Any one read the March 18 NYT magazine?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Military Academy - West Point
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<p>The cover article was one on women, PTSD and sexual harassment in the military.</p>

<p>I was wondering what your thoughts as future officers, officers and parents of the aforementioned might be.</p>

<p>I would like to have a more accurate picture to see if it is something grossly underreported by fearful victims, something that is being exploited by the anti war crowd, or a few minor occurrences that are beyond the norm. Is this limited more so to the enlisted rather than the officer grade, or is this universal throughout the services? If I'm not mistaken, the women in the article are all enlisted grade.</p>

<p>Sadly I don't have a link to the article at this time. I'll look for one in the meanwhile.</p>

2

<p>Here you go. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/magazine/18cover.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/magazine/18cover.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin&lt;/a> Another article. <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/07/women_in_military/index.html?source=rss%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/07/women_in_military/index.html?source=rss&lt;/a> COL Karpinski talks about the forced dehydration some women put themselves through to avoid going to the latrines at night for fear of assault.</p>

<p>I've read both, but I'm still processing. I highly recommend "Love my Rifle More Than You," by Kayla Williams. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Love-Rifle-More-Than-You/dp/0393060985%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.amazon.com/Love-Rifle-More-Than-You/dp/0393060985&lt;/a> I can't speak of my experiences in combat, since I don't have any, but her discussion of the day to day experience of being a woman in a highly male environment are spot on. West Point is not as blatant as the rest of the Army although it <em>is</em> like living in the world's largest male locker room. Although sexual assaults happen on campus, I can honestly say I never felt threatened, even walking back to my room at night on a dark campus, sober or drunk. I was sexually harassed a few times, mostly painfully unfunny jokes or situations where I just was not comfortable with the conversation. I had several run ins with my own company mates over their laptop backgrounds...they'd have some swimsuit model up covered in sand and little else, which made me uncomfortable, especially since I had to be exposed to it during duties. Mentioning it to them got me nowhere, "Oh bzzzt, don't be so sensitive! It's just a picture." Of course, putting up a similar photo of a guy in angel wings and an artfully draped sheet got "Holy God, I don't wanna see that during duties! Change your background, that's GROSS!" This, from the same guy who had a countdown going on his AIM profile for when the Olsen twins turned 18.</p>

<p>Being in Korea is different. Going to Camp Casey, where it's mostly combat arms and the percentage of women shrinks drastically, lunch in the food court can feel like eating in a fish bowl. Walking into the medical clinic and being the immediate center of attention, being stared at the entire time is disconcerting. But being an officer keeps most people from actually approaching me directly. I'm not sure which is worse. </p>

<p>Sexual assault is a huge issue here on the peninsula. Although there is a campaign to reduce it going on, and incoming soldiers have a solid 3-4 hours of classes on the specifics of what is considered sexual assault and how you can prevent it and what the characteristics of the victims usually are (18-24, enlisted, in their first 30 days in country, alcohol is almost always present) it still happens.</p>

<p>As a leader, whenever I get my command, I intend on making sure it is known that assaults and harassment will not be tolerated in any way, shape, or form. I cannot believe the soldiers that assault other soldiers, let alone soldiers in their own company or platoon. The Soldiers Creed says "I am a warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values." I'm not sure where in the Army Values that kind of behavior fits in, nor where it fits into being a member of a team.</p>

<p>I worry enough about getting deployed and being prepared for that event when it comes. I shouldn't have to worry about protecting myself from other American soldiers.</p>

<p>Anyway, those are just a few of the thoughts rolling around in my head. Take them or leave them.</p>

3

<p>I also wonder what the men have to say. I talked to my boyfriend and the other ROTC kids I know and in our battalion we never had those problems, then again like USMA, different atmosphere/upbringing. Outside of ROTC ironically enough I was scared walking around my college campus at night. The blue lights aren't always easy to see, and at night it seems just dark and desolate so once the sun was down pretty much I refused to go outside unaccompanied. Doesn't help that a girl that year was raped and killed relatively nearby.</p>

<p>How does it fit into the military culture? Actually, I was looking at some stuff from usafa folklore and "Jodies" and the ones mentioning women are rather crude. A lot of it originated prior to women being in a combat situation in larger numbers and even then I wonder what happened to the female nurses from way back.</p>

4

<p>I would venture to say that the amount of assaults and things in the military are proportional to the general population. I have never felt scared on post or around any of my ROTC friends...and most military experience I've had shows they're extremely protective of me, making sure I don't go anywhere alone at night, etc.</p>

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<p>Bzzzt, regarding the story about the screensavers -good example of why there should not be a double standard. If the guys can have the almost nude girls on their screensavers then the girls should be able to have the almost nude guys on their screens too. </p>

<p>I have read Kayla Williams book even though I don't have any female relatives in the military. The book was an eye opener for me. I wonder if some of this harassment comes from men feeling their macho imagine is being threatened because a female is just as (or more) capable as they are. I really hope that someday we can evolve past the point where men feel like they can get away with sexual harassment. </p>

<p>I do think that part of problem is how we raise our sons. My husband and I have done our best to teach our sons to treat women with respect. I want them to think, "Is this how I would want my Mother treated?" before they say or do something that might be construed as harassment. JMHO</p>

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<p>Haven't read the Kayla Williams book but have read the other two articles and I'd recommend considering their source. The NYT piece was obviously written with a particular point of view and was purely anecdotal. One of the stories detailed the experiences of a woman who claimed to have been wounded but her commanding officer is quoted as saying no one in the unit had seen combat. She claims to have been raped twice in Iraq but can't remember the details, she then mentions she had been raped twice as a child. I feel for this person but she sounds more crazy than harmed by the Army.</p>

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<p>A lot of the guys say it's not a problem. But then these are the same guys who just. won't. stop. with the jokes and such. Also, statistically, you're more likely to become part of those statistics in your own dorm/barracks room. The problem is not the "unknown attacker in the bushes," it's the inebriated hookup at the bar. </p>

<p>WAMom68 - Some of the harassment is not from being threatened, but from being uber-macho in the first place. Buckner was a lot worse than the academic year for harassment for several reasons. Some was just the unending opportunity since you live so close together but some of it was from being immersed in combat arms stuff day after day. Knowing that "Girls can't go combat arms," the "you don't belong here, you're worthless, you're taking experience (leadership positions) that would be more valuable to me because I wanna be infantry" level was extremely high. There's only a short step between "You don't belong here because you can't be a real soldier and go to combat" and "You owe me because I am a real soldier." Of course, this attitude is wrong because women do serve in combat and get wounded and killed and "close with and destroy the enemy in close combat." (Cribbed from the mission of the Infantry)</p>

<p>This attitude of "you don't belong here" isn't only limited to cadet. Sometimes instructors can put their foot into their mouths just as easily. While I was taking SOLIC (Special Operations, Low Intensity Combat - basically an overview of Special Forces and guerrilla warfare) I had a mandatory lecture from an SF TACNCO. He told us a bit about the program, the training, selection, and stuff like that. When he finished the presentation and opened the floor for questions, he turned the lights back on and finally got a good look at the audience. His first remark was, "What are all the females doing here?" Sad to say, the guys just laughed at this, while one of the other women managed to come up with something along the lines of "We're also in the class, sergeant." For the rest of the question and answer period, all of the women sat in uncomfortable silence, while he answered questions. As soon as we were dismissed we left immediately. It was later resolved, and he apologized to us through an e-mail that he sent to our instructor. Our instructor was highly embarrassed that his guest speaker treated his students in that manner. Worst of all, though, was that the speaker was a TAC. He's supposed to mentor and inspire the cadets under him, not perpetuate stereotypes.</p>

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<p>As I mentioned previously - it turns out one of the five "histories" in the NYT story was completely false (the soldier never served in Iraq) and the NYT KNEW IT BEFORE THEY PUBLISHED THE STORY. They then waited two weeks to issue the correction.</p>

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<p>Even so, what I wanted to get a feel for was the actual prevalence of sexual harassment in the military and noting again that the article focused on the enlisted. Yes, the article was pointed with a specific inflammatory sensation that is meant to encourage a reaction from the reader.</p>

<p>Aside from that, I think they're trying to bring more attention to other aspects of the battle zone. </p>

<p>What I'd also like to know is an idea of why it still happens and who are the likely suspects? Understandably it's a male dominated occupation in all aspects of the military, but I think there has been a significant amount of time that women have been in the military.</p>

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<p>I wouldn't really put much faith in the New York Times to describe military life in an accurate light.</p>

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<p>I think given the fact that these issues crop up every year to some extent even in the service academies it is naieve to think that the same things don't happen in the military, regardless of the media that reports them. Given that we actually have someone posting here that is a woman, is a graduate of West Point, and is serving in today's Army and she says this stuff is going on, thats good enough for me---
The problem with the media is that while you have the NYT who some say has a problem with biased reporting, you also have other media outlets who won't touch a story like that---I wonder which one serves the greater good? Who can say? What I do know is that I want the media to report what's happening, not "two sides" of what's happening. The truth isn't "fair and balanced"--it just is what it is. Our media has become polarized just like our society---not good.</p>

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<p>I usually trust the NY Times in terms of local affairs. It is very hard not to polarize in foreign or affairs beyond daily life borders. With the Japanese and the comfort women, it's very easy to take a side and focus on the surviving victims and perhaps capitalize and over analyze what their leaders have to say about the affair. </p>

<p>Agreed that it's really naive to assume that it doesn't happen, but I think that there are specific places and situations where it is more likely to occur such as the mention of the first 30 days. But why would occur so early on as opposed to any other time is something else I'd like to know.</p>

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<p>I'm jumping in a little late in the game, but I wanted to get my own POV out here. </p>

<p>bzzzt, I'm pretty sure things have changed a bit since you were a cadet at West Point. I'm a Yuk there right now, and my initial reaction to the thought of being sexually harassed would be to scoff at it. Like you, I don't feel any fear of being harassed or bothered. There have been two occasions where I have come across what I would call "slimy" individuals, but both times the girls in my company would band together and warn each other about the individuals, share what we had each heard about them, etc... We protect each other in our company from even the possibility of sexual assault. Plus, most of the guys in my class are like brothers to me, and I would have no problem finding someone to turn to for help should a problem arise.</p>

<p>Buckner was also different from how you described it. Hell, it was different from how yuks my plebe year described it. The ladies in the class ahead of us told girls in my class that Buckner was going to be a testosterone fest and that we'd have to "man up" in the guy's POVs or else face discrimination and dismissal as females. It sounded very similar to what you'd said above. But for our year, they drastically restructured Buckner. Buck-nam successfully became Buck-ghanistan, with a lot more training. It started out a little choppy, but I can recall one event where my roommate and I got chewed out by a classmate of our for expecting them to turn into sexist *******s over night. He was rightly offended and he pointed out that these guys are our close friends and company mates. They would still be the same guys at Buckner, and he wryly suggested we wait for Buckner to actually happen before we begin passing judgment on the guys.</p>

<p>As it turned out, Buckner brought a lot of us closer than ever (which is saying a lot; several people have notice how tight-knit our class in the company has become). There was one incident of any remotely close to sexual harassment - by one of the two previously mentioned "slimy individuals," and that was more a case of him being a blundering idiot and letting his mouth say so to the world. Basically, the cadre was overheard complaining that our rooms (this is at Knox) looked like crap and the TAC NCO (a known hardass) was inspecting them, but he couldn't do anything to fix it because our sports bras were strewn every where and he couldn't touch them. When we got back to our rooms, they were in perfect order except for one bra lying on the bed. We were heavily annoyed at his *****ing for making a fuss when there was no reason to, and were wary of him ever since. Like I said, he's a slimy individual, but I'd still find it hard to imagine him forcing himself on women.</p>

<p>Anyways, Buckner turned out to be a huge bonding success, and sex wasn't an issue. I know it still happens every now and then at West Point (we still get regular lectures, classes and surveys about it), but IMHO, I'd say the problem is no longer sexual harassment but consensual sex in the barracks. There is also a sense among the girl that we are losing our identity as members of the female gender, but that isn't an issue of sexual harassment, that's an issue with cadet culture, and one I think we're going to find rampant in the army. Little by little, however, we girls are doing our best to change it.</p>

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<p>Elysian - I'm '06, but I'm glad to hear that Buckner's changed. As I said before, I never really felt unsafe at school, just uncomfortable. You're right, it normally is just one or two creeps. It's when those creeps find friends that you get real problems. </p>

<p>Mulan - Why it happens in the first thirty days is a mystery. Perhaps it's because they haven't been warned who the "creeps" are, or the forced socializing that happens initially...Plus, a lot of the soldiers that are being posted here are really, really young. The number of PV2s and PV1s is amazing. They're all 18 or 19 (and I know most of you are, too) and they're still growing up. Being thrust into the sexually dysmorpic situation here, and becoming the center of attention, probably leads to some bad decisions for some people.</p>