Sexual Harassment, and Rape Are too Common in the Military

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Things are heating up now that President elect Biden is choosing his cabinet. The following example shows you what I mean:

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Once again, lawmakers must decide whether to allow a retired general officer to serve as defense secretary even though he has been out of uniform for less time than the seven years required by law.

Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin left active-duty in 2016 after 41 years of service. He is a Silver Star recipient and has had extensive command experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would also be the first Black man to lead the Defense Department.

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who worked with Austin when he was on active-duty, said she has deep respect for the retired general. 

However, the defense secretary’s job is to ensure civilian control over the military, added Slotkin, who served as acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 2015 to 2017.

“That is why it requires a waiver from the House and Senate to put a recently retired military officer in the job,” Slotkin said in the statement. “And after the last four years, civil-military relations at the Pentagon definitely need to be rebalanced. General Austin has had an incredible career — but I’ll need to understand what he and the Biden Administration plan to do to address these concerns before I can vote for his waiver.”

Biden added that he understands and respects the reason why officers are legally required to be out of uniform for a certain period of time before assuming the mantle of defense secretary.

“I would not be asking for this exception if I did not believe this moment in our history didn’t call for it – it does call for it – and if I didn’t have the faith I have in Lloyd Austin to ask for it,” Biden said.

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Sexual harassment, or even rape, has been going on for far too long in the military. I have a whole chapter in my new book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In an Out of the Trenches of Life, on rape, and an interview with a nurse who took care of two women who had been raped. Heart breaking stories.

The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a big win for survivors of sexual assault in the military by closing a loophole that allowed three convicted rapists to walk free.

“I fought so hard to get the justice to have him put away for what he did,” Air Force veteran Harmony Allen told CNN about her rapist, Master Sgt. Richard Collins, in an article last year.

Collins raped Allen in August 2000, but he was not convicted until 2017. But a year later, a 2018 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) instituted a five-year statute of limitations on military rape cases between 1986 and 2006, and Collins walked free.

“To have that ripped away after finally getting it is so hurtful and crushing and it just questions my belief in the justice system,” Allen said.

CAAF’s 2018 ruling reversed decades of precedent. Under Article 120(a) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, rape is one of several crimes that is punishable by death in the military, and thus has no statute of limitations. But in 2018, CAAF pointed out the Supreme Court’s 1977 ruling in Coker v. Georgia that the Eighth Amendment forbids a death sentence for the rape of an adult women. 

So if rape cannot be punished by a death sentence under the Constitution, CAAF reasoned, then military rape is not a capital offense and thus is subject to statutes of limitations. But the Supreme Court disagreed.

“Respondents argue that the logic of the decision in Coker applies equally to civilian and military prosecutions, but the Government contends that the military context dictates a different outcome,” wrote Justice Samuel Alito in his opinion. “Among other things, the Government argues that a rape committed by a service member may cause special damage by critically undermining unit cohesion and discipline and that, in some circumstances, the crime may have serious international implications.”

Further, while Coker led to Congress changing the maximum penalty for rape in civilian cases from death to life imprisonment, Congress made no such change in the UCMJ, the justice wrote.

“On the contrary, in 2006 Congress noted that death would remain an available punishment for rape,” he added.

Alito pointed out that the “trauma inflicted by such crimes may impede the gather of the evidence needed to bring charges. Victims may be hesitant for some time after the offense about agreeing to testify. Thus, under current federal law, many such offenses are subject to no statute of limitations.”

A former Chief Prosecutor of the Air Force celebrated the decision.

“The unanimous nature of this opinion is a testament of just how wrong the lower court’s opinion was,” said Col. Don Christensen (ret.), president of the advocacy group Protect Our Defenders, in a press release. “Justice has been restored for three survivors and hope has been restored for countless others.”

Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not vote in the decision because the case was argued in October, before her confirmation.

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The Christmas rush is, hard at best, to handle. Then there is the ugly pandemic raising up even more.

How are you holding up, my friend? Is the rush and the world too fast for you?

You are not alone! There are over 10,350 other veterans on this site who have your back.

BUT! If it is just too overwhelming for you, Get Help!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will not hang up until they know you are OK.

Don’t live in this world alone!

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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It’s the New Year, and I am changing MY Approach

Starting today, I will be posting three times a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Later on I may go five posts a week, depending how things go with my new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.”

I am really excited how the new book is causing a buzz. Many veterans can’t seem to wait until it comes out. Why is that?

This book will be reaching out to those veterans and families who may be suffering from PTSD, TBI, Anxiety, A lost loved one, or depression. There are many more problems a veterans face, and those will be discussed as well.

The part of the book I am most excited about, are the interviews with veterans who have been in the trenches. I will have a whole section dedicated to them. I have interviews with WWII, Korean, Afghanistan, and Iraq veterans

Some of the stories are very sad. Others are funny.

I will be sharing excerpts from time to time to get you hooked!

So starting tomorrow will be my first full post of the new year.

If you don’t want to miss any of the posts, just subscribe at the top of this page. Then whenever I post you will get the post sent directly to your inbox.

Just a side note to my brothers and sisters who may be hurting. I feel your pain. The upcoming posts should be giving you hope, and a meaning to your life. For personal help right now call:

(877-247-4645) 24/7. There are people there who will guide you to help and peace.

Happy New Year to each and every one of you.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…Never, ever, give up!

The Military Did What to Cause a Stir?

Thanks to all of you who have been joining me here. We help bring change to lives. The response has been wonderful.  

We Made it to 5,000! Never dreamed we would do that. Thank you so much for the support. It also excites us that you are supporting veterans. That is our theme here right now. 

Help us make it to 6,000 by subscribing today if you haven’t already. As Of today we have 5,500.  This shows you care for veterans. Just click on the icon right after the title of this post and click on FEEDBLITZ , and the posts will come straight to your inbox.                            ____________________________________________________________

Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It reaches out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides every day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics.  

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This is a new social network just for veterans. I joined it and made instant friendships with veterans who want to talk about what I want to talk about. Please check it out. You will be glad you did. 

https://www.rallypoint.com/join/spc-douglas-bolton

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What follows are some strange but interesting stories from our military. 

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The Navy Wants To Do Two Carriers At The Same Time

 

What would you do if you had billions of dollars? Two carriers at the same time, man.

The Pentagon has ramped up its evaluation of a Navy proposal to purchase both the third and fourth vessels in the beleaguered Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier program in one fell swoop, Bloomberg News reports, a significant step in the branch’s push for a 12-carrier fleet.

A contract with Huntington Ingalls industries for the next two of the $13 billion super carriers could potentially save the service around $2.5 billion, as Navy Secretary Richard Spencer told reporters in August. Funds for a fourth Ford-class carrier were approved as part of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.

While the Navy has been eyeing a two-carrier purchase since March as part of the service’s push for a 355-hull fleet, the single contract could prove a major boon for a program that, per The Diplomat, has failed to meet cost-cutting goals amid the prospect of future cuts to defense spending.

“We are conducting an evaluation to ensure we have the warfighting capabilities to compete and win,” Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan told Bloomberg News in an Oct. 19 statement. “Any decision will factor in strengthening the industrial base and delivering best value for taxpayers.”

Savings are great, but there’s a big problem with the contract beyond the opportunity it presents for Office Space innuendo: It’s a sweet deal for a boat that, last we checked, had a bunch of serious problems.

The DoD Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation’s intensive assessment of the Ford, published in January, detailed “poor or unknown reliability” issues across critical systems from weapons elevators to radar, deficiencies that could “affect the ability of CVN 78 to generate sorties, make the ship more vulnerable to attack, or create limitations during routine operations.”

More embarrassing issues have cropped up in the intervening months. In May, the Ford was forced to return to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia due to an alarming manufacturing defect in the propulsion train, a problem that came just as NAVSEA announced that the total cost of the carrier would balloon to around $13.03 billion — well above the $12.9 billion cap lawmakers set the previous April.

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IN Coming!!!

A military vehicle was mistakenly dropped from a plane over Harnett County on Wednesday, but no person or property was damaged, according to Fort Bragg officials.

The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, better known as a Humvee, was to be dropped via parachute as part of a routine test at Fort Bragg, which is known as the Home of the Airborne.

The testing involved a pallet onto which the Humvee was loaded.

Tom McCollum, a post spokesman, said the vehicle was prematurely dropped from an Air. The plane was about a mile from Sicily Drop Zone, flying at an altitude of 1,500 feet, when the Humvee and pallet were dropped about a minute too early, McCollum said.

All three parachutes opened, he said, and the vehicle landed in a wooded area between two homes on Walter Lane, off Gilchrist Road, which is between Johnsonville and Spout Springs, a little more than seven miles north of Fort Bragg’s drop zones.

There was no damage to any of the homes or residents. The only damage was to several trees and the vehicle itself, McCollum said.

 

James Grant, 78, lives in one of the homes. He said his wife was outside, saw the parachutes opening and yelled for him. Grant heard the crash as the load, weighing a total of 3 tons, hit the ground Force C-17 about 1 p.m.

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I will sharing these kind of stories every time I post.

I also have a book called, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out  of the Trenches if Life. It is almost finished. Come back here often to find out when it will be released.

I will be sharing some of my own adventures in the book, of my time in the military. There are some funny stories, and some very sad ones. In my next post I will actually share an excerpt from the book. This is the first time I have done it, and you will be the first ones to see it.

If you are struggling with PTSD, TBI, Depression, anxiety, etc. I feel your pain. I have been through some of that myself. Keep coming back here for uplifting stories and thoughts from me.

The crisis hotline for immediate help is:

1-800-273-8255

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!