As accusations of sexual harassment of female Army recruits arise every day, what steps should be implemented to eliminate such events from re-occuring in the armed services in the future?
Name: rose jenkins Email: rjenk63062@aol.com Response:
pls excuse my spelling...... i think the women that was involved should also be discharge from service... whose to say they are not going around through the service to setting up these men.....no one is going to make me belived that the whitecounter parts are not doing the same.....how they do it is they threatening your carrer if you dare tell. and there are gay women and males who are doing the same......you also have females in service who seek ways in getting out of duty and the men are so scare of them they get away with any and everything.....the women who are crying wolf are like the kids who threaten theri parents they will go to HRS .....if parents dicpline them....and there are some females aswell as officer who goes out and get knock -up to prevent from going out to sea.....and there is no replacement for them.......the military has change now it's all about lest see who i can set-up today. If you are and go crying to your boss that this blk male rape then her boss will belive it......i feel they shoudn't rush to accused w/o first to see if there is a motive behind it for this white female.......yes iwas in servcie and heard the females talking about setting up there supervisor because he gave them a late watch or they have weekend duty. i would and alter their supervisor and tell them make sure you have a female higher rank in with you when you counsel the young females (C.Y.A)
COVER YOUR ASS. So all of the sexual assualt is not true.
Name: Goddard Robinson Email: hurricane5@juno.com Response:
Being ex-military, I know for a fact that there is not
a lot that can be done to stop concentual sex in the military
(even though that is as big a crime as sex. harassment is if
the people are in the same chain of command) As far as
sexual harassment itself, the military policy is: if you are
being sexually harassed, you must first tell the offending person
NO..if you don't say that it's not harassment. Once you have said
NO, then you have a case against that person. I think that there
needs to be constant training and more accountability established.
If a ship runs aground, the captain is still responsible whether he
was there or not, because he should have ensured that the people under
his command were properly trained...treat sexual harassment cases the
same way...when the unit commanders become accountable, what how quickly
these cases decline.
Name: Serious in Chicago Email: Response:
As a Navy Veteran who served 8 years on Active Duty until 1991, I find this whole crime appalling. The Army has some explaining to do. There should have been checks and balances implemented long ago. During my early years in the Navy, I remember that no female was ever left alone with with a senior person, especially when the recruit or junior sailor was in a vulnerable situation (i.e.medical exams) In boot camp there were FEMALE Company Commanders (the equivalent of an Army's Drill Sergeant), and there was a buddy system in place - where you went, so did your buddy. The worst part of all of this is - what made these young women feel they had to take the abuse? Having serving 4 years on recruiting duty, I am fully aware that many of these young women have no where to go, are sometimes in desparate situtions and are afraid if they talk, they'll be ousted back onto the streets. As a result of this misconception, the Army and all other armed forces should ensure that during initial training, these young
women should be informed of their rights, as well as their responsibilities, and given the power to say NO to a superior when things like this occur. This will in no way interfere with or compromise the authority of the commander officer during recruit training, or any other type of training where junior personnel are concerned.
Name: Michael 3X Email: Michael3x@msn.com Response:
I think the main step to end sexual harassment
in the military would be to have female D.I.
for female recruits. And also to have male only
or female only companies. That way the opportunity
to commit sexual harassment is minimized. Is it
really necessary to have a male D.I. to show you
how to march, clean a weapon, how to dress, etc?
There are plenty of qualified female instructors
to show female recruits these things. When you
are put in a boot camp environment, it's really
a situation of isolation and deprivation. I know
because I was in the Navy. And during that time
of boot camp you are undergoing a lot of stress
because you are being molded to be a soldier.
During that time loneliness, homesickness and a
lot of other emotions come into play that you
have a hard time dealing with. A womans' nature
(not to sound chauvinistic) is that of being a
comforter, among other things. If a male is under
stress and a female is around, he's is going to
look to that female for comfort, it's only natural.
Now it depends on the disposition of the individuals
as to how the situation is remedied. Whether she
chooses or not to assist this individual or whether
she sees it as harassment. But when a female is
raped, threatened with death or bodily harm this
goes way beyond the realm of sexual harassment.
And anyone who is guilty of such acts (male or female)
should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law. But I think co-ed training is something that
should be terminated and with that I think a
lot of sexual harassment would be terminated
along with it.
Name: Linda Email: linda.friendl.ly.net Response:
I'm not military but feel regardless of your position, regardless of your rank, your profession. NO is NO and if you honor that you'll have no problem saying NO and being respected for it. See the devil needs a body and if you allow him to consume you he'll use you. I've been in a situation where I was being offered a nice job, good pay and benefits to die for, however, the CEO had other plans, so I had to let a job of a lifetime pass me by. Although I've had to deal with that for a long time I'm over it and I'm proud of my decision.
Name: David T. Smith Email: dtsc21@pa.net Response:
As a Retired sailor and actually dated and eventually married a female sailor or "WAVE". I feel that I can speak to to the subject of miltary men and women "getting" together. I am not totally convincened in my mind that what we are seeing is totaly sexual harrassment.
Name: Alfreda Email: alfredac@erols.com Response:
I recently retired after a very rewarding 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force. In my estimation, I don't really know if anything can be done to end all so called "sexual harassment". Air Force blue-suiters are taught, from day one, that sexual harassment is a "no-no"! Classes are given, on an ongoing basis to re-educate us periodically about this 'social disease'. It's a two-sided education program geared towards men harassing women and women harassing men. It's a two-way street and many more cases of female to male harassment are cropping up everyday. As far as the Army females and their instructors are concerned, it may not be exactly the way it seems, at present. Yes, the young ladies were vulnerable and the instructors were in positions of authority, but unless it was beyond a shadow of a doubt rape, those female gave it up, whether under pressure or not. I not inclined to believe that all those men, raped those women AGAINST their wishes. It seems like it could be a case of sour grapes to me. Why wait until so much time has passed to tell someone that a man, a man in authority forced his way with you? If you didn't cry then, don't cry wolf now!!!
Name: Travet Witherspoon Email: twithers@surfsouth.com Response:
I think that local (civil) authorities should be allowed to investigate these alleged sexual harassment cases. This would eleminate any question of whether the military is trying to cover up or take up for their officers or other ranking officials.
