Digest this for a second: Women serving in the US military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq. In the case of sexual assault and rape, the enemy eats across the table at the mess hall, shares a vehicle on patrol, and bandages wounds inflicted on the battlefield. As the old Pogo cartoon says, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
I'm writing after attending a second Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military - an issue I've worked on for over a decade. Just before Congress' August recess, Dr. Kaye Whitley, Director of DOD's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (the office responsible for sexual assault policy in the military) failed to show up at the subcommittee's first hearing, opting to defy a congressional subpoena. Her male superior, Pentagon Deputy Undersecretary for Personnel & Readiness Michael Dominguez, offered to give her testimony. But Congress wanted to hear from the person who oversees SAPRO day-to-day, and sent him away. It turned out that Defense Secretary Bob Gates was unaware of Whitley's subpoena and the decision to defy it, and he was no doubt instrumental in causing her to appear today. DOD's early boneheaded bungling created an unnecessary sideshow in a very troubling story.
A GAO report released last week concludes that DOD and SAPRO still lack an oversight framework to gauge the effectiveness of programs to prevent and respond to sexual assault and rape. The report also finds that assaults and rape are drastically underreported for the familiar reasons - victims' perception that no serious action would be taken on their behalf; fear of ridicule and ostracization by fellow soldiers; and damage to careers of those who come forward. (Another report, DOD's 2006 Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty members, claimed that nearly 80% of soldiers who received unwanted sexual contact did not report it.)
This is shocking and Congress' slow response is inexcusable. Recently, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and I introduced H. Con. Res. 397, calling on the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to increase investigation and prosecution of sexual assault and rape in the military. Companion legislation was introduced today in the Senate by Sen. Hillary Clinton, and she is pushing it as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill.
But there is some other encouraging news. Just yesterday Army Secretary Pete Geren, a former Democratic Congressman from Texas, rolled out the Army's "I Am Strong" campaign designed to eliminate sexual assault in the 1 million-person Army within five years.
I was there when Geren bluntly stated, "we're not some fraternity house...we're the US Army and we live our values." He said that sexual assault and harassment are repugnant; that the military must do better than society at large, as it did in 1948, when it began the process that made it a model for equal opportunity. Now, he wants to lead the Army to be a model when it comes to the treatment of women.
Geren properly sees this as a moral fight. As Lt. Col. David Valcourt, Deputy Commander of the Army's Training Command, said, "a soldier who would take advantage of another soldier is exactly the same soldier who would abandon a comrade in battle." Very strong stuff.
The Army's action is welcome. Congress and the Pentagon have punted on this too long, and even one victim more is too many.
It has taken an eternity to address this issue. This was long ago considered a potential problem with regards to allowing women on submarines.
It seems like the young recruits today have a lot different view of morality and decency, possibly because the Military Academies graduated too many 'Frat Boys' and not enough 'Officers and Gentlemen'. Some of those guys are now senior officers.
But, just as important, the President, Sec. of Defense, Att'y General and Congress have to share some of the blame for poor guidance from the top.
However, my dad explained to me that people who are not 100% white and women are too often used in the army since the moment you sign-up, you belong to them and there is nothing you can do about it. Therefore, despite that interest that I had in the army, I did not join and I am very glad I did not. Growing up and hearing all those stories just confirmed that my dad was right to inform me about it, to protect me from the army environment.
I will also teach the same thing to my children so that they dont get used in by the army, especially when these days, when you sign-up to defend your country, in fact, you are signing-up to go die in the unnecessary wars that the rich megalomaniacs like John McCain and George W Bush engage your country in, just so that they can make more money, always more money.
You bring up the lost lives, but we have FAR fewer lost lives in Iraq than in ANY previous war, since injuries that would have killed a person even as recently as Vietnam are now regularly being survived do to improved battlefield medical care!
its important that "all" of our troops
live in a safe environment.
You get the picture. How are you going to change a million years of mammal human urges inbred in the human psyche to deal with this without causing great injustices to *both* sexes who are plunked together in abnormal, stressful circumstances?
I'm not defending rapists. I'm trying to help prevent ordinarily decent young lads from making a terrible mistake and becoming rapists.
To sternly tell a young man to keep his fly zipped ain't gonna cut it in war time.
Second, I STILL don't understand this!! I served six years in the Navy, and during the WHOLE time I served with women. Also during that whole time I NEVER considered rape!! I know, obviously I'm not under the same stresses that they are in war, but STILL!!!!!
Now it's time for Rep Harman to address this fact:
You're more likely to get raped and murdered in Southeast Los Angeles than in the military or in Iraq/Afghanistan. When will Rep Harman address this problem?