Nearly 20,000 Service Members Are Raped Or Sexually Assaulted Each Year by Predators Who Often Evade Punishment

DEFENSE

The Enemy

WithinNearly 20,000 service members are raped or sexually assaulted each year by predators who often evade punishment. How can the Pentagon stop them? By James Kitfield

14 september 15, 2012 national journal Targeted: Many sexual predators in the ranks have gotten away with serial assaults.

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas— where every bed and closet is organized ac- stronger. “That’s why what’s happened here very Friday, on a grassy pa- cording to strict military specification. In the as a result of some bad apples is so disheart- rade ground ringed by vin- mess hall, the voices of military training in- ening,” Pendleton said. “The training corps is tage warplanes, a freshly structors rise above the din, shouting at train- better than that.” minted class of airmen takes ees one moment and commending them the What happened is this: One instructor has the oath of duty and is of- next—the instructors serving as mentors, been convicted of rape and multiple cases of ficially “welcomed into the role models, and even parental figures. “I con- aggravated sexual assault of female trainees, blue.” Young men and wom- stantly remind my trainers that they are the and 16 other trainers have been charged or are en who arrived at basic training as confused most influential person in a trainee’s life, and under investigations for crimes ranging from Eand frightened individuals seven weeks earlier they must embody our core values,” said Mas- aggravated sexual assault to improper sexual march by the reviewing stand in precise for- ter Sgt. Greg Pendleton, commandant of the relationships with 42 female trainees. mation. Nowhere is the U.S. military’s unique military training instructors at Lackland. If That places Lackland atop an infamous alchemy—turning unformed young citizens the MTI’s fail to instill in trainees a willing- list of military sexual-abuse scandals, includ- into a warrior fraternity—on clearer display. ness to sacrifice self for the good of the unit ing the Navy’s Tailhook convention in Las Ve- After the ceremony, families wander and submit to unquestioned authority, they gas in 1991 (83 female and seven male victims around Lackland in clusters, visiting dorms will have made the Air Force weaker, not of sexual assault by more than 100 Navy and national journal september 15, 2012 15 defense

Marine Corps aviation officers); the Army’s that was tailor-made for sexual predators: 25 Aberdeen Proving Ground in 1996 (12 Army percent of women and 27 percent of men who officers charged with sexually assaulting fe- claimed “unwanted sexual contact” said that male trainees); the Air Force Academy in 2003 the assaults occurred in combat zones. Army (12 percent of female graduates reported hav- investigators received increased reports of ing been victims of rape or attempted rape, combat-theater rapes only after units re- and 70 percent said they had been sexually turned to their home bases, where victims felt harassed); and the Marine Barracks in Wash- safer to report the assaults. (Of more than 130 ington in recent years, where the documen- women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, nearly tary The Invisible War interviewed five female 40 percent died of “noncombat-related” inju- Marines who reported having been raped (the ries, often gunshots. Some were suicides, but Corps investigated and disciplined four of the others occurred under suspicious circum- women after they reported the rapes but pun- stances. A number of the deaths came after ished none of the accused officers). the women reported being raped.) “About half Two days after seeing The Invisible War, the women we see with military sexual trau- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta directed ma also have trauma from combat exposure,” commanders to elevate all sexual-assault in- “The whole said Deleene Menefee, a psychologist at the vestigations to a reviewing authority head- VA’s medical center in Houston. “On top of ed by a higher-ranking colonel. He also be- squadron taking fire from the enemy outside the gates, gan creating “special-victim units” in each basically turned they’ve had to cope with the trauma and fear branch. It was a start. of being attacked by the enemy from within.” But the most alarming aspect of the Lack- on me like I How, in 2012, can sexual assault still be so land story is its predictability, because the very pervasive and the military justice system’s re- values Pendleton is trying to inculcate (obedi- was a leper.” action so cruel that it routinely revictimizes ence, self-sacrifice, stoicism in the face of de- Jennifer Norris the injured and slaps the hands of perpetra- privation) are the ones that predators exploit tors? The answer may be a cultural blind spot in these scandals. The Defense Department’s similar to the Catholic Church’s myopia on own data suggest that, far from representing child molestation. Time and again, the armed an isolated incident, Lackland is just the latest services have proven unable or unwilling to outbreak of what Panetta has called a “silent grasp the extent to which their core ethos and epidemic” of sexual assault in the ranks. Based organizational principles are vulnerable to on the Pentagon’s most recent survey on the lax its recruitment standards to fill the ranks exploitation by sexual opportunists. Indeed, issue in 2010, the epidemic affects more than at the height of the fighting in Iraq and Af- viewed through a certain prism, much about 19,000 victims each year. Meanwhile, accord- ghanistan, and an anonymous 2008 survey military life—the lopsided power imbalances ing to annual Veterans Affairs Department by the Naval Health Research Center report- of rank, the emphasis on unit cohesion over surveys, 20 percent of female veterans screen ed that as many as 15 percent of incoming re- personal welfare, the captive troops with no- positive for “military sexual trauma,” as do 1 cruits had either committed or attempted where to escape, the testosterone-fueled spir- percent of male veterans—many of them vic- rape before entering the military—twice the it of an overwhelmingly male profession that tims of male-on-male rape. Cumulatively, the rate of their civilian cohorts. Counterinsur- is heavily dependent on female volunteers— data suggest that hundreds of thousands of gency warfare also placed service members could make the military an almost ideal hunt- current and former members of the military in a high-stress/low-oversight environment ing ground for sexual predators. have been raped, sexually assaulted, or sub- lson;handout (this page) jected to “unwanted” sexual contact. In 2010 FIRED FOR BEING RAPED cott O

alone, the VA conducted nearly 700,000 free Jennifer Norris loved the Air Force. She S outpatient counseling sessions to veterans Hidden Victims planned to use it to get an education and then suffering from military sexual trauma. The Defense Department counted about 2,700 eventually join law enforcement. The last word And the military-justice system has failed victims of sexual assault last ﬁscal year, but she would ever have used to describe herself to check that epidemic. Persistent, corrobo- because of underreporting, it estimates that was “victim.” Yet Norris didn’t even make it rated accounts (by victims and sex-crimes there were far more–19,000. to basic training before she says an Air Force experts) describe a command climate that recruiter drugged and raped her, a method of Service–member victims in reports of sexual tends to cast suspicion and blame on victims. assault by ﬁscal year assault that VA mental-health experts say is Too often, the system treats reports of rape common. In technical school, Norris learned and sexual assault not as heinous crimes to from another female trainee that she, too, had , , , be prosecuted harshly but as unwanted dis- , been raped by the recruiter; investigators say tractions from “good order and discipline” to , that repeat offenders tend to follow a pattern. be dealt with, hastily, at the lowest command Two weeks before graduating from technical level. Frequently, this means simply transfer- training, Norris was assaulted again by an in- ring or demoting suspected perpetrators for structor after turning her back to him inside a “sexual harassment” and referring distraught maintenance van. Still she hesitated to report victims to uniformed mental-health experts the incidents. She knew she’d be labeled a trou- who diagnose them with “personality disor- blemaker, endangering her Air Force career. ders” and help wash them out of the military. At her first permanent-duty station with a A decade of conflict has almost certainly Source: Defense Department, “Annual Report remote communications squadron in Maine, on Sexual Assault in the Military”

exacerbated the scourge. The Army had to re- Norris encountered lots of drunken, after- photos: (previous page, illustration source) getty images/

16 september 15, 2012 national journal of command raped him on a war- ship. He reported the attack to both his master chief and the ship’s executive officer, who dis- couraged him from asking for a formal investigation. After Lewis was essentially told to get over it, he started carrying a pocketknife. (“It’s a hard thing to be at sea and be afraid of somebody,” Lew- is says. “There’s no place to run on a 1,000-foot ship.”) But when the captain found out, Lee was thrown off the ship. Then he, too, was diagnosed with a personality disorder and separated from the Navy. (Although uniformed women are sexually assaulted at a higher rate than men, the total number of male victims is actually higher because there are so many more men in uniform; of the 19,000 estimated assaults each year, more Analogue? Monsignor William Lynn was accused than 11,000 target men.) of protecting predators in the Philadelphia ministry. Today, Norris volunteers full time for a Military Rape Crisis Cen- hours partying by the noncommissioned of- She was just the tip of the iceberg. Petty ter, where she hears stories like these constant- ficer cadre. In time, she says, two sergeants Officer 3rd Class Jenny McClendon’s ordeal ly. “They all have a common theme: Military assaulted her, one of whom was her direct su- began during an overnight shift on a Navy men and women who are attacked by sexual pervisor. Finally, Norris reported the latest as- ship at sea, when a petty officer 2nd class be- predators and who report it are met with disbe- saults to her squadron commander. “I could gan forcefully groping her. She asked not to lief and skepticism, blamed for the crime, and escape the recruiter and the instructor and the serve night watches with him, but the request disposed of one way or another,” she says. And other sergeant, but I couldn’t escape my su- was denied. Eventually, she says, he raped her. others just keep quiet because they’re “afraid of pervisor,” Norris says. “So I reached out to the McClendon reported the attack directly up retaliation by the predators in the ranks.… It’s a commander to help me escape.” Even though her chain of command, but her senior chief ac- problem in every branch of service.” she had damning notes from her supervisor, cepted the man’s denials and refused to take One person who takes the problem seri- and even though the commander took her the word of a lower-ranking woman. When ously is Russell Strand, a civilian who devel- complaint seriously, the sexual-assault charges the assaults continued, McClendon went all oped the Army’s sexual-assault investigations were eventually lowered to sexual harassment. the way up to the ship’s captain, who ordered course at the Military Police School at Fort Both perpetrators got off with a demotion in a criminal investigation. Nevertheless, the Leonard Wood, Mo. His program, which the rank and transfers out of the unit, she says. case lacked evidence because the ship carried Pentagon is considering as a potential model What happened next felt like another as- no rape kits (despite a mixed-gender crew). for training special-victims units, makes clear sault. “The whole squadron basically turned The perpetrator finally admitted to “consen- that sexual predators are often able to exploit on me like I was a leper or something,” Nor- sual sex” and got knocked down one rank. aspects of military life—and to manipulate ris says. She eventually transferred to anoth- McClendon says she was assaulted again the military criminal-justice system in ways er unit and tried to pretend that the assaults by an investigator while based in Norfolk, Va. that make potential victims even more isolat- never happened, but she nearly had a break- This time, when she reported the attack, her ed and vulnerable. “From their first talk with down as a result of posttraumatic stress. Ac- lieutenant called her a “whore” and sent her to a military recruiter, service members are told cording to VA health care experts, women suf- a Navy therapist, who suggested that she was they are joining a values-based family that fering from military sexual trauma frequently a bad fit for the Navy. “Essentially, I was diag- adheres to a warrior ethos of never leaving develop depression and other severe health nosed with a personality disorder for failing to your battle buddy behind, and that necessar- disorders, and many contemplate suicide. adjust adequately to being raped,” McClendon ily creates a high degree of trust,” Strand says. When Norris had to renew her Air Force says, even though “borderline psychotics ... “It also encourages people to let their guard ourke security clearance, she admitted on the pa- could never make it through boot camp.” Ac- down and potentially sets them up for victim-

att R perwork that she had received mental-health cording to a Freedom of Information Act re- ization. And when someone is victimized in M counseling for PTSD. She refused to release quest by the Vietnam Veterans of America, the that environment, it’s doubly devastating, be- her medical records to a clearance investiga- military discharged more than 31,000 service cause they are not only betrayed by someone tor, essentially ending her career. She was sep- members because of “personality disorder” they trusted but they are also often blamed arated from the Air Force after 15 years in the between 2001 and 2010. As CNN reported re- for an incident that tears at the cohesion of service, five years before she could collect full cently, however, the Defense Department does the unit, and thus come to blame themselves.” retirement benefits. “Basically, I was fired for not keep figures on how many of those dis- The criminal-justice system often com- being raped,” Norris says, “while three of the charges involved sexual-assault victims. pounds the injury to victims by failing to rec- four people who assaulted me retired with full It happens to men, too. Brian Lewis says a ognize the unique nature of the crimes. Strand

photo: associated press/ military benefits.” senior noncommissioned officer in his chain says there is more bias against the sexual-

national journal september 15, 2012 17 defense

assault victims than with any other crime, sponse to the trauma should not be interpret- which is one reason these crimes are also the ed as a personality disorder. Medically speak- most underreported. Defense Department fig- ing, a personality disorder is a long-standing ures indicate that just 14 percent of victims re- pattern of maladaptive behavior, not some- port their assaults. (An estimated 46 percent of thing caused by a recent psychological condi- civilians report sexual assaults, according to tion such as sexual trauma. Figures compiled the Justice Department.) by Yale Law School’s Veterans Legal Services Too often, investigators also misread vic- Clinic under a Freedom of Information Act tims traumatized by their attacks. According request, and reported by CNN, also indicate to Strand, sexual-trauma victims react in ways that the armed services are disproportionate- that law-enforcement officers are trained to ly applying such diagnoses to women. Women equate with lying: They often have elevated make up 21 percent of the Air Force but ac- blood pressure, their skin is moist, and they count for 35 percent of the personality-disor- make “inconsistent statements” because of a der discharges; they’re 16 percent of the Army frontal-brain shutdown caused by the psychic but 24 percent of such discharges; they’re 17 trauma, leaving only the “primitive brain” to percent of the Navy but 26 percent of dis- establish a memory of the attack. Strand’s re- “I was diagnosed charges for personality disorder; and they’re 7 search builds on the work of David Lisak, an with a personality percent of the Marines but 14 percent of such associate professor of psychology at the Uni- discharges. “There may be some symptoms versity of Massachusetts, who for 20 years has disorder for sexual-assault survivors exhibit that overlap studied sexual predators who commit acquain- with personality disorder, but a good clinician tance rape; and of Dr. Jim Hopper, a clinical failing to adjust will take into account recent stressors to dis- instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical tinguish between reaction to a recent trauma School, who has explored the impact of child adequately to and a long-standing personality disorder,” abuse on memory and emotion. Based on their being raped.” says Margret Bell, acting director of the Mili- research, Strand developed the “forensic ex- tary Sexual Trauma Support Team at the VA’s Jenny McClendon periential trauma interview” technique. “We Office of Mental Health Services. have to stop treating victims of rape and sex- One reason commanders might be reluc- ual assault as witnesses to their own crime,” tant to believe victims’ stories is that sexual of- Strand says. “They didn’t witness the attack; fenders are far more manipulative and deceitful they experienced it. And that’s very different.” than most other criminals, not only in groom- In any case, a sexual-assault victim’s re- ing their potential victims but also in convinc- ing the entire chain of command that they could not be capable of such a crime. As a career investigator, Strand has compiled a disturbing To Catch a Predator profile of these uniformed sexual predators. The military booted out just 15 percent of the 791 people it disciplined for sexual assault in fiscal 2011. They are such masters of the “hidden persona,” he says, that their colleagues and command- Military subjects in sexual–assault cases, fiscal 2011 ers are often happy to offer positive character testimony to investigators and courts-martial. , A total of service members were under review in sexualassault “We talk to a lot of acquaintances and look at all cases in fiscal the potential cases in their past because, frank- Commanders took disciplinary ly, we usually find that sexual offenders have action against of them more than one victim,” Strand says. “They are Insufficient evidence and victims often serial offenders who have assaulted other choosing not to participate in proceedings accounted for most adults, children, even animals.” of the remainder THE LACKLAND PREDATOR In of subjects’ cases commanders pursued a Warning bells went off almost as soon as Staff courtmartial The others faced Sgt. Luis Walker arrived in the summer of administrative punishment or 2010 as a military training instructor at Lack- nonsexual assault charges land, which graduates 35,000 airmen each subjects’ cases were decided year. Despite completing the 16-week MTI in fiscal course and passing a behavioral screening Of those subjects went to trial exam, by that fall Walker was already engaged subjects were convicted in an inappropriate relationship with a young were acquitted trainee on Facebook, something explicitly of those convicted subjects forbidden by Air Force regulations. Walker were dishonorably discharged was given a letter of reprimand and removed or dismissed from the military from the squadron, but for only half the rec- The others faced lesser punishments such as fines and ommended 60-day period. He was not recer- demotion tified, as regulations require, before being put Source: Defense Department, “Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military” in charge of trainees again.

In the late spring and early summer of 2011, handout photo:

18 september 15, 2012 national journal two female trainees related Walk- er’s sexual misconduct to another MTI and a fellow trainee; they alerted Lackland officers. Even- tually, a seven-person military jury heard testimony from 10 female victims. They described how Walker would lure trainees into empty offices or dormitories and, according to four victims, use his position of authority to intimidate them into sex. (To protect their identities, victims are not named.) One victim testified that Walker forced himself on her even as she pleaded with him to stop. None of the victims initially reported the assaults for fear of forfeiting their Air Force careers. In July, Walker was convicted of rape, aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated sexual contact; he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Keeping it in the family: Patton (right) thinks By the time of Walker’s con- officers can police their chains of command. viction, however, Lackland investigators had uncovered evidence of sexual duced oversight of the noncommissioned offi- command. The military system cannot let lo- misconduct by 17 instructors involving 42 fe- cer corps at the base, and why the divorce rate cal commanders have their way, Parrish says, male trainees. Charges range from rape and for trainers is more than double the Air Force adding that “so-called reforms are designed unwanted advances to inappropriate sexual average. Commanders created a 24-hour hot- to give a perception of legitimacy to a system relations and social-media contact. In one ear- line where victims can leave anonymous tips that has none.” ly case that investigators fear may be a harbin- about training officers’ misbehavior. ger, Staff Sgt. Peter Vega-Maldonado pleaded For victims’ advocates, the familiar feel of REFORM OR ELSE guilty to a single inappropriate relationship Lackland—women of younger age and lower It may be too early to say that for sure. The Pen- and, after receiving 90 days confinement and rank assaulted by older men with more au- tagon has implemented substantial changes in agreeing to testify against his fellow instruc- thority in their chain of command—is evi- the last year: Cases of rape and sexual assault tors, was granted immunity from further dence that the chain cannot be trusted to deal have been elevated to a special court-martial prosecution. Vega-Maldonado then admitted with sexual assault. Local commanders with headed at least by a colonel or a Navy cap- to having nine other inappropriate sexual re- little relevant expertise are given broad au- tain, raising the rank of the presiding officer lationships with trainees. thority to dispose of cases however they see and taking responsibility away from the lower This should not be possible. MTIs are fit. They can decide how and whether to pros- command rungs. Victims can already report banned from being in a room alone with a ecute or when to accept a lesser plea. assaults anonymously to a Sexual Assault Pre- trainee. They can’t even be with multiple That system is inherently unjust, says vention Coordinator in every command, but a trainees behind closed doors. At least two Nancy Parrish, director of Protect Our De- new “expedited transfer” policy will allow vic- MTIs are supposed to serve on night duty so fenders, a group that advocates on behalf of tims who file open reports of sexual assault to that nobody has sole responsibility. Neverthe- military sexual-assault victims. She points request an immediate transfer from their unit less, officials do not always follow policy. “We out that of the 3,122 reports of rape and sexu- or base. The Pentagon plans to create special- are still a microcosm of America,” says Lt. al assault in the ranks in 2010, only 240 cases victim’s units in each armed service, with in- Col. Jeffrey Greenwood, a training squadron eventually led to trials and only 191 perpetra- vestigators and prosecutors specially trained commander at Lackland. “Bad stuff happens tors were convicted by court-martial. “Often to deal with sexual-assault cases. outside these gates, and some of that bad stuff the sexual predator is a friend, drinking bud- Maj. Gen. Gary Patton, the director of the gets inside the gates in the form of people who dy, or favored subordinate of the commander, Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Re- don’t believe the rules apply to them.” who simply cannot accept the idea that this sponse Office, argues that these reforms will The Air Force has now launched four in- person might be guilty of such a crime,” Par- make commands more responsive to sexual- vestigations of Lackland, and investigators rish says. assault cases and ensure that investigations are reaching out to nearly 1,000 trainees who After her group presented a petition with are more independent. “In the first hours and passed through the base. Col. Glenn Palmer, more than 20,000 signatures to the House days after a reported assault, commands need the top commander of basic training at Lack- Armed Services Committee, Chairman Buck to take care of the victims and be responsive land, and Col. Eric Axelbank, commander of McKeon, R-Calif., announced on Wednes- to their charges, creating a climate where oth- the training wing involved, have both been day that the panel will hold open hearings er victims will feel safe coming forward and relieved of duty and transferred, as have the on Lackland. The Pentagon’s Workplace and sending a message to potential predators that commander and senior noncommissioned Gender Relations Survey says that 39 percent these crimes will be investigated thoroughly officer of the squadron in which nine of the of victims report that their attackers were of and those found guilty will be punished,” he accused instructors served. The Air Force higher rank and 23 percent report that the says. He disputes the notion that military cul-

photo: departmentof defense is also studying whether personnel cuts re- perpetrators were in their direct chain of ture enables sexual predators. “From the first

national journal september 15, 2012 19 defense

Formation cessation: A Lackland graduation ceremony. “I constantly remind my trainers that they are the most influential person in a trainee’s life and they must embody our core values. That’s why what’s happened here ... is so disheartening.” Master Sgt. Greg Pendleton, a military training instructor at Lackland

day we lace on the boots, we adopt a warrior But it’s not just victims’ advocates who slapped with 30 days in jail or demotion in ethos of teamwork, unit cohesion, and taking remain unconvinced that the Pentagon’s re- rank, and then it’s business as usual.” For that care of our battle buddy, wingman, or ship- forms will solve a problem this pervasive reason, Speier points out, Australia, Canada, mate. And sexual assault is an affront to all of and persistent. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., a and Great Britain have removed these cases those core values.” member of the Armed Services Committee, from the military chain of command. Senior uniformed leaders reject calls for an has taken to the House floor 23 times to read The U.S. armed forces have always been a independent, civilian agency within the De- the stories of victims into the Congressional microcosm of American society, reflecting its fense Department to handle sexual-assault Record. She has introduced a bill that would strengths and often magnifying its weakness- cases. The whole point of a Uniformed Code of hand responsibility for sexual-assault cases to es. The military struggled with racism in the Military Justice, they say, is to give command- an independent civilian agency within the De- ranks in the 1960s and 1970s; with an epidemic ers specially tailored tools and norms to en- fense Department. of drugs and drunk driving in the 1970s and sure the fitness of their units. “To remove the The problem of sexual predators in the mil- 1980s; with integration of gay and lesbian ser- disciplinary tool from [the chain of command] itary has festered for 25 years, Speier says, and vice members in the 1990s and 2000s. When in sexual-assault cases would be to handicap even though Congress holds hearings about the services have decided enough is enough, their ability to enforce standards,” Patton each scandal, it always moves on to other is- they have solved social issues that have be- says of commanders. “The chain of command sues. “The Pentagon responds much like the deviled the civilian world. In other cases, the owns the problem of sexual assaults, and the Catholic Church—moving people around like military has been dragged along, such as when only way to address them is to get the chain of shuffling cards in a deck and tinkering at the Congress interceded against Pentagon pro- command to fix it.” Maj. Gen. Leonard Patrick, edges with so-called reforms,” she says. More tests with the landmark Goldwater-Nichols the Second Air Force commander in charge of people should be bothered, she argues, by the reforms in 1986 to end dysfunctional service training at Lackland, echoes the point: “With- fact that only 14 percent of victims report these rivalries. That history suggests that the De- out aggressive chain-of-command follow-up, crimes. “We should be troubled that when vic- fense Department could indeed deal with sex- we would only have convicted Walker,” the tims are deposed, they are asked about their ual predators on its terms and truly demon- first trainer accused. “None of these victims sexual histories, as if that were relevant to be- strate zero tolerance of sexual predators who and witnesses came forward on their own un- ing raped, and that there are no sentencing betray the military’s own values. Otherwise, til investigators reached out [and] determined guidelines for military juries in sexual-assault the Pentagon should be prepared to stand

to see how deep this problem runs.” and rape cases, where the predators often get down, and let others lead the way. P james kitfield photo:

20 september 15, 2012 national journal