Stuttgart Community Celebrates Martin Luther King's Life, Legacy
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January 23, 2014 The Stuttgart Health Clinic is Clinic celebrates recognized as an Army Patient NCQA recognition Centered Medical Home. 6 USAG Stuttgart agencies offer February is 28 days of events and classes to Vol. 43, No. 02 www.stuttgartcitizen.net Resiliency Month make you more resilient. 10 New law brings sweeping changes to UCMJ By David Vergun Article 32 investigating officers. Army News Service Article 32 hearings ― roughly equivalent to grand jury proceedings in he National Defense Authori- the civilian judicial system ― are held zation Act passed last month to determine if there’s enough evidence Trequires sweeping changes to warrant a general court-martial, the to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, most serious type of court-martial used particularly in cases of rape and sexual for felony-level offenses such as rape assault. and murder. “These are the most changes to the Congress decided that the services Manual for Courts-Martial that we’ve needed to have trained lawyers ― judge seen since a full committee studied it advocates ― consider the evidence, since decades ago,” said Lt. Col. John L. Kiel in their view, trained lawyers often are in Jr., the policy branch chief at the Army’s the best position to make determinations Criminal Law Division in the Office of to go forward with general courts-martial, the Judge Advocate General. Kiel said. Judge advocates didn’t always Air Force Staff Sgt. Nicholas Rau Key provisions of the UCMJ that serve as Article 32 investigating officers The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2014 has brought sweep- were rewritten under the NDAA are in the Army “largely because we try four ing changes to the Manual for Courts-Martial. Articles 32, 60, 120 and 125. times the number of cases of any of the other services,” he explained ― an issue judge advocate conduct the Article 32 have enough judge advocates to fill the Article 32 of not having enough judge advocates for investigation.” requirement to cover down on all the The law now requires the services the high volume of cases. The 2014 NDAA gives the ser- Article 32 hearings and determine which to have judge advocates serve as Article Army officials asked Congress to vices one year to phase in this change installations are struggling to meet the 32 investigating officers. Previously, consider its resourcing issue, he said, so to Article 32. This one-year time pe- requirements, Kiel said. the Army was the only service in which the legislators wrote an exception, stating riod provides needed time for the staff judge advocates routinely did not serve as that “where practicable, you will have a judge advocates to figure out if they See UCMJ on page 4 Stuttgart community celebrates Martin Luther King’s life, legacy By S.J. Grady said. When they meet, the men found they had a great USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs Office deal in common, Abernathy explained. They pastored sister churches, had mutual friends in Atlanta; were embers of the Stuttgart military com- close in age (King, 26; Abernathy, 29), were married, munity honored the legacy of Dr. Mar- and each had a young daughter. Mtin Luther King Jr. with an observance “From the beginning to the end, they were to- held Jan. 16 in the Patch Theater. gether, and we were together as families: the Kings The event was meant to inform, educate and en- and the Abernathys,” Abernathy said. lighten those in attendance on the struggles, successes She recalled the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott and contributions of the historical civil rights leader. that her father and King organized in response to the The celebration began with Deborah Taylor sing- arrest of Rosa Parks, after Parks refused to give up her ing the national anthem, followed by Sgt. Eric Wiley, bus seat so that a white man could sit. assigned to the Headquarters Support Company, 1st “Leaders organized and created the Montgomery Tony Black Juandalynn R. Abernathy, daughter of Dr. Ralph Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), who Improvement Association, elected Uncle Martin as D. Abernathy, co-founder of the U.S. civil rights read King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. the president, and my father, Dr. Ralph Abernathy, as movement and a close friend and associate of Dr. Guest speaker for the observance was Juandalynn treasurer, and the rest is history. Martin Luther King Jr., spoke about the involve- R. Abernathy, daughter of Dr. Ralph D. Abernathy, “The black people in that community sacrificed ment of her father and King in the 1955 Mont- co-founder of the civil rights movement and a close for 381 days by collectively carpooling and walking, gomery bus boycott during a Martin Luther King friend and associate of King’s. to reach the goal. They bankrupt the transit system in Jr. observance Jan. 16 in the Patch Theater. The Abernathy, a professional soprano and concert Montgomery, changed federal laws and changed the entire program can be viewed at www.dvidshub. singer, lives in Balingen, 45 minutes from Stuttgart. world,” Abernathy said. net. Enter “USAG Stuttgart Martin Luther King” “My father and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., of The singer concluded the observance by singing as the search criteria. whom I called Uncle Martin, were best friends,” she “Amazing Grace.” Page 2 OPINION The Citizen, January 23, 2014 HE RedeAir Force ning News Service self: victim to survivor T ITIZEN I had always associated C rust is a valuable asset in our military. sexual assault with “stranger This newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the Depart- To me it is the cornerstone to our core ment of Defense. Contents of The Citizen are not necessarily the offi cial values. danger;” never did I think views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of De- T fense or the Department of the Army. All editorial content in this pub- In the Air Force, throughout our military educa- lication is edited and approved for public release by the United States it could happen to me. I Army Garrison Stuttgart Public Affairs Offi ce. Advertisements and pri- tion, we are taught to trust our fellow Airmen. We vate organizations noted in this publication are not part of Department build a foundation around that trust. of Defense. never imagined it would be Several years ago, my trust was taken away when I was sexually assaulted by a fellow Airman. someone I knew, someone I My friends and I decided to celebrate another trusted. successful school year by attending a party with some of our classmates. When we arrived I saw a few students at the party was ready to go back home. Although I had pushed who were a year ahead of us, but everyone recog- my friends away and isolated myself, this person Col. John P. Stack nized each other. I didn’t think much of it. stood by me when I needed someone the most. U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart Commander I didn’t realize that night would dramatically The SARC assigned me to a victim advocate to R. Slade Walters change my life. How could I have known that night talk about different programs and to just stand by Director of Public Affairs I would be held against my will and assaulted? as support, if I needed to talk. During a time when S. J. Grady When it was time to leave, I remember hear- I lost my trust for people, talking to someone I had Command Information Chief Managing Editor ing my friend call my name as I lay on the cold never met before regarding something so personal Carola Meusel bathroom fl oor. The pungent smell of pine-scented felt strange, but refreshing. Culture Editor cleaner burned my nostrils as I tried to peel myself I could focus on stepping up to get the help I off the tile. needed and refocus on the important things in my USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs Offi ce Building 2949, Panzer Kaserne I had always associated sexual assault with life. Yoga, life skills and other programs helped “stranger danger;” never did I think it could hap- me identify who I am and who I had lost. The pain Telephone: +49 (0)7031-15-3105, DSN 431-3105 Fax: +49 (0)7031-15-3096, DSN 431-3096 pen to me. I never imagined it would be someone I began to ease and the darkness began to fade as I Email: [email protected] Website: www.stuttgart.army.mil knew, someone I trusted. slowly began to fi nd my voice. Facebook: www.facebook.com/USAGarrisonStuttgart Unsure of what had just happened, I refused to The person before the attack was gone; in her Army Post Offi ce Mailing Address: let myself believe I had been raped. place now stood a new, stronger person. I had re- Unit 30401, APO AE 09107 Slowly, I pulled away from those I loved. I defi ned myself from victim to survivor. German Mailing Address: didn’t know who I could trust. Denial became easier Throughout the journey as a survivor, I face Panzer Kaserne, Geb. 2949, 3rd Floor, Panzerstrasse, 71032 Böblingen than facing the problem. many setbacks from the smell of certain colognes Publisher The next semester, the attacker attended some to how someone reaches out to touch my shoulder. AdvantiPro GmbH of the same classes I did. He would often sit close No matter how many setbacks I have, each day is a to me and act like we were friends. new step forward on that journey. Publishing House • Advertising Agency My grades began to suffer.