed me her folder once when she came to my office and broke down. I did everything to get her transferred out of that environment to no prevail. The day she completed her tour she came to my office to shake my hand and told me that I was the only officer who ever cared. I've done rape exams while in the AF and was always puzzled why they never ask me to testify in court martial. As it turned out, none of those rape cases ever got to court; all got swept under the rug and these women got kicked out with some bogus psychiatric diagnosis if they didn't keep their mouths shut. I knew the psychologist who did all the bogus psych evaluations on these rape victims when I was stationed in Panama. I often jokingly call him the military whore for doing what ever his commander asked him to do. Deep down I was not joking, I was terrified that the military is full of narcissists like him.
Lonesome george, Wow, just goes to show how rotten the human race can be. Good for you. I will aways believe, what goes around comes around, it always does. I see it all the time.
ed hasn't served anywhere but a prison for raping a child
As long as the men in power in the military for so long REMAIN THERE, the laws will never do any good. They have to totally scrub ANYONE complicit in denying service men and women their Constitutional and civil rights for so long. The only reason to retaliate against a rape victim is because you personally raped that person, have raped someone else, are ok with rape in general or don't think that there was any "legitimate" rape to begin with....this line of thinking had to be abolished point blank period for any headway to be made.
Since men don't get pregnant when raped, I guess that makes all their rapes "legitimate". All sarcasm aside, the general attitude toward rape crime and homosexuals have changed and continues to change in the positive direction, I hope the military will catch on. Victimization of any group of people is just plain criminal and justice must prevail.
Absolutely unbelievable!!But what can we expect. This is the direction our country is going. Total apathy. The Pentagon should be investigated and everyone of those Generals or whoever should be dishonorably discharged and they should LOSE ALL PAY AND BENEFITS. No exceptions. No excuses.
Why bother to investigate? That seems silly. Simply dishonorably discharge them?
The mighty dollar speaks, and if these generals were threatened with the real possibility that their pensions and benefits would vaporise if they were caught trying to sweep this sort of neanderthal crap under the rug we might get meaningful investigations and progress.
Woodward:
Yeah man!! The military should get rid of anybody over the rank of buck sergeant. FOO!!
You have a low IQ don't you
If it's true about Panetta and the other leaders, whoever they are, not doing anything even though they knew about these abuses, then they should be fired and then prosecuted and then Sued by the victims. And then Panetta and the other big shots should have a Rifle strapped to their Ass'es and put on a lonely road somewhere in Afghanistan. And they better hope that the Taliban don't catch them with their pants down. What Lousy leaders we have in this country.
As a woman who served in the Air Force, I can tell you from experience, that if you get in good with the men who have rank on their shoulders, you can get away with anything. I think putting civilians in a position to pursue accusations would be a big step towards creating a fair system.
Kookla09:
You were aiming to high.. You should of limited yourself to the guys who wear their rank on their sleeves, not their shoulders.
and yet here you are, a convicted child molester ed
I'm old and retired and a disabled veteran. Having served in the US Army for 13 years I never once heard of any rapes. A few soldiers did kill some Taxi Cab Drivers and a Librarian in Germany but that was about it. 1974-1987.
didn't get out of the barracks too much, huh?
I am an Army vet. I am also a male. While stationed at Ft. Knox, a female soldier confided in me that the barracks she was living in was a haven for rape. I honestly didn't believe her. She invited me to sneak into her room before dark one night, so I could see. I also took a drill and a bit that matched the size of an allen wrench I gave her. I drilled a hole in the tongue of the door lock, and showed her how to put the allen wrench in there. That way, even if they had a key, they couldn't open the door from the outside. I felt it was wrong to do that, but if it gave her peace of mind, ok.
We played Scrabble for a couple hours. Nothing. Then, about 10:30pm, someone with a key tried to open the door. They got angry that they couldn't get in and started making threats against her. Sexual threats. It was only when I yelled back at them that they left. I stayed the night just to make sure. In subsequent weeks, she brought other women to me that siad they had been repeatedly raped. I was stunned, but I believe them.
I reported this to a senior NCO, who reported it to our commanding officer. He confronted the officer in charge of the barracks that she was staying in, (a Replacement detachment). The commander there threatened to have her punished, and it was left at that. Our company subsequently moved into ancient WWII barracks, with mens and womens barracks, all under our company control. That solved the problem for the few women in our company, but I shudder to think what kept happening to other women in the old barracks.
Tired and Disgusted:
I served 28 years in the USAF. Nothing like that has ever happened where I was. Sre you sure you were in the American army???
It happened, you just didn't hear about it. I doubt all that many un-involved people heard about my sexual harassment on my base. Try being more sensitive. Not everyone was as lucky as you in life. I thought the AirForce took smarter people, Ed.
Ole Fool, hard of hearing? Must still be collecting disability for hearing loss. I never saw a Dodo but I know they once existed in Australia. Part of my job as a physician in the ER was to do rape exam while in the AF. Do you want me to describe the exams I've done? Let me tell you, the youngest rape victim was 9 MONTH old with 4th degree vaginal and rectal tear. I hope the SOB is still in Leavenworth.
What a rotten dirty shame the GOP and now the Pentagon could care less for a womans rights or feelings, I am ashamed of this lot, a stain on mankind, if it were their daughters or wives that were raped would they really be so uncaring
One Patriot:
Come on now.. don't make this an opportunity to have Political fight in here. You got your untrue smear of th GOP in , so now dissapear please, Thanks.
I see kettle calling.... Ole Fool forgot his post about Obama and the dem up there. Hearing loss and dementia.
I was raped in the Air Force and I was forced evey day to repeat what happened to 2 male SP.(I think they got off making me fill dirty
This happened in 1981 and I was kicked out and my comander told everyone it never happened. I wonder to this day if I didnt join would i be here locked in my room watching life pass me by cause I am afraid it will happen again and be made to feel it was my fault.
Sassy:
I do hope you start to feel better pretty soon. That's a long time to be hooked up on a unpleasant experience.
I got the feeling you're were the rapist, freak. Sounded you''re trying to prevent people to come forward.
sassy, I believe you. I hope you get help.
Sassy, please go to the VA and seek help. Do not let them turn you away. Write to your Senator if you can't get through the VA. Do not let them victimize you again. The VA has a program for women vets, start from there. Thank you for your service and I'm so sorry for what happened to you. Living well is the best revenge, you cannot let the SOB ruin the rest of your life. I worked for the VA for a while after I got out of the AF; I know the red tape to get into the system but the medical care is good.
Battleon, Bad Grammer!
Ole-Ed rape isn't an unpleasant experience only it's a mental anguisethat never goes away and I am happy I don't know you personally and I pitty your wife and children and your entire family
As I had said before the women need to rise up and turn their weapons toward the perpetrators, the generals, commanders or commander in chief. All those suppress, oppress, and preventing justice being served are your enemies. Kill them all to set an example. Fight fire with fire. Ok so I'm promoting violences here but it works I guaranteed you that. If nobody want to take care of the problems you take the law into your own hands.
In the Doonesbury strip, a character named Melissa was dealing with her rape, and at one point, she did have her rifle focused on him and kept it there while the perp sweated.
Ok we're not talking about any mystical fantasy movies here. Even if it is in the movie I wouldn't just make him sweat I will show thim the other side. Dogs deserved to be treated accordingly.
Society has changed in the last fifty years. There is a level of sexual violence now that wasn't present fifty years ago. Yes, rape happened, but it wasn't as common and pervasive. Somehow, young men have gotten the idea that women don't have the right to say no. It isn't helped by comments like that made by Akin, but it has infected our entire society, not just the military. Maybe it's the media. Maybe it's rap music that glorifies rape. Maybe it's men who crave power and don't have it. Maybe we're just getting a different kind of soldier these days.
Whatever it is, there needs to be a reform of the USMJ that will guarantee all accusations of rape get a fair hearing. No single superior officer should have the right to set aside a claim of rape. Nor should a rape charge under his command impact his hope for promotion. If you punish him for bringing the charges you pretty much guarantee he will avoid bringing charges. That's an ass backwards way to react to a superior officer trying to behave honorably by bringing the offender to justice.
I'm sorry to inform you of this, but you are terribly naive. When I thought about joining the military in the 1970's, one of my professors who had served during the Korean War (1950's) sought me out and gave me a talking to, about the sexual abuse and denial that goes on in the military. I didn't join up.
Also, molestation and rapes were routinely swept under the carpet and victims ordered not to tell. The only times that it was accepted to tell was if the perp was of a lower class or a minority race, and then there would (literally) be murder to pay, but the victim would still be considered sullied, and unfit for the better things of life. Report someone who was a pillar of the community, and you and your family may as well leave town and change your names. I was there.
Rape in the AF Academy, West Point and the Naval Academy is so pervasive, it is no wonder the culture continues in active duty. The cadets learned early on to keep their mouths shut else they'd be kicked out of the academy. I talked my niece out of going to the Naval Academy based on what I saw in the AF.
I noticed in the article that there was no mention made of having military hospitals personnel receive rape evidence recover, or rape evidence kits.
By the way, did anyone else follow the Melissa story line in the comic strip "Doonesbury"?
Throw the book at them. They deserve to be in prison for rape. They ought to just shoot them in the head.
This is a hot topic on the military Radar. We need to crack down on these predators. Every dirtly little predator that does this to someone should have the same thing done to them, maybe then they would see what being victimized really is.
I could not imagine this happening to my wife or daughter. I dont know what I might do! It would eat me alive to stand back and watch the justice system give them due process, while at the same time try to quell the damage that has been done.
I still remember when the official base newspaper had a cartoon which featured Petty Officer Lotsoflungs, who had boobs about 10 times normal and was open to "fun." I wrote anonymous letters because I knew how it would go for me if I openly complained I knew girls who were raped. One got on her first plane to go and have an abortion in New York after being gang raped on base. Guess she must have enjoyed it, Todd, because she sure got pregnant. No help from the military; she had to borrow money to go. She couldn't have said anyway, or they would have blamed her. Or how about the Admiral in Naples, Italy who was drunk, crashed, and had an 18 year old enlisted gal fresh out of boot camp in his car. Yeah, you guessed it, no charges. Many stories; a lot of good men and some awful ones.
When we honor those in the military for their service to our country, we need to eliminate the honor of those in administration who ignore the cries for help from their 'employees'. We send our young children to fight for our country after protecting them from bad people when they were growing up only to send them into the bad people in the military, not the enemy. The enemy is our administration who haven't got the guts to protect them. Their attitude is, "Don't bother me" or "Suck it up". If I was the boss, I would have gotten on their case and fired them. Why are my tax dollars going to waste for scum like these?