The Military's Secret Shame

[blessednxs65]

Brothers,

Please bare with me on this one and if one of the mods decides that this is inappropriate, please feel free to remove it.

This morning, I run to Safeway to pick up some things for breakfast and I see that one of the articles in this week's Newsweek is entitled "The Military's Secret Shame"

The story deals with when men in the military rape other men in the ranks, no one wants to talk about it. Why the sexual assault of males in the service is finally being confronted.

As a veteran and one who is a staunch advocate of Uniformed Military Service as a way to address some of the ills of this Country as well as to help grow our young men and women up, this truly hurts me.

I believe that it is an honor to serve this Country and in fact, the world as part of an Armed Service that has a history second to none. To hear stories like these tear at one's heart for no one, male or female, deserve to be a victim of such crime.

When my wife asked me if I ever experienced or was aware of these types of things I could honestly say "No. The worst thing I can recall is giving guys GI showers for hygiene reasons." I sit here now at a loss for words and feeling like someone socked me in the gut. As one of the persons in the story notes, to think that a warrior is not tough enough to defend himself...

To hear that it happens to men, especially outside of prisons (for we know what goes on there) is alarming. Pretty eye-opening. While I know that this and all such actions are a result of living in a fallen world, it still hurt and my first response is to pray. My second response is to write those in DC who represent me and ask that they do that which is necessary to prevent such atrocities from happening.

Thanks for listening.

BTW: I would love to hear what others of you who have served have to say on this.

 

[tobii3]

I've been a Paratrooper for over 20 years now.

We have a number of Ukrainian and Russian heritage Soldiers and NCO's because of our AOR (Area of Responsibility), so I paid close attention to the story after the intro.

Then I saw this -

But last year more than 110 men made confidential reports of sexual assault by other men, nearly three times as many as in 2007. The real number of victims is surely much higher.

Really? What reporter floats a bogus assumption like that?

Like in prisons and other predominantly male environments, male-on-male assault in the military,

Tell me that reporter just didn't compare the military to a prison...

Assault victims, both male and female, are typically young and low-ranking; they are targeted for their vulnerability

And the subject in this article was 35?

In 2010 the Pentagon anonymously surveyed active-duty soldiers who had been sexually assaulted about why they declined to report their attacks.

Pardon me, but how do you survey someone "anonymously" about something that no one knew about?

Think about that...

How do you "anonymously" ask someone about something that they didn't report as an incident?

Does that even make ANY sense?

Now, here's why I throw the BS Flag -

In February, Jeloudov and 16 other former and active-duty service members filed a class-action lawsuit against Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, charging they “ran institutions in which perpetrators were promoted…and Plaintiffs and other victims were openly subjected to retaliation.”

The Defense Secretary? Really?

Why not the unit they were assigned? Why not the base they were assigned? For the Army, why not TRADOC?

The SecDef? Really? Who are we kidding here?

Perhaps by reading the comments posted by Paul Richter at the bottom of that page, everyone will understand it better than I tried to present it here....

 

[njstone]

I'm sure it happens from time to time, just as service members will assult members of the cilivial community from time to time. It's pretty rare I'd wager, and it's aweful obviously. (I agree that the comparison to prisons is insane).

The one point this article makes that I agree with is this: most men in the miltary who were sexually assulted by another military member would not report it. The fact is that most men who are sexually assulted at any time (military or not) don't report it (the % of reporting is far less than with females, so many studies have said). I assume this is due to the fact that a guy would feel more shame at admitting to being overpowered, etc.

In the military, I'm guessing this would be even more the case, as you'd not only be admitting a presumed "weakness" of some kind, but you'd be ratting out a fellow soldier. But that's just percieved. The reality, of course, is that if the other guys in the company found out they'd most likely beat the offender severely and not blame the victim, but guys are wierd sometimes when it comes to being seen as macho.

 

[L8A]

I dont like it. The media gets used to move a political agendas and this is one case where the left is using this article as a way to make young men and their parents question whether or not they really want to join the military. I know we want our guys home, but systematically defaming our military is just too much. I wonder if the guy that wrote the article served??? Just my .02 guys and nothing more. I hate it when folks talk shit on our troops.

 

[ciggy]

So...... don't fret blessednxs65........ we, who serve... and we, who have served...... are still good people..... and almost all of us have never even HEARD of such a thing ongoing in our Armed Forces.

Cheers!
:cbig:

:applause::applause::applause::applause: You tell em brotha!!!

 

[Treinenwj]

Maybe it's just because I was in MEDCOM, but we have been hearing these stats since I joined in 2002, and I'm sure before then. No surprise to me. However, I did see a side-by-side comparison to civilian stats factoring in population. In all areas of crime, the rate of offense is much lower in the military than out. I hate when articles like this put out these "staggering" numbers without comparing them to the civilian world, or even giving an overall percentage.

 

[amsgpwarrior]

I am very concerned for the mental state of many soldiers in the armed forces. I treat many soldiers from a neigboring military installation for some really f***ed up sh**! I see a very frequent amount of suicides, physical abuse cases, and assaults on fellow citizens by soldiers in my area. I wish this would get more publicity. Hell I get soldiers who claim to have PTSD without ever being deployed,....still havent figured out how that happens. It urks me that a few amount of soldiers performing these acts give the military such a bad reputation around where I live. I respect those that serve and that have served and wish these problems would stop, but it seems they are only escalating.

 

[CAJoe]

I dont like it. The media gets used to move a political agendas and this is one case where the left is using this article as a way to make young men and their parents question whether or not they really want to join the military.QUOTE]

Bingo, this article was writtin to discourage young men from joining the military.

 

[tobii3]

Anyone look at the background of the Author?

Jesse is an Articles Editor at Newsweek, covering education, culture, women’s issues, and health. She has written on everything from end of life health care, to her parents’ experiment with gender neutrality to Americans’ unhealthy obsession with their pets. She co-authored a story about sexism at work that marked the 40th anniversary of a landmark gender discrimination suit against Newsweek, and co-authors a related blog, The Equality Myth.

Hmmm....that sounds like they'll present an unbiased opinion, now, doesn't it?

 

[Cigar Cowboy]

Sick!!!! I say castrate the attackers

 

[andy]

Sick!!!! I say castrate the attackers

youre retarded:hysterica:

 

[hdroadglide]

i believe the proper term is "special"!:smile: