Army drill sergeants suspended in sex assault probe...

[SouthernDZ]

I sense a new round of touchy-feely briefings for the innocent on the way.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A number of U.S. Army drill sergeants at Fort Benning, Georgia, have been temporarily suspended from their duties following allegations of sexual misconduct with trainees, the Army base said on Wednesday.

Investigators looking into an initial sexual assault allegation by a female trainee against a drill sergeant at the fort uncovered other incidents of alleged sexual misconduct, prompting a wider investigation, the base said in a statement.

A spokesman declined to say how many drill sergeants had been suspended as part of the investigation, but the statement indicated it was more than one.

Cracking down on sexual assault has been a priority for several years in the U.S. military, which reported in May that anonymous surveys in 2016 found that 14,900 service members experience some kind of kind of sexual assault in 2016, from groping to rape. That was down from 20,300 in 2014, according to the surveys, which are conducted every two years.

At the same time, the number of victims actually willing to report incidents of sexual assault reached a record 6,172 cases in 2016. Officials see willingness of victims to come forward and report sexual assault as a positive sign that people believe their complaints will be dealt with seriously.

The sexual misconduct investigation at Fort Benning is being conducted by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command in cooperation with the base's Maneuver Center of Excellence, the statement said.

"There is no place for sexual harassment or sexual assault in our Army," it said. Counseling, legal and medical services had been made available to the trainees involved in the alleged incidents, it added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKCN1B31MC

[Streck-Fu]

Officials see willingness of victims to come forward and report sexual assault as a positive sign that people believe their complaints will be dealt with seriously.

Or it will act as a safety net if they are not passing.

[echoes]

Originally Posted by Streck-Fu

Or it will act as a safety net if they are not passing.

Am confused sir,


So if what you are advising is true, then the whole thing of reporting alleged sexual misconduct at this base is akin to a," dog and pony show?"

Am not military, so I honestly do not know...but for sure if someone is making this up just to get ahead, it is indeed abhorrent and shameful to drag good Drill Sergeants names through the mud, IMHO.


Interesting...

Holly

[JimP]

The problem is one of metrics: the Army (and Congress) measures the effectiveness of our SHARP and anti-bullying programs by the number of allegations filed. If the numbers increase, the program is a success. If they decrease, the program is NOT succeeding and we need to implement systems wherein females increase their complaints. It doesn't take an in-flight missile repair technician to think this through and see what the outcome becomes. There is EVERY effort at fomenting an increase in complaints despite implementing an appropriate filtering device.

Concomitant to that is the law we implemented wherein lower-level commanders are prohibited from investigating/dismissing these allegations anymore - they go directly to CID for investigation. Commanders are automatically referring these allegations to trial or adverse action wherein not too long ago they would investigate and make the call. We've tied their hands now. They routinely shuffle ALL cases into the "substantiated" category and push for judicial resolution despite the veracity of the claim. If they don't, some Congress-critter or Senator looking to make waves will crawl up their underwear and that's as far as that Commander will go in their career.

This is becoming a problem in legal circles and is starting to concern even the liberal ACLU types within the military legal community.

We've created a self-licking ice cream cone wherein we push these guys to trial. When found not guilty, we double-down on the stupid and say the system failed; that we need to crack further down on the accused. it's getting frightening, to be honest.

[Peregrino]

Anybody remember these?

Six phases of ill-considered projects
1. Unbridled enthusiasm (Maoist Self-criticism session - invent a problem to demonstrate to the Commissars that you're serious about addressing the concerns of the SJWs.)
2. Disillusionment ("We're F'ed" - said by everyone not actively trying to appease the SJWs.)
3. Panic (We don't have enough incidents to report to make it look like we're really trying to get at the root of the problem, OR, we have so much to report that it's going to look like we're complicit too.)
4. Investigate / Determine Blame / Search for the guilty (Witch hunt!)
5. Punish the innocent (You were on the same installation, you had to know what was going on and you did nothing about it, OR, your investigation absolved the accused [because the accuser/victim was an E5 source] so you must be complicit.)
6. Reward the guilty / Reward the uninvolved (We know you did it OR we know you lied but it'll reflect poorly so we're going to transfer you to a better job somewhere else AND here's an ARCOM for the SHARP NCO for running such a great program that our Soldiers feel comfortable reporting perceived [or actual - it does happen] sexual misconduct or accusing someone they want to ruin of sexual misconduct.)

Did I miss anything?

[JimP]

Sadly - you are spot on!! it's all about the metrics:

"Did someone get punished?";

"Oh Yes Sir, we punished the hell out of someone!!"

"Good - we can't have folks going around not being punished."

[sfshooter]

I was in a Reserve Drill Sergeant unit when I first joined up. Our unit was at Ft. Jackson one summer (this was before I became a DS) and we had female trainees. They were in their own Company. The incident of accusations from the females was quite high concerning sex assault. Rumor had it that 3 DS's had already been busted. We were told by our command we would be guilty until proven innocent. That's typical for the military of course. It was pretty much a rule that you didn't ever be around them while alone and they usually always had to have a battle buddy with them.
I had Staff Duty one night and got called to take a sick female to the hospital. I was quite paranoid as I was alone although she had a battle buddy. We got to the hospital and I went to open the door to go in as she was quite sick. She collapsed right then to the ground. I could have easily caught her but actually stepped back as I didn't want any physical contact whatsoever. These trainees realize what power they have and they use it. They were not afraid to flirt openly either.
When you know you are going to be treated as guilty as soon as an accusation is made it sure makes you watch out extra careful. There were no incidents while my unit was there.
There were lots of stories of false accusation as it does get the DS in trouble immediately.

[35NCO]

Originally Posted by sfshooter

these trainees realize what power they have and they use it.

This times 100! They even teach this in DS school.

My expeirence with AIT soldiers was nothing but fear. They would frequently set up ambushes. Male or female. Myself being an NCO became absolutely useless sometime around 2009.

It got to a point where I would not even acknowledge their precence unless they had a battle and I had a battle too. Miserable time. Very easy to have you career ruined by some kid male/female/whatever just because you annoyed them.

But, as noted, some scum bags really do that stuff. They can go to jail.

[rsdengler]

Is it sexual assault, unwanted or tic for tac? My best friend went into the Army and she was involved with her DS, and it was consensual even though it was against regulations. But that is what you get when you have young males and females together, it is sometimes a playing field and we know that. If for instance it is unwanted, and a woman feels threatened or thinks if she does not go with the plan, then she feels there is no way out, then yes it is an issue and should be reported. But who are we blaming and is it a fact? I know, DS's know the regs and should follow them to a tee. So who then is at fault? The recruit or the DS? Temptation is temptation, will we break or will we stand our ground.

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by rsdengler

But that is what you get when you have young males and females together, it is sometimes a playing field and we know that.

Good thing we no longer have that to worry about after mandated power point training before we integrate the combat arms.

[Streck-Fu]

Originally Posted by echoes

Am confused sir,


So if what you are advising is true, then the whole thing of reporting alleged sexual misconduct at this base is akin to a," dog and pony show?"

Am not military, so I honestly do not know...but for sure if someone is making this up just to get ahead, it is indeed abhorrent and shameful to drag good Drill Sergeants names through the mud, IMHO.


Interesting...

Holly

He writes it better below.

Originally Posted by sfshooter

I was in a Reserve Drill Sergeant unit when I first joined up. Our unit was at Ft. Jackson one summer (this was before I became a DS) and we had female trainees. They were in their own Company. The incident of accusations from the females was quite high concerning sex assault. Rumor had it that 3 DS's had already been busted. We were told by our command we would be guilty until proven innocent. That's typical for the military of course. It was pretty much a rule that you didn't ever be around them while alone and they usually always had to have a battle buddy with them.
I had Staff Duty one night and got called to take a sick female to the hospital. I was quite paranoid as I was alone although she had a battle buddy. We got to the hospital and I went to open the door to go in as she was quite sick. She collapsed right then to the ground. I could have easily caught her but actually stepped back as I didn't want any physical contact whatsoever. These trainees realize what power they have and they use it. They were not afraid to flirt openly either.
When you know you are going to be treated as guilty as soon as an accusation is made it sure makes you watch out extra careful. There were no incidents while my unit was there.
There were lots of stories of false accusation as it does get the DS in trouble immediately.

[sfshooter]

Originally Posted by rsdengler

Is it sexual assault, unwanted or tic for tac? My best friend went into the Army and she was involved with her DS, and it was consensual even though it was against regulations. But that is what you get when you have young males and females together, it is sometimes a playing field and we know that. If for instance it is unwanted, and a woman feels threatened or thinks if she does not go with the plan, then she feels there is no way out, then yes it is an issue and should be reported. But who are we blaming and is it a fact? I know, DS's know the regs and should follow them to a tee. So who then is at fault? The recruit or the DS? Temptation is temptation, will we break or will we stand our ground.

Consensual gets the DS busted too. The trainee would get a slap on the wrist. A DS or any other Army instructor, whether civilian or military, must have absolutely no sexual escapades with students. The instructor is at fault.
I was a civilian instructor at Ft. Leonard Wood in 08/09 teaching Protective Services. There were a number of female students in each class. There was a lot of hanky panky going on for sure but I never heard that anyone got caught.

A Drill Sergeant is not even supposed to physically touch a trainee without their consent.....something such as adjusting a uniform/hat without first getting the consent can get a DS in trouble. This is overlooked (physical adjustments) quite a bit especially with males but I would hazard to guess it would be rare with females. I remember a friend who got pissed at this one trainee and was dragging him around by the ear. We had to calm him down and have him go cool off. The trainee didn't holler harassment or anything but he sure could have if he had known. He was one of those dirt bags (the trainee) he always gets unwanted attention.

[PRB]

Never had female soldiers as a DS...did have ROTC summer camp for a few cycles.....what a circus.

[18C4V]

This is nothing new, this has been happening for years. I remember at one point there were 13 DS from one brigade being investigated at Ft. Jackson for improper fraternization. In fact, one DS from my DS Class lasted three weeks after graduation from DSS. Every week, you would open the post newspaper "The Leader" and there would be a story of a DS being busted.

Pulling CQ was very interesting at nights, especially doing the walk arounds in the common areas.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by sfshooter

A Drill Sergeant is not even supposed to physically touch a trainee without their consent...

So, my DS would have had to say, "Mac! May I step on your butt to indicate that you need to keep it down in the low crawl pit?"

Oh, wait, I doubt that they even have low crawl pits anymore. Never mind.

Pat