Posted on Feb 24, 2021
What should be done to stop Sexual Assault and Harassment in the military?
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We've all seen it. It seems to me that Sexual Assault and Harassment in the military is only getting worse, not better. The recent viral video by a Marine Sergeant who was sexually assaulted and currently are allowing the perpetrator to remain in the Marines. I think if we want to get serious about this issue, all perpetrators who have been proven to have committed sexual assault or harassment regardless of what their rank or position is, should be demoted to E-1, receive a dishonorable discharge or be dismissed and thrown in jail. It should be the same punishment for all. I have seen officers and enlisted commit the same crime, but the enlisted is dishonorably discharged and put in jail while the officer got to retire or got a slap on the wrist. What are your thoughts? SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" LTC Stephen F. CPL Dave Hoover SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SSG (Join to see) Capt Dwayne Conyers CPT Jack Durish MSG (Join to see)
SHARP
Sexual Assault
Military Affairs
Punishment
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
I don't think it is necessarily getting worse but we are now identifying the issues that have been swept under the rug. It is absurd to me that a commander would let this happen. But be cautious of what you read and hear. Everyone is entitled to have a review of the case. The Marine was not referencing an assault.
Officials with II Marine Expeditionary Force provided few details about the case, saying only that the video "refers to an allegation of misconduct regarding the wrongful appropriation and distribution of personal information."
From what I understand the assailant received photos that were sexual in nature and shared them. I have read various reports on how he come into obtaining them. He is guilty of it and he admitted that. He should be punished for his actions.
We need a systematic approach on how we stop these incidents from happening. If he hacked her phone or if another Marine gave them to him then they should be held accountable. It is a cultural issue that we have to address. Just by punishing one person at a time we will not win this. It wasn't long ago when the Marines were caught with FB groups sharing pictures and information about females. The culture is still around and she was the latest victim. We need to teach the force what is acceptable to start correcting the problem.
Officials with II Marine Expeditionary Force provided few details about the case, saying only that the video "refers to an allegation of misconduct regarding the wrongful appropriation and distribution of personal information."
From what I understand the assailant received photos that were sexual in nature and shared them. I have read various reports on how he come into obtaining them. He is guilty of it and he admitted that. He should be punished for his actions.
We need a systematic approach on how we stop these incidents from happening. If he hacked her phone or if another Marine gave them to him then they should be held accountable. It is a cultural issue that we have to address. Just by punishing one person at a time we will not win this. It wasn't long ago when the Marines were caught with FB groups sharing pictures and information about females. The culture is still around and she was the latest victim. We need to teach the force what is acceptable to start correcting the problem.
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MSG (Join to see)
SGT Robert Johnson retaliation would be more along the lines of you reporting your commander for fraud and then your commander punishing you for something in order to get back at you.
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CPT (Join to see)
SGT Robert Johnson - To address the separation issue, he was already in the process. It can take a while. Usually the final approval is the O-6 level. It was already started but not completed. It seems she was told the intent of what the command was going to do. There were plenty of failures there. I'm not sure how the marines handle their NCO moves but the 1SG and CSM both decided not to remove him or transfer him. I'm saying this is a systemic failure. I think your discredited the NCO Corps. I have addressed every issue I have dealt with. I'll leave you to you're soap box. It's more complicated than just saying "fix it." Maybe with more time and experience you'll understand.
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MSgt (Join to see)
Well said gentleman, it’s the responsibility of the complete chain of command from the Jr NCO squad leader and up. Actually it would be everybody’s responsibility. To have a blind eye and just blame the officer corps is asinine. What about the responsibilities of Platoon Sgt’s, First Sergeant’s and Sergeant Major’s, do they bare any burden of responsibility. Many have the ear of their commanders. What surprises me the most is the lack of respect I’m seeing here and I understand the frustrations. But that is not an excuse not to adhere to customs and courtesies the military abides us!
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SFC Kelly Fuerhoff
SGT Robert Johnson - It IS a problem with the system. I've been in almost 17 years. I was in before SHARP, when sexual assault/harassment were under EO. Very, VERY little has changed since then, since SHARP. The SYSTEM is broken. I have been a company VA (when they had them at first). Then I went up to BN alternate VA. I got made the primary after the guy before me was accused of sexual harassment. Then I was a BDE SARC but I only did that for five months because of a compassionate reassignment.
The - system - sucks. At every level.
Yes officers decide punishment - that doesn't mean that NCOs can't give advice to their officers on how to decide a punishment. WE ARE ALL accountable for stopping sexual assault and sexual harassment.
You admit the NCOs shouldn't have defended him but you're only blaming the officer.
You need to check your attitude on here too - for real. There are a lot of people who have tried to fix the system. Within the military AND in Congress. But changing UCMJ and things like that doesn't matter if the CULTURE doesn't change. And we are all responsible for the culture.
In the case of the Marines, I don't think the guy should have even gotten an honorable discharge but I'm not a Marine. I have no control over how the Marines do business. The fact the guy was her PSG AND a victim advocate - and he took those photos from her - huge breach of trust. That just sets back the SAPR program significantly when VAs and SARCs are abusing their positions. Like the SARC at Hood who was running a prostitution ring...gross abuse of his position. It sounds like the CG's recommendation was for him to stay and someone informed her since it had to do with her case. I don't blame her for being upset. It's possible without the video the CG would have gotten his way. We don't know for sure.
I did my best when I was a SARC/VA but that unit was toxic as fuck and it doesn't even exist anymore thankfully. If I wasn't a single parent, I would go be a SARC again. It's not an easy job but if I can try to fix the program and help people I would.
What are you doing to make the culture better? What do you do to improve your SHARP program? Or do you just sit on your soap box and spout off things without making an attempt to change? Because yes even as enlisted you CAN make change.
The - system - sucks. At every level.
Yes officers decide punishment - that doesn't mean that NCOs can't give advice to their officers on how to decide a punishment. WE ARE ALL accountable for stopping sexual assault and sexual harassment.
You admit the NCOs shouldn't have defended him but you're only blaming the officer.
You need to check your attitude on here too - for real. There are a lot of people who have tried to fix the system. Within the military AND in Congress. But changing UCMJ and things like that doesn't matter if the CULTURE doesn't change. And we are all responsible for the culture.
In the case of the Marines, I don't think the guy should have even gotten an honorable discharge but I'm not a Marine. I have no control over how the Marines do business. The fact the guy was her PSG AND a victim advocate - and he took those photos from her - huge breach of trust. That just sets back the SAPR program significantly when VAs and SARCs are abusing their positions. Like the SARC at Hood who was running a prostitution ring...gross abuse of his position. It sounds like the CG's recommendation was for him to stay and someone informed her since it had to do with her case. I don't blame her for being upset. It's possible without the video the CG would have gotten his way. We don't know for sure.
I did my best when I was a SARC/VA but that unit was toxic as fuck and it doesn't even exist anymore thankfully. If I wasn't a single parent, I would go be a SARC again. It's not an easy job but if I can try to fix the program and help people I would.
What are you doing to make the culture better? What do you do to improve your SHARP program? Or do you just sit on your soap box and spout off things without making an attempt to change? Because yes even as enlisted you CAN make change.
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I can't say that it's getting worse, just more notice. Imagine a the sexual assaults that went unreported 30 years ago. I don't think I could count that high. Victims are now starting to get empowered to report these heinous acts more frequently. As well they should.
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SSG(P) (Join to see)
MSG (Join to see) Ya I would love to be a Victim's Advocate through SHARP, but I cannot until I'm actually promoted to SSG. My unit due to recent PCS's, no longer has a VA or SARC. I always make Soldiers aware and my COC that regardless of whether I'm in the position, I'm always available to talk. Especially since I have personal knowledge of the resources available to survivors of Sexual Assault or Harassment since I was one as well.
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Working with JAG, EO, and SHARP staff there may be a change in perception that appears to be more assaults. It's quite possible that what we're seeing is an uptick in reporting due to trust in the program.
Essentially what I'm saying is that the numbers never really changed, the assaults were always happening, we just have a better eye on it now due to a change in trust.
I have seen these kinds of cases have Soldiers administratively separated and processed for courts-martial. People are getting punished and removed from the armed forces over these events, but there is a question of transparency. Are units posting justice reports from JAG in visible areas? Are Soldiers aware of these justice reports? There is a perception that the higher the rank the more it's likely to get swept under the rug, so it's important for younger Soldiers to see these reports so they know there are consequences.
When I worked with a unit out of the 101st the command team posted justice reports to their social media page for full transparency in addition to sending them to down trace units. Initially these reports were only article 15's but then they began posting reprimands and court-martial cases once completed. These reports would announce the rank of the Soldier involved but not their name, what they were in violation of, and what action was taken against them. I noticed that especially the lower enlisted and junior officers would read them regularly in areas where they were posted, especially when you start seeing E7 - E9 and O3 - O6 start getting punished.
That said the increased visibility and increased trust in reporting shouldn't meant we're done exploring solutions. I can tell you though that more PowerPoint slides isn't going to help any. They're boring and people don't retain a lot of information in them. Presentation is important, if the speaker is just regurgitating the information on the slides then it's going to be ignored or forgotten quickly.
Essentially what I'm saying is that the numbers never really changed, the assaults were always happening, we just have a better eye on it now due to a change in trust.
I have seen these kinds of cases have Soldiers administratively separated and processed for courts-martial. People are getting punished and removed from the armed forces over these events, but there is a question of transparency. Are units posting justice reports from JAG in visible areas? Are Soldiers aware of these justice reports? There is a perception that the higher the rank the more it's likely to get swept under the rug, so it's important for younger Soldiers to see these reports so they know there are consequences.
When I worked with a unit out of the 101st the command team posted justice reports to their social media page for full transparency in addition to sending them to down trace units. Initially these reports were only article 15's but then they began posting reprimands and court-martial cases once completed. These reports would announce the rank of the Soldier involved but not their name, what they were in violation of, and what action was taken against them. I noticed that especially the lower enlisted and junior officers would read them regularly in areas where they were posted, especially when you start seeing E7 - E9 and O3 - O6 start getting punished.
That said the increased visibility and increased trust in reporting shouldn't meant we're done exploring solutions. I can tell you though that more PowerPoint slides isn't going to help any. They're boring and people don't retain a lot of information in them. Presentation is important, if the speaker is just regurgitating the information on the slides then it's going to be ignored or forgotten quickly.
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SFC Kelly Fuerhoff
No one really can tell why there's more reports. It may be more assaults - it may be more trust. It may be both. There's no way to really know for sure.
More training isn't the answer either - no. The people who are committing these acts don't care about the training. They know what they're doing is wrong. They just don't care. But they've been in a culture that has enabled them for generations.
We can't really screen for this unless someone has a record of it. If someone doesn't get caught before they enter service, we can't know the truth about them. That's the sad part. Sometimes these people (male and female) have multiple victims before they are caught.
More training isn't the answer either - no. The people who are committing these acts don't care about the training. They know what they're doing is wrong. They just don't care. But they've been in a culture that has enabled them for generations.
We can't really screen for this unless someone has a record of it. If someone doesn't get caught before they enter service, we can't know the truth about them. That's the sad part. Sometimes these people (male and female) have multiple victims before they are caught.
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