Ideals and reality
The following is based on a true story of something that I personally witnessed and heard about. The names have been changed to protect those involved. A few facts have been tweaked to ensure no one else who is a part of my past can recognize the players involved. But the important facts remain unchanged.
Airman Lisa Innocent arrived at her very first permanent duty station in mid 1978. She was quite excited, as she'd never been more than 100 miles from home until the day she left the little town for basic military training. She'd spent six weeks in basic and then another eight weeks in the administrative specialist school. After a one week leave at home she was a wide-eyed young woman in her early 20s when she arrived at Homestead Air Force Base. She flew in to Miami International Airport and as a favor to her "sponsor", I picked her up and drove her down to the base.
She was a very attractive woman and she told me a bit of her story on the drive back to the base. She'd started at the local community college after high school, working part-time jobs and helping out at home. But after awhile she decided to enlist. Now she was planning to do what I was doing, go to school at night while serving in the Air Force. We became friendly. Even then I knew certain women were just beyond me, so I had crossed her off the "potential date list" as soon as I'd seen her.
I saw her a few times over the next few weeks as she processed in and settled into her job working as an admin clerk in a support unit. Then she caught the eye of Major Prick, who worked in the Wing Headquarters building, as the #2 guy in one of the sections of Operations. He pulled a few strings and got Airman Innocent transferred to his office, so she would be the assistant to Major Prick and his boss, Lt. Colonel Oblivious.
Things were good for a very short time, pilots were now asking her out because she was visible to them. She dated a few, but nothing seemed to click. Major Prick, a married man, did nothing untoward in those first few weeks. Then things began to change. A casual "brush" up against her. Placing his hand on her arm, or shoulder, or eventually her rear end.
He started asking her to have lunch with him, ostensibly so they could eat and work simultaneously. The only work he had in mind was working out a way to get her into a bedroom where no one would disturb them. She resisted. He pressed. He made a pass at her at a party, but she managed to get away.
As things worsened, she asked me for some advice on what to do. Being very familiar with how the military works by that time, I knew her options were limited. Major Prick was only a major, but he was very tight with the Director of Operations, Colonel Cheesehead, and the soon to retire Wing Commander, Colonel Passed-Over. Although the term wasn't popular then, they clearly had Major Prick's back.
There was always the Inspector General's office, but the IG on our base, like every other base, was in the Wing Commander's chain of command. His independence to investigate was questionable at best. The Judge Advocate General also reported to the Wing CO.
Clearly none of the ordinary avenues were going to solve Airman Innocent's problem. After I spoke with a few officers I knew, I talked to Colonel Wildman, another full colonel who would never make general. He was merely biding his time until hitting the date which marked his forced retirement. He owed me a favor (collecting favors was the best lesson I ever learned from those who trained me), but he would have helped in any event. He never told me how he did what he did, but I know it involved speaking to Colonel Cheesehead and Major Prick in plain language. Airman Innocent was transferred to work in Colonel Wildman's office and he kept her safe until he retired. By then I had been reassigned and lost touch with Airman Innocent.
This kind of thing is exactly why the bill introduced by U. S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand should not have been blocked by the Senate today. It is long past time to take the cronyism out of the military justice system when it comes to investigating and prosecuting sexual misconduct in any form. Be it adultery, assault or harassment, commanders at all levels have proven for decades they are incapable of displaying the required impartiality needed to ensure fairness and justice for the victims.
Let's look at a large Air Force Base, Nellis AFB in Nevada. Home to the USAF Warfare Center, commanded by Brigadier General Jay Silveria (Major General selectee). He's in charge of everything and everyone on the base, save a few tenant organizations. All of the JAG officers involved with prosecuting cases find him atop their local chain of command. Therefore he can easily (not accusing the man, just using him as an illustration) any prosecution involving sexual misconduct). With every other crime, that's a position he SHOULD have. But not sexual misconduct.
Just as the military attorneys who defend military personnel accused of crimes are outside of General Silveria's supervision, so should those who investigate and prosecute this particular crime. Every base has some version of the ADC, Area Defense Counsel, lawyers who the local commander doesn't supervise.
What's the answer? Simple. Charge the Air Force Office of Special Investigations with investigating sexual misconduct. Their investigations would be turned over to a centralized office of military prosecutors who are immune from local command influence. They would be able to prosecute these cases with the fairness and impartiality needed. They would be able to protect the rights of the victim and the accused from command influence.
No, the OSI referenced above does not build bionic humans.
Airman Lisa Innocent arrived at her very first permanent duty station in mid 1978. She was quite excited, as she'd never been more than 100 miles from home until the day she left the little town for basic military training. She'd spent six weeks in basic and then another eight weeks in the administrative specialist school. After a one week leave at home she was a wide-eyed young woman in her early 20s when she arrived at Homestead Air Force Base. She flew in to Miami International Airport and as a favor to her "sponsor", I picked her up and drove her down to the base.
She was a very attractive woman and she told me a bit of her story on the drive back to the base. She'd started at the local community college after high school, working part-time jobs and helping out at home. But after awhile she decided to enlist. Now she was planning to do what I was doing, go to school at night while serving in the Air Force. We became friendly. Even then I knew certain women were just beyond me, so I had crossed her off the "potential date list" as soon as I'd seen her.
I saw her a few times over the next few weeks as she processed in and settled into her job working as an admin clerk in a support unit. Then she caught the eye of Major Prick, who worked in the Wing Headquarters building, as the #2 guy in one of the sections of Operations. He pulled a few strings and got Airman Innocent transferred to his office, so she would be the assistant to Major Prick and his boss, Lt. Colonel Oblivious.
Things were good for a very short time, pilots were now asking her out because she was visible to them. She dated a few, but nothing seemed to click. Major Prick, a married man, did nothing untoward in those first few weeks. Then things began to change. A casual "brush" up against her. Placing his hand on her arm, or shoulder, or eventually her rear end.
He started asking her to have lunch with him, ostensibly so they could eat and work simultaneously. The only work he had in mind was working out a way to get her into a bedroom where no one would disturb them. She resisted. He pressed. He made a pass at her at a party, but she managed to get away.
As things worsened, she asked me for some advice on what to do. Being very familiar with how the military works by that time, I knew her options were limited. Major Prick was only a major, but he was very tight with the Director of Operations, Colonel Cheesehead, and the soon to retire Wing Commander, Colonel Passed-Over. Although the term wasn't popular then, they clearly had Major Prick's back.
There was always the Inspector General's office, but the IG on our base, like every other base, was in the Wing Commander's chain of command. His independence to investigate was questionable at best. The Judge Advocate General also reported to the Wing CO.
Clearly none of the ordinary avenues were going to solve Airman Innocent's problem. After I spoke with a few officers I knew, I talked to Colonel Wildman, another full colonel who would never make general. He was merely biding his time until hitting the date which marked his forced retirement. He owed me a favor (collecting favors was the best lesson I ever learned from those who trained me), but he would have helped in any event. He never told me how he did what he did, but I know it involved speaking to Colonel Cheesehead and Major Prick in plain language. Airman Innocent was transferred to work in Colonel Wildman's office and he kept her safe until he retired. By then I had been reassigned and lost touch with Airman Innocent.
This kind of thing is exactly why the bill introduced by U. S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand should not have been blocked by the Senate today. It is long past time to take the cronyism out of the military justice system when it comes to investigating and prosecuting sexual misconduct in any form. Be it adultery, assault or harassment, commanders at all levels have proven for decades they are incapable of displaying the required impartiality needed to ensure fairness and justice for the victims.
Let's look at a large Air Force Base, Nellis AFB in Nevada. Home to the USAF Warfare Center, commanded by Brigadier General Jay Silveria (Major General selectee). He's in charge of everything and everyone on the base, save a few tenant organizations. All of the JAG officers involved with prosecuting cases find him atop their local chain of command. Therefore he can easily (not accusing the man, just using him as an illustration) any prosecution involving sexual misconduct). With every other crime, that's a position he SHOULD have. But not sexual misconduct.
Just as the military attorneys who defend military personnel accused of crimes are outside of General Silveria's supervision, so should those who investigate and prosecute this particular crime. Every base has some version of the ADC, Area Defense Counsel, lawyers who the local commander doesn't supervise.
What's the answer? Simple. Charge the Air Force Office of Special Investigations with investigating sexual misconduct. Their investigations would be turned over to a centralized office of military prosecutors who are immune from local command influence. They would be able to prosecute these cases with the fairness and impartiality needed. They would be able to protect the rights of the victim and the accused from command influence.
No, the OSI referenced above does not build bionic humans.
posted by me at 12:40 PM
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