This Man's Military
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THE 26 DREW PER PA S is Man’s Military Masculine Culture’s Role in Sexual Violence Peter J. S. Lee Lieutenant Colonel, USAF Air University Steven L. Kwast, Lieutenant General, Commander and President School of Advanced Air and Space Studies Thomas D. McCarthy, Colonel, Commandant and Dean AIR UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ADVANCED AIR AND SPACE STUDIES This Man’s Military Masculine Culture’s Role in Sexual Violence Peter J. S. Lee Lieutenant Colonel, USAF Drew Paper No. 26 Air University Press Air Force Research Institute Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama Project Editor Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Belinda L. Bazinet Names: Lee, Peter J. S., 1978– Copy Editor Title: This man’s military : masculine culture’s role in sexual violence / Carolyn Burns Peter J.S. Lee, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF. Cover Art, Book Design, and Illustrations Other titles: Masculine culture’s role in sexual violence Daniel Armstrong Description: Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama : Air University Press, [2016] | Series: Drew paper, ISSN 1941-3785 ; no. 26 | Includes bibliographical Composition and Prepress Production references. Vivian D. O’Neal Identifiers: LCCN 2016022010 | ISBN 9781585662623 Print Preparation and Distribution Subjects: LCSH: Rape in the military—United States—Prevention. | United Diane Clark States. Department of Defense—Rules and practice. | Military life—United States. | Masculinity—United States. | Military socialization—United States. Classification: LCC UB783 .L44 2016 | DDC 355.1/334—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016022010 AIR FORCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE AIR UNIVERSITY PRESS Published by Air University Press in August 2016 Director and Publisher Dale L. Hayden, PhD Editor in Chief Oreste M. Johnson Managing Editor Dr. Ernest Allan Rockwell Design and Production Manager Cheryl King Air University Press Disclaimer 600 Chennault Circle, Bldg. 1405 Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6010 Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied [email protected] within are solely those of the author and do not necessarily repre- sent the views of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, the http://aupress.au.af.mil/ Air Force Research Institute, Air University, the United States Air http://afri.au.af.mil/ Force, the Department of Defense, or any other US government agency. This publication is cleared for public release and unlimited distribution. AFRI This Drew Paper and others in the series are available electronically Air Force Research Institute at the AU Press website: http://aupress.au.af.mil. The Drew Papers The Drew Papers are award-winning master’s theses selected for publica- tion by the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS), Maxwell AFB, Alabama. This series of papers commemorates the distinguished career of Col Dennis “Denny” Drew, USAF, retired. In 30 years at Air University, Colonel Drew served on the Air Command and Staff College faculty, directed the Airpower Research Institute, and served as dean, associate dean, and pro- fessor of military strategy at SAASS. Colonel Drew is one of the Air Force’s most extensively published authors and an international speaker in high de- mand. He has lectured to over 100,000 students at Air University as well as to foreign military audiences. In 1985 he received the Muir S. Fairchild Award for outstanding contributions to Air University. In 2003 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands made him a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his con- tributions to education in the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The Drew Papers are dedicated to promoting the understanding of air and space power theory and application. These studies are published by the Air University Press and broadly distributed throughout the US Air Force, the Department of Defense, and other governmental organizations, as well as to leading scholars, selected institutions of higher learning, public-policy insti- tutes, and the media. iii Please send inquiries or comments to Commandant and Dean School of Advanced Air and Space Studies 125 Chennault Circle Maxwell AFB, AL 36112 Tel: (334) 953-5155 DSN: 493-5155 [email protected] iv Contents Foreword vii About the Author ix Acknowledgments xi Abstract xiii 1 Introduction 1 2 Organizational Change Theory 9 3 Sexual Assault in the US Military 25 4 Theoretical Analysis of Sexual Assault in the Department of Defense 35 5 Recommendations 55 6 Summary and Conclusions 63 Abbreviations 67 Bibliography 69 v Foreword All students at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS) complete the same demanding curriculum throughout their year. As the school’s faculty members, however, we often refer to the thesis course as the students’ one “SAASS elective.” The thesis requirement earns that designation because each student is free to choose his or her topic area for research. In his remarkable study of sexual assault in the US Department of Defense, Lt Col Peter Lee tackles one of the greatest military conundrums of the day. While Pres. Barack Obama, the US Congress, the media, and others have given the issue much-needed visibility, few (if any) have looked beyond symptomatic factors to explore potential causal mechanisms. Lee challenges the conventional wisdom that sexual assault is solely a re- cruiting problem—in other words, if the military can find those few bad ap- ples who commit this horrible offense, it can preserve the orchard. Instead, he explores the contribution of masculinity to the foundation of American mili- tary culture and applies organizational and psychoanalytical theory to ana- lyze the problem holistically. Lee uncovers a demographic proclivity toward sexual violence in the US armed forces; he also argues that a generational gap between senior military leaders and those most vulnerable to assault often obscures the cultural aspects of the problem and inhibits implementation of enduring reform. Ultimately, Lee’s work makes a compelling and important contribution toward understanding, and eventually combatting, one of the armed services’ deepest problems. Originally written as a SAASS master’s thesis, Colonel Lee’s This Man’s Mil- itary: Masculine Culture’s Role in Sexual Violence received the First Command Financial Planning Award for the best SAASS leadership or ethics thesis of 2014. I am pleased to commend this outstanding piece of sociocultural analy- sis to all people who commit themselves to exploring, and striving to solve, the country’s most pressing military challenges. RICHARD J. BAILEY, JR., PhD Professor of Strategy and Security Studies School of Advanced Air and Space Studies vii About the Author Lt Col Peter Lee graduated in 2001 from the Daytona campus of Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University with a degree in aerospace engineering. After receiving his commission from the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, he attended pilot training and F-15C training, with a follow-on assignment to the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Virginia. He left Langley to help start the Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals squadron at Vance AFB, Okla- homa. While at Vance he deployed to the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. After his year-long deployment he returned to the F-15C in the 48th Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Laken- heath. He left England in 2012 to attend the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, where he was selected to attend the School of Ad- vanced Air and Space Studies. He is married with children, owns and operates a small business, and holds master’s degrees in aviation safety, military opera- tional art, and military philosophy. ix Acknowledgments I would like to thank the men and women whom I have had the pleasure of serving alongside during the past 12 years for their leadership in trying times. This year at SAASS has been the most intellectually challenging thing I have ever done. I am grateful for having been selected to study under such an amazing faculty and for the classmates who have made the journey worth the effort. My wife and our wonderful children are the reason I live and breathe. I dedicate this work, and the rest of my life’s work, to them. xi Abstract The central goal of this thesis is to determine whether or not something inherent in US military culture makes members of the Department of De- fense (DOD) more prone to sexual assault than their civilian counterparts. Lt Col Peter Lee assesses the role of masculinity in defining the DOD’s orga- nizational culture and seeks to apply social scientific analysis to the problem of sexual assault in such a culture. Using organizational change theory as an analytical lens to military culture, he highlights areas that warrant further discussion in a holistic effort to combat sexual assault in the professional military ranks. The author concludes that there is a demographic proclivity toward sexual violence in the DOD which is aggravated by the generational gap between senior leaders and those most at risk of assault. To address the challenge head-on, the military must view the problem as one that involves its culture. Colonel Lee first reviews the contemporary academic literature on organi- zational culture and defines the method of evaluating cultural characteristics in US military service. Next, he evaluates sexual assault in the military today, including a definitional and legal review as well as relevant statistical facts to objectify military culture in the theoretic form. After describing contempo- rary military sexual assault issues, the author applies organizational and psy- choanalytical theory to military culture to highlight any areas that can be ex- ploited to reduce sexual violence. The final section of the work offers how organizational change theory can be used to combat sexual assault and change military culture. It also highlights areas that require further study if one is to fully understand the problem. xiii Chapter 1 Introduction As with the military’s acceptance of African Americans and gay sol- diers, the issue does not lie with observing regulations or executive orders.