Female soldier was allegedly sexually assaulted by *22* other troops at the Army training base in Ft

[soothsayer]

Link to tweet

?s=21


Jennifer Taub
@jentaub
This makes me so sad, so angry, and quite frankly so very hopeless

Ken Klippenstein
@kenklippenstein
Female soldier was allegedly sexually assaulted by *22* other troops at the Army training base in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, Pentagon official tells me.

Video of the incidents has been circulating among servicemembers.
https://theintercept.com/2021/04/02/female-soldier-sexual-assault-22-troops-fort-sill/

[rockfordfile]

1. If true, then what the hell is wrong with that base?

It says a lot about how you're brought up. I always thought that joining the Army or any other armed force was suppose straighten out guys who had problems.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. lol have you heard what the u.s. military does

[whathehell]

17. Have you heard what college frat 'boys' & other scummy men do?

"Lol" my ass.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

18. Yeah, but I'm not sure what that has to do with my point, which I did not spell out but I will do so

here, which is that the U.S. military is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of violence and misery on the planet, and to expect it to "shape up" young men as a matter of course is misguided at best and actively damaging at worst.

[whathehell]

21. You may despise the military, but gang rape is NOT one of their

their official duties, your smarmy inference notwithstanding.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

22. May not be an official duty, but you see it pop up quite a bit in the extracurriculars.

[whathehell]

29. Yeah, those "extracurriculars" tend to pop up in men's prisons too..

Anyywhere males get to exercise their sick need to dominate and degrade. It's called' 'toxic masculinity'.. Maybe the 22 will get to experience being on the other side of it.

[BigOleDummy]

37. As a veteran

I find your whole tone offensive and degrading. Yes in fact I have heard and seen what the U.S. Military does. WE have done and continue to do the dirty work that keeps America safe and free. WE do so while hearing the snark and insults from people like you. Whom we defend as well btw. WE help people in need. WE help and support our Allies. WE do our best to defend our Constitution. WE contribute our blood ,sweat and tears to make this as safe and free a country as possible.

Are there bad apples wearing a uniform? Sure. But we try and root out the rot when we find it. The fact that this has come to light at all bears witness to that. What have YOU done for this country? Is your profession pure as the driven snow? Are there none, zero rotten apples in it? I somehow doubt that.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

42. "But we try and root out the rot when we find it."

Not really. More than half of the people who report sexual assault in the military face professional, social or administrative retaliation as a result. That's not a great track record.

[niyad]

55. Tailhook immediately came to mind. I didn't know that woman, but I knew at least five others

during that time who were kicked out of the Service when they reported sex crimes. Nothing ever happened to the men.

[Victor_c3]

45. Some people who've never served don't get it

I joined the Army with the best and truest intentions. I was 17 when I joined in 1997. At the time, and as a kid, I saw the Army as a force for good. We were busy stopping genocide in the Balkans and I believed all of that “real American hero” crap I saw on G.I. Joe when I was a kid. I joined the Army to be a part of missions like that.

Unfortunately, our nation’s politicians betrayed that ideal and sent me to fight in a war I never believed in - Iraq. The army is filled with good people with good hearts, people just like me.

Some people don’t get it and don’t want to even try to get it. It’s easier to for them to just assume the worst.

[AZProgressive]

53. I served

I was actually against the Iraq war before I joined but I was under a lot of pressure (mostly internal) to find a job to help support my SO at the time so I didn't join for patriotic reasons.

I do disagree that the Army is for straightening out young men. TBH it reminded me of high school especially when it came to the rumor mill and I hated it. There was also a lot of drinking. People would party until 6 in the morning and one time there was a 3-story beer bong.

Whiskey Grinder is right when it comes to sexual assault in the military. I deployed to Iraq in '06-'07. They handed everyone in our unit "rape whistles" including the men because there were reports of this happening to men too but most men laughed when they received their rape whistles.

Anyways Whiskey Grinder is one of my favorite poster because of his or her consistently. Whiskey calls out all forms of discrimination including ableism which I like since I have a 100% service connected disability.

[AwakeAtLast]

56. My husband is also a Veteran

OIF 2005-06. He forbid my daughter to even think about the military as a career. He spent too much time protecting his female subordinates from other GIs. He almost lost his rank over it. Too many blind eyes I'm afraid. He finally had to get out after 13 years.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I can only echo Jennifer Taub's statement. It's horrifying, what happened to that soldier. n/t

[MagickMuffin]

3. I'm right there with you @jentaub

This is beyond criminal in my opinion and those "servicemembers" should face court martial for raping a fellow soldier, recording it and passing it around.


Instead if the military higher ups continues to ignore the abuse these women are treated as sexual entertainment for the troops, then I know what "service" means, men can service themselves to the female members that are truly wanting to be OF service.

I hope this makes sense, as this is truly disturbing to say the least.

[SunSeeker]

4. Wow. All 22 should be court martialed!

[jpak]

6. Along with commanding officers

This has to stop

[Blue_true]

51. Every officer there need to be forced to resign, or be reduced in rank (with a

permanent letter of reprimand put in their personnel file)

[whathehell]

30. ..and more.

Maybe like actual prison and a lifetime on the sex Offender Registry.

[Sanity Claws]

9. ??

[obamanut2012]

10. WTF is wrong with you???

[Cerridwen]

12. "Video of the incidents has been circulating among servicemembers."

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. Shut the fuck up.

[Carlitos Brigante]

19. Holy shit! What did I miss?! From the replies sounds like whatever

that post said was pretty fucked up.

[demmiblue]

20. That person has a history of rightwing comments.

I didn't see it either.

[Rustyeye77]

26. Oh..thats real nice

my post said its unusual that someone would cite 22 people...thats all.

I never said I didnt believe her.

And as for your vile comment, i think you owe me an apology.

But i dont think you will.

[demmiblue]

31. Lol!

[Rustyeye77]

33. All talk.

I knew you wouldn't apologize.

You got nothing.

[Sanity Claws]

38. That wasn't quite what you said

It was something along the lines "She had the time to count all 22?" I couldn't figure out what you were trying to say but it sure didn't sound right. It also did imply that you didn't believe her.

[Blue_true]

52. You got that vibe too? nt

[Progressive Jones]

7. I'm going to take some heat for this statement. There are a lot of lowlifes in the military.

My cousin's kid is evidence. He's been a "problem child" since the 8th grade. That piece of garbage was given an opportunity by a judge in Indiana to join the Army versus going to a State pen. He joined the Army. Somehow, he made it through boot camp. However, his success didn't last long. He is now in the brig on several criminal charges, including a sexual misconduct situation.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

24. One of my older brothers was a "problem child" too.

After he turned 18, our mother drove him to a military recruiting center to help get him the hell out of our house.

He had to repeat basic training as punishment for his repeated misbehaviors the first time.

He ended up retiring from the Air Force, and now he's the most financially secure sibling in my family. That's not good enough for him, though. He also tends to want the rest of us to treat him like some kind of patriotic hero, despite never risking his life in battles. Yeah, whatever bro!

[Dem4Life1102]

28. I have a cousin like that

He joined the navy after high school. Never saw any combat. Didn’t even serve his full tour. Went out early due to a back problem. Now he acts like he was a 20 veteran who was wounded in battle.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

32. That particular brother was a "natural born dick"...

Last edited Fri Apr 2, 2021, 07:43 PM - Edit history (1)

... from a very young age.

He'd constantly do stuff like ask someone to pour him more water or tea at the dinner table, then pull his glass away to cause a spill.

Our oldest brother took him bowling one time, pointing out the red button which would cause the metal gate to drop and reset the pins. Then my oldest brother worried about it, suspecting that he'd use that knowledge to cause a problem. And that's indeed what later happened! After my oldest brother said he was going to roll his bowling ball down the lane as hard as he could, the other brother pushed the red button and the ball put a big dent in the gate after it dropped! The bowling alley manager ran over to them screaming about it, my oldest brother kept apologizing, etc.

He was a lot like Bart Simpson, the more that I think about it. Except he was involved in worse cases of vandalism than even Bart Simpson, probably.

My older siblings used to think, "That's it! Dad's going to actually kill him now!" Then they'd be shocked how our father barely punished him at all, with a weary look on his face like it was pointless anyway.

Edit:
I thought I was going to die when that brother put a pillow over my face, suffocating me. He was angry because I accidentally knocked over his bicycle in the garage. Luckily, he let up eventually.
He broke a broom stick across my back another time, again for something minor and accidental because I tried to avoid him whenever possible from the time I was very young. He scared the crap out of me, and I'll probably never fully trust him despite how his behavior has indeed improved dramatically over the years.
So, yeah... he was definitely worse than Bart Simpson.

[llmart]

41. I have a brother just like that.

Our father thought it'd do him good to get him in the army. He was thrown in the brig before his time was up for beating an Asian woman within an inch of her life. They gave him an honorable discharge which pissed me off to no end. He had a history of problems from the time he was a little boy including deliberately injuring me to the point that I had to be rushed to the emergency room to get stitches in my face. Throughout his adulthood he's had a history of beating women, drug use, alcoholism, felonies. Needless to say I no longer have anything to do with him.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

43. Sorry about your brother!

I totally understand the physical abuse when you were a child because my brother did it to me too. As far back as I could remember, I tried to avoid him like the plague. And the oldest brother often came to my defense if he saw it happening, thank goodness, or who knows how far it could've gone?

My brother stopped behaving like a sociopath after he got older, and I'm not sure how or when it happened for him. I doubt that I'll ever fully trust him, though.

[llmart]

44. He was the worst of my three brothers.

Yeah, I had three of them. The oldest one was a narcissistic compulsive liar who thought he was too good to actually hold down a real job. The few times he did get a job he embezzled money from the companies and got caught. Then he'd lose everything and be back to square one with no credit rating. We wouldn't find out the truth until much later and never from him. When we were older he was extremely jealous of me and resented that I had my life together and did it by actually doing the hard work and being a good citizen, so whenever I'd see him or he'd call on the phone he'd pull the passive aggressive stuff of getting his little digs in. The youngest brother is a people pleaser who also has the passive aggressive streak.

It took me a long, long time to realize that just because they are brothers doesn't mean I have to allow them into my life. They were the definition of toxic relationships.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

46. It's amazing how siblings can be so different!

They share 50% of the DNA if they're full-siblings (and not identical twins), but the behavioral differences can be so stark sometimes!

You're wise to just stay away from them.

I still see the "bad brother" during family gatherings, when I've helped him move into a new house, etc. Yet I still mostly avoid him, despite how he's actually pretty nice anymore.

He had constant problems at school as a kid too, so it wasn't just our parents who struggled with him. There was a school counselor who told my parents that he needed to see a psychologist, but they refused to heed that advice. Maybe that would've helped him even earlier? Hard to know now since it never happened.

And maybe he secretly saw a psychologist when he was an adult? He's definitely taken advantage of the many
medical benefits from the military over the years. Oh, and he mentioned one time that he took antidepressants. So maybe that helped him too?

[llmart]

47. My one brother just self-medicates, if you know what I mean.

My educated guess as an adult is that he's bipolar. He is a hermit who lives in a trailer out in a very remote town on a piece of property that backs up to state property. I have only once or maybe twice spoken with him on the phone during our entire adult life. He is only one year older than I am. He would occasionally come to family functions (I haven't live anywhere near my family for decades), but you never knew when or if he'd show up.

His story is very much like your brother's. Since we're so close in age I remember him from second grade when the principal called my parents to school. Now, my parents rarely showed up at the school for anything, so this was a big deal that they even went. I'm sure that they probably recommended they get help for him, but I'm equally sure that my opinionated, loud mouthed father would never do that, so he told them to get him another teacher and they did. Poor teacher.

My grown children know all these stories and my son often says to me, "You really need to write a memoir." I've read plenty of dysfunctional family memoirs and I'm pretty sure my family would take some sort of prize I used to say to people who knew my stories, "You've heard of the black sheep of the family? Well, I'm the white sheep." I was the one of seven who actually decided at a very young age that as soon as I grew up I was out of there and would make a better life for myself and would raise my children differently and I did. Still, it can be difficult to be an outsider in your own family.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

50. Oh, I'm even more sorry about your childhood now.

At least most of my siblings were pretty normal. One sister became a strong evangelical Christian and she's OCD about it, but at least she's not one of the mean-types that I've observed among evangelicals sometimes.

It would really suck to have a big horde of family members who behaved like my one brother. My anxiety level went way down after he was out of the house! My parents were less stressed too.

He's 7 years older than me, btw. I was easily the youngest sibling, not born until my parents were in their 40's. The brother often acted jealous of me, so maybe my birth was his problem? The oldest brother assured me years ago that the other brother was a constant pain in the butt even earlier, though.

[Grins]

25. I was an Army officer

I can tell you the Army WILL NOT make a “man” out of someone, and neither can any branch of service. That’s all a myth. What it can do is bring out the man in the man or boy.

What the courts did was take their problems and dump them on the services.

That said, I’ll hold off on conclusions as to what happened. No one knows the full story, and will not for a while.

[PrinceHakeem]

8. Why does the military investigate itself? In cases like this, the fbi should

do it. Then it should be a federal case. Like they do traders who sell info to enemies.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. "Why does the military investigate itself?"

The same reason any powerful institution does. So it doesn't have to change.

[Duppers]

48. +100

[brer cat]

15. That is horrifying. nt

[milestogo]

16. They should be prosecuted and have their military and civilian careers ruined forever.

Make sure they are labelled as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.

[electric_blue68]

23. This - entitled bastards!

[marble falls]

27. It broke my heart talking my daughter out of enlisting. Later her husband, a graduate ...

... of one of the Academies was discharged after their marriage for conduct charges.

The way male enlisted treated female enlisted was terrible everywhere I went in the 70s.

[flying_wahini]

34. I think joining the military is a LOT different since the 80's or 90's.

Not as respected as a career choice like it used to be. (In the old days, anyway.)

[70sEraVet]

35. According to the article, a group of drill sergeants were involved

and had targeted a trainee. I would think some higher-ups are going to have to explain why those personnel weren't VETTED before putting them in a position of authority over VERY vulnerable female troops!

[Claire Oh Nette]

36. Men

Twenty two men gang raped a woman. Troops didn't rape her, men did. These men are rapists. The rest is just the office space.

To keep the numbers up for the volunteer army, we lowered the standards for recruitment. Is anyone surprised at the results?

It's rape, and it's rape of our own troops. Prosecute them like you would if they fired on their own troops. Gitmo may need expanding for al the enemies of the State.

[Duppers]

49. Absolutely!

[Ferrets are Cool]

39. Abhorrent

In the fiscal year of 2019, there were 2,684 reports of sexual assault made by service members in the Army. In the Navy during that same time period, the number was 1,676. In total, there were 7,825 reports of sexual assault in all branches of the military, representing a 3% increase in the number of reports filed by or about military members during 2019. However, Pentagon officials have attributed annual increases to better awareness among service members about the importance in reporting assaults.

The 2019 report only provided a snapshot of sexual assault in the military because a much larger report, which is carried out every two years, measures whether the prevalence of sexual assault crimes in the military has gone down or up. That report, which was released last year, estimated that the number of sexual assaults increased from 14,900 in 2016 to 20,500 in 2018, almost the same levels as five years ago. Two years before the 2018 report, the Army reported a drop in numbers.
MORE: Sexual assaults in military rise to more than 20,000, Pentagon survey says

The DoD also notes that sexual assault remains "an under reported crime among both the civilian and military populations," therefore, the number of service members who have been sexually assaulted is likely higher than the reports.

[RussellCattle]

40. Please tell me that this wasn't a Native-American female soldier. It's bad enough for any.....

.....women, but if it's a NA women, in OKLAHOMA fercrissakes, I'd really like the perpetrators to go to Ft. Leavenworth for a long time.

[BlueLucy]

54. I'm stating to believe things like this are typical of men. It's who they are.

I can't count the times I have been flashed a penis in public.