Plight of Women in the US Military

Plight of Women in the US Military

Major General Mrinal Suman

The Indian armed forces are often chided for not increasing the intake of women in the services. Many self-proclaimed activists go to the ludicrous extent of accusing the Indian military of male chauvinism and anti-women bias. They scoff at the cautionary approach of the Indian military leadership and demand that women be allowed to serve in combat formations as well. Invariably, the US military is cited as an example that India should emulate.  

According to the pro-US enthusiasts, the US military has seamlessly inducted women in all spheres of military activities, thereby enhancing its war potential. It is also claimed that women are well adjusted in the military environment. 

However, the truth is shockingly different. Devotees of the US society and culture will be appalled to learn about the real ground situation. Despite its protestations of being a liberated society, status of women in the US forces is reprehensible. Contrary to popular misconception, women are treated in a despicable and ignoble manner in the US military.

As per the report released by the US Defence Department in May 2013, sexual abuse is a routine occurrence.  The report admitted that, on an average, three sexual assaults took place every hour or 500 every week in the US military during 2012. The Marine Corps had the worst record – on an average, four women were sexually abused each day in 2012. These figures refer only to the reported cases whereas a large number of cases remain unreported.

According to Gordon Duff, senior editor of Veterans Today, “The US military has become a culture of rape, prostitution and violence.  The West Point motto, ‘Duty, Honour, Country’ is not just a joke, it is a criminal lie. Sexual assaults in the military are pervasive and indicative of a diseased military culture.”

A Long History

The US is certainly a pioneer and a trend-setter as regards induction of women in the services. As of 2011, there were 214,098 women on active duty comprising 14.6 percent of the total active force of 1.46 million. Women constituted nearly 20 percent of the reserve force and 20 percent of new recruits. Women’s position in the military is governed by Army Policy AR 600-13 of 1992 and the DOD Policy of 1994.

 

A number of important steps were initiated through the Clinton Administration’s 1994 Assignment policy – women could be assigned to all positions for which they were qualified, except assignment to units below the brigade level whose primary mission was to engage in direct combat on the ground. Thus women were permitted to join as combat aircraft pilots and could also be assigned for prolonged duty on combat naval ships. 

After a prolonged debate, Defence Secretary Robert Gates allowed the Navy to deploy women officers on submarines in 2010. The move reinforced the demand to allow women in combat duties as well. Succumbing to relentless pressure, in January 2013, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta lifted the ban on women serving in combat-related positions. However, to start with, they can be assigned only to combat communication and logistic duties.

Although a large number of women saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan, their employment had been confined to support functions. They performed medical, intelligence, logistic and traffic control duties. Lioness Teams were constituted to help search homes and Iraqi women. Similarly, Female Engagement Teams provide support to the US military in Afghanistan. Their task is to interact and build relationships with Afghan women. 

It needs to be highlighted here that while the US and allies suffered considerable casualties, there has not been a single woman battle casualty. All women casualties have been due to hostile activities like car bombs, IED blasts and helicopter crashes and not due to actual combat action.

Training Trauma

Exploitation and sexual abuse of women start during the training period itself. Being young and naïve, they are regularly subjected to indignities both by the training staff and the male colleagues. In the words of a servicewoman, “When I joined the Army, I was a 17 year old enthusiast. Reality came quickly. I cried many nights during basic training. Drill sergeants flirted and had sex (both consensual and not) with recruits and so the story begins in basic training”. The extent of the malaise can be gauged from the fact that a sexual harassment hotline set up at Aberdeen received 6,825 calls from women in just two months.

According to the annual data released by the Pentagon, eighty cases of sexual assaults were reported by students at the three US military academies (the Naval Academy in Annapolis, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and the United States Military Academy at West Point), compared to 65 the previous year.

A panel was constituted to review allegations of sexual misconduct at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in 2003. The panel shocked the nation with its testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. As per the statistics, there were 142 allegations of sexual assault at the Academy during the ten-year period 1993-2002, for an average of more than 14 allegations a year. According to the Academy's surveys, this only represents 20 percent of the actual assaults (with female cadets responding that 80 percent of assaults go unreported). Thus the true situation is appalling – 70 allegations of sexual assault per year or 6 per month.  

Panel members were stunned to hear stories from victims, many still too afraid to go public with their stories and, more disturbing, too afraid to make an official report of the crime. They shared with the panel members how their lives had been torn apart by a violent assault and an aftermath that most of them suffered alone and in silence because of an atmosphere of fear and retribution. The panel attributed the existence of a hostile environment for women cadets to the prevailing culture of the Academy and the failure of leadership.

Perils of Military Service

‘Command rape’ has come to be accepted as a common phenomenon in the US military. A superior official, under the might of his command authority, can force a subordinate woman soldier to accede to his sexual demands. The rank structure invites sexual exploitation and the culture punishes those who report it. 

Many male soldiers feel that women in the military are no good as soldiers and their real value lies in their contribution to keep the organisation in good cheer. Here is the experience recounted by a servicewoman – “I was one of several single female officers (nurse corps) on a Southwestern air base. A famous squadron was performing at the upcoming air show and needed escorts. They preferred single female nurses in something short, sexy and black. This suggestion made me feel dirty and I felt as if the Air Force was asking me to be a prostitute. I was told that it was expected that the female nursing officers sleep with pilots.”  

Sexual harassment and assaults of women soldiers in war zones is known to be brazen and blatant. For that reason, most women dread duty in war zone. As they are too scared to speak, trauma suffered by them is not known to the public. Rather than exposing themselves to sexual indignities, many prefer to be declared ‘absent without leave’. 

It was left to Specialist Suzanne Swift of 54th Military Police Company to expose the true state of affairs. Swift declined to serve in Iraq during her unit’s second tenure of duty there. She traumatised the entire nation by revealing that the women are subjected to intense sexual harassment using ‘war zone as a pretext’. She claimed that she was sexually assaulted by three sergeants in Iraq. Intense publicity received by the case has forced the authorities to take a fresh look at the problem that they all knew existed but preferred to ignore. 

Citing ongoing hostilities, rape victims are neither given any medical treatment nor are any test carried out in field conditions to collect medical proof of rape for pressing criminal charges. Worse, the victims are coerced to drop all charges. Colleen Mussolino, who served as a cook at Women's Army Corps, was gang raped, beaten and left for dead. Under continued threats, she ultimately signed an undertaking promising not to press for prosecution. 

The Worsening Situation

Alarmed by increasing cases of sexual assaults in the military, a ‘Task Force Report for Care of Victims of Sexual Assault’ was constituted by the Department to review the process for treatment and care of victims of sexual assaults in 2004. The task force recommended that a single point of accountability for sexual assault policy should be established in the Department. 

A campaign was launched in 2005 to impart instructions to more than 1,200 sexual assault response coordinators, chaplains, lawyers and law enforcement personnel to create a cadre of trained first responders. In addition, the services trained more than 1,000,000 service members and established sexual assault programme offices at all major installations. 

In 2005, the Department established the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) programme to promote prevention, encourage reporting of sexual crime and improve response capabilities. A new establishment called Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office was made responsible for the implementation of policies and oversight activities to assess effectiveness of the programme. It is headed by a Major General. 

Section 577 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defence Authorisation Act for 2004 requires the Secretary of Defence to provide annual report of sexual assaults involving members of the armed forces. The Department released its ninth Annual Report in May 2013. According to it, there were close to 26,000 reported cases of sexual abuse in the military (from groping to rape) during the year 2012. It showed an increase of nearly 40 percent over the figure of 19,000 in 2011. During the period January to September 2013, the number of reported sexual assaults was 3,553, up from 2,434 reports over the same period the previous year, an increase of a whopping 46 percent. Worse, the report showed that 62 percent of those who report sexual abuse in the military are faced with some sort of retaliation for reporting their cases. As per the Pentagon’s estimates, more than 20,000 troops declined to report.

 

Apparently, the SAPR programme has been a total failure. Instead of stamping out sexual abuse, the problem has only gotten worse. Cases of sexual harassment and assaults of women soldiers continue to be on an increase. The term ‘unwanted sexual contact’ or USC is the survey term for sexual crimes between adults prohibited by military law, ranging from rape to abusive sexual contact. According to a survey, 4.4 percent active duty women experienced some kind of USC in 2010. The USC rate increased to 6.1 percent in 2012. Trashing the much acclaimed redressal system, forty-three percent said they did not expect to be believed.

National Defence Authorisation Act for 2012 requires that each brigade or equivalent unit level be assigned at least one full-time Sexual Assault Response Coordinator and SAPR Victim Advocate. Shockingly, even sexual assault prevention officers have been charged with sexual abuse.  The chief sexual assault prevention officer for the Air Force was arrested on 05 May 2013 for allegedly groping a woman in a parking lot. 

Conclusion

The US military was forced to induct more women as there was a shortage of male volunteers for a career in the services. The authorities felt that having women was better than having nothing. However, their treatment has been dishonorable. Most servicewomen have been too traumatised to lead a normal life afterwards and need continuous counseling and medical attention. Even senior women officers are not safe in the US army. Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy made a sexual harassment claim against fellow officer General Larry Smith, stemming from an incident when she was a major general and he was a brigadier general.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has termed sexual abuse to be a crisis of command that ‘could undermine the very effectiveness of the country’s volunteer military’. Nancy Parrish, president of Protect Our Defenders attributed it to the ‘culture of high tolerance for rape and sexual predators in the ranks that pervades the military’.

Finally, a word about the infamous and shameful Tailhook Incident of 1991; where naval aviators at their annual convention surrounded over 80 ladies including 14 women naval officers stripping them and assaulting them sexually. The naval enquiry tried to downplay the whole incident but the subsequent public uproar forced the US Government to act tough. A number of senior naval officers were forced to retire.*****