Military Facts
« Previous EntriesRaped and Silenced
Thursday, March 6th, 2008The Pentagon fails to protect U.S. troops from sexual abuse — sometimes with deadly results.
When military sexual assault survivors call Susan Avila-Smith, she advises them to keep their mouths shut while she works on getting them home.
“It breaks my heart to do that,” she says, “but I want to get them out alive and that’s my main goal.”
Since she left the Army in 1995, Avila-Smith estimates that she has helped about 1,200 rape survivors separate from the U.S. Armed Forces and claim their Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits. As founder of Women Organizing Women, an online support group for survivors of military sexual trauma (MST), Avila-Smith has heard it all. But lately, she’s been more sensitive than usual.
“Maria’s case has triggered something in me,” she says. “I imagine the VAs are filling up right now with women who never even stepped foot in there before.”
“Maria” is 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who disappeared from Camp Lejeune, outside of Jacksonville, N.C., on Dec. 14, 2007, one month before she was expected to give birth. As the local police enlisted the press to help reach out to Lauterbach and solicit information from the local community, it was soon reported that she had recently accused a superior at Camp Lejeune of rape.
Read the full story on AlterNet…
Army Report – Depression Up, Morale Down, Suicides Up
Thursday, March 6th, 2008An Army report released March 8, 2008 says 89% of Army soldiers in Iraq report low morale. In Afghanistan our soldiers are exoeriencing increased rates of depression.
The report was based on a survey of over 2,200 soldiers in Iraq and about 900 in Afghanistan. The report also includes information from over 400 medical professionals, chaplains, psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health workers serving with the troops.
The report states that one out of every five soldiers deployed to Iraq suffer from some mental health problem. For those on second and third deployments, about a third suffer from mental health problems. Thats 20% to 33% of our soldiers suffering from depression.
The Army wants time off for soldiers match time deployed — but that’s opposed by the Bush administration. ABC News Story
At least 121 Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007, according to a recent report, an increase of about 20 percent over the year before. The numbers released in January said that there were 89 suicides last year and 32 other deaths that were still under investigation as possible suicides.
Military Discipline and Living Conditions
Saturday, February 16th, 2008Do you enjoy being bossed around? Do you want someone constantly telling you what to do and how to do it? If your answer is “no,” you may have a hard time adapting to military life. Federal law states that the military places “numerous restrictions on personal behavior that would not be acceptable in civilian society.”
What you should know
Saturday, February 16th, 2008before joining the military
You’ve probably heard the ads and the recruiter’s sales pitch. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? All advertising does. But if military life doesn’t live up to the advertising, you can’t bring your enlistment agreement back to the recruiter for a refund, and you are obligated to the military for a total of eight years FOR AS LONG AS THIRTY FIVE YEARS*, including possible reserve duty.
Emiliano Santiago served in the Oregon National Guard for his full eight years. Four months after his end date, he was ordered to go to Afghanistan. He was told his new termination date was the end of 2031!
You wouldn’t buy a car without looking under the hood. Check it out carefully!
When You Enlist, You Lose Your Basic Rights
Friday, February 15th, 2008- If you leave your work without permission, you can be arrested.
- Any disobedience can result in criminal punishment.
- You can be punished without the right to see a lawyer or have a trial.
- Your right to say what you think when and how you want will be restricted.
- Individual expression through the way you dress and wear your hair won’t be tolerated.
- You will be subject to routine urine tests for drugs.
- The terms of your enlistment “contract” can be changed by the military at any time.
Homophobia
Friday, February 15th, 2008Discrimination against gays, lesbians and bisexuals is not only intense within the military, it is official policy.Witch hunts to kick lesbian and gay personnel out of the military continue. Since the so-called “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was introduced, the pace of forced discharges has actually increased. Violence and threats against those suspected of being gay are routine.
Ronald Chapman thought the Army would provide him with a career. What he found instead was antigay harassment and physical abuse. Ronald had a rough life growing up. His parents divorced when he was 3. He was put into foster care at 4, and his foster mother booted him out at 19 for being gay. But Chapman had a plan to seek deliverance from life’s cruel disappointments. He would join the Army, serve his country, and see the world.
WAR – Think it won’t happen to you?
Friday, February 15th, 2008Many of the U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama and the Persian Gulf, never expected they would be the ones to see combat. Many of the Reserve soldiers who fought in the Gulf had been told that this would never happen to them. Recruiters often tell new enlistees that they won’t be going to Iraq, they make promises about special training programs and technical job assignments.
Remember, your training, location and job assignment can be changed by the military at any time, for any reason, no matter what you were promised, and no matter what it says in your enlistment “contract”. The main purpose of the military is to fight wars, and if you enlist you will have no choice if you are ordered to fight for something you don’t believe in—like protecting a foreign dictator or oil profits.
Did you sign up for the Delayed Entry Program?
Friday, February 15th, 2008If you have signed up for the DEP, many recruiters will tell you that you can’t get out of it. This is not true. There are a variety of reasons for DEP discharges, like enrolling in college, finding a long-term job, family hardship, etc. To quit the DEP, you will need to take steps to get discharged before your date to report for basic training. Your recruiter normally will not help you. Getting out of the DEP is simple: write a letter addressed to the Commander at the recruiting station where you signed up, requesting separation, explain why you are unable or unwilling to serve. If there is more than one reason, explain them all. Don’t say anything to the recruiter until after this letter is written and sent. Call the GI Rights Hotline 800-394-9544 for more information.
More about Getting Out of the Delayed Enlistment Program
79% harrassed, 30% report rape or attempted rape
Friday, February 15th, 2008UI, VAMC Researchers Study Women’s Risk Of Rape In Military, University of Iowa News Release, March 11, 2003
Violence towards women in the military has identifiable risk factors, according to a study by Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and University of Iowa researchers. The study, involving more than 500 female veterans, found that workplace factors, such as the behavior of superiors, were highly associated with military women’s risk of sexual assault during their military service.
“While violence towards working women is commonplace, surprisingly little is known about predictors of workplace sexual violence,” said Anne Sadler, Ph.D., a researcher at the Iowa City VAMC who led the study. “Our findings suggest that if sexual harassment is allowed in the workplace, women in those environments have a significantly increased risk of being raped.”
Military Sexual Assault Reports Up 40%
Friday, February 15th, 2008By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
Reports of sexual assaults in the military increased by nearly 40 percent last year, the Pentagon announced Thursday, saying the increase was at least partly due to a new program that encourages victims to come forward.
According to a report released Thursday, there were 2,374 allegations of sexual assaults reported during 2005, compared to 1,700 in 2004. Of last year’s reports, 435 were initially filed under a new program that allows victims to report the incident and receive health care or counseling services but does not notify law enforcement or commanders.
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