Yale Law School takes on VA over sexual assault cases

Yale Law School suit alleges Veterans Administration biased against sex assault victims with PTSD
New Haven Register
By Mary E. O’Leary
POSTED: 04/30/14 NEW HAVEN

The Service Women’s Action Network and Vietnam Veterans of America Wednesday sued the Veterans Administration, claiming its rules discriminate against vets seeking disability benefits for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder tied to military sexual trauma.

The organizations are represented by the Yale Law School’s Legal Services Clinic, which filed the action in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.

The suit claims that nearly one in three women is raped during their term of service in the military, while more than half experience unwanted sexual contact.

But it is not only women who are victims, according to the suit. It says that of the 26,000 reports of unwanted sexual contact made in 2011-12, some 52 percent came from men.

“These assaults often result in devastating, long-term psychological injuries, most notably Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sexual violence correlates with PTSD more highly than any other trauma, including combat,” the suit states.

In order to acquire disability benefits, veterans have to prove the disability is service-related.
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Soldiers recognized for preventing suicide, sexual assault, looking out

Soldiers recognized for preventing suicide, sexual assault, looking out
Fort Hood Sentinel
By Sgt. 1st Class Erick Rodriguez
III Corps Public Affairs
MARCH 27, 2014

Fort Hood senior leaders gathered Friday to recognize several Soldiers in their successful display of not only the Army Values, but also their ability to recognize the warning signs and act against suicide and sexual assault. 

The Soldiers were presented coins by Maj. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, III Corps and Fort Hood deputy commanding general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Schroeder, III Corps and Fort Hood command sergeant major, in a ceremony held in Club Hood’s Mesquite Room. 

Sgt. 1st Class Eric James, Co. C, 57th Sig. Bn., 11th Sig. Bde.; Staff Sgt. Daniel Willis, HHC, 11th Sig. Bde.; Sgt. Ernesto Anacleto, 16th Sig. Co., 11th Sig. Bde.; and Spc. Trevor Allen, 8th Eng. Bn., are recognized for their efforts in preventing a sexual assault and potential suicides at Fort Hood’s Club Hood Friday by Maj. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, III Corps and Fort Hood deputy commanding general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Schroeder, III Corps and Fort Hood command sergeant major.

Spc. Trevor Allen, 8th Eng. Bn., shakes the hand of Maj. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, III Corps and Fort Hood deputy commanding general, during a ceremony Friday at Club Hood. The deputy commander presented the Soldier with a coin in recognition of his effort in preventing a sexual assault. (Photos by Staff. Sgt. Daniel Wallace, Sentinel Editor

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Gitmo guards accused of sexually assaulting subordinate soldiers

2 Gitmo guards accused of sexually assaulting subordinate soldiers
Miami Herald
By Carol Rosenberg
Published: March 24, 2014

The military is putting two Guantánamo guards on trial in Texas next month on charges alleging they sexually assaulted junior soldiers at the remote outpost at a time when commanders were grappling with the prison hunger strike, the military said Monday.

The separate courts martial will take place next month by order of Army Maj. Gen. Joseph P. DiSalvo, the commanding officer of Army South, the headquarters unit for personnel activities of soldiers at the U.S. detention center in southeast Cuba.

In one case, 1st Sgt. Richard A. Smith, no age provided, is accused of raping a sergeant in January 2013 as well as sexually assaulting two other women at the base several months later. Smith, described as a reservist from Orlando, Fla., was activated to service about 10 weeks before the alleged rape.
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"Good Soldier Defense" in Military Sexual Abuse to be dumped

Senate approves McCaskill sex assault bill
Army Times
By Leo Shane III
Staff writer
March 10, 2014

The Senate on Monday finalized plans for broad reforms in how sexual assault cases are handled in the military, just days after a bitter floor fight over a larger overhaul of the entire military justice system.

The new measure, sponsored by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., passed unanimously, disguising deep rifts within the chamber over how best to protect victims and punish sex offenders.

It halts — for now — a months-long fight between two top female Democrats in the Senate on this issue, one that McCaskill complained painted her as soft on military leaders despite her insistence on tougher rules for the services.

“The argument was posed as victims versus commanders and whose side are you on,” she told reporters last week. “It’s not that simple.”

Under the Senate-passed bill, military commanders no longer would be able to overturn jury convictions; the statute of limitations for military rapes would be erased; and victims would receive their own independent counsel in sex crimes cases.

The bill also would require civilian review if a commander declines to prosecute a sexual assault case; require dishonorable discharges for troops convicted of such crimes; and create harsh punishments for anyone who retaliates against victims who report rapes and assaults.

And it dumps the so-called “good soldier” defense, which allowed lawyers to cite service members’ past exemplary service as evidence that they would not commit violent crimes.
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Air Force Rape case going to trial despite earlier dismissal

Rape case going to trial despite earlier dismissal
Stars and Stripes
By Nancy Montgomery
Published: March 10, 2014

A rape case that was re-investigated after being dismissed by Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin last year is going to trial.

Maj. Gen. Sharon K.G. Dunbar, commander of the Air Force District of Washington, has referred rape charges against Airman 1st Class Brandon T. Wright, Lt. Col. Kenneth Hoffman, a spokesman for the command, confirmed on Monday.

Wright, accused of raping a sergeant in 2012, is charged with two specifications of rape using force, Hoffman said. No trial date has been set.

Dunbar’s decision followed a recommendation to proceed to trial from an investigating officer who presided over the second Article 32 hearing in the case in January at Andrews Air Force Base, said sources with knowledge of the case but who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss it.
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Navy relieved USS Germantown Captain

USS Germantown captain relieved of duty
Stars and Stripes
By Matthew M. Burke
Published: March 10, 2014

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — The captain of the USS Germantown has been relieved of command for failure to use good judgment and uphold standards in relation to a sexual assault investigation involving one of the ship’s top sailors, Navy officials said Monday.

Cmdr. Jason Leach was removed Friday by Amphibious Force Seventh Fleet commander Rear Adm. Hugh Wetherald, who lost confidence in his ability to command, according to a Navy statement. The relief was the result of a poor command climate onboard the Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship.

The command investigation that led to Leach’s firing was triggered by a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation into sexual assault allegations against former Command Master Chief Petty Officer Jesus Galura. Galura has been removed from his duties onboard the ship.
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Fort Hood Sexual Assault Program Sgt. faces charges

Fort Hood: Sexual Assault Program Coordinator Charged
Our Town Texas

FORT HOOD (March 7, 2014) Initial charges were filed Friday against Sgt. 1st Class Gregory McQueen, the one-time coordinator of a sexual assault prevention program at Fort Hood who was under investigation for “abusive sexual contact” and other alleged misconduct.

The filing alleges 21 specifications of charges related to pandering, conspiracy, maltreatment of a subordinate, abusive sexual contact, adultery and conduct of a nature to bring discredit to the armed forces, Fort Hood said in a brief press release Friday.
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Fort Bragg General to plead guilty on 3 charges

Lawyer: General accused of sex crimes to plead to some of the lesser charges
CNN
By Greg Botelho
March 6, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
In 2012, Brig. Gen. Jeffery Sinclair was charged with "sodomy ... by force"
The military says he had porn, pulled rank to coerce and threaten female troops
Sinclair's lawyer blasts what he calls "pathetically weak assault charges"
His military trial is set to begin Thursday

(CNN) -- Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair -- once one of the U.S. Army's top commanders in Afghanistan and accused of "sodomy ... by force" and other military crimes -- is to set to plead guilty Thursday to some charges but not the most serious levied against him, his lawyer said.

Sinclair will plead guilty on three of the eight charges he's facing in military court, according to the office of lawyer Richard Scheff. These include "wrongfully engaging in ... inappropriate relationships" with three women soldiers from 2009 to 2012 overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany as well as domestically at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Hood, Texas.

He'll also admit to having requested and possessed "pornographic and sexually explicit photographs and movies," having "sexually explicit communications with a female Army captain, and trying "to engage in an inappropriate relationship" with another woman. And the brigadier general will plead guilty to impeding the investigation into him by deleting nude photographs and an e-mail account, his lawyer said.
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Is it too late to apologize to Vietnam Veterans?

Is it too late to apologize to Vietnam Veterans?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 5, 2014

When we read about Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, we get upset. They have to wait too long to have their claims approved. They have a hard time finding jobs. We read about them committing suicide. We read about them facing off with police officers. We read about Combat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. What we don't read about is how long all of this has been going on and that is the saddest thing of all.

If you Google Department of Veterans Affairs PTSD 1970 113,000 results pop up. The first page is about VA claims decisions being granted to Vietnam Veterans.

There is a case among them from a Sailor out of Alaska.

At a hearing before the Board in September 2011, the Veteran testified that he was stationed in Adak, Alaska for six months while serving in the Navy. He reported that he worked in shipping and receiving and was in charge of storing and sorting office supplies. The Veteran testified that he was raped during that time by an E-4 in the Navy. The Veteran reported that the assault consisted of his perpetrator hitting him in the face and stomach and then taking off his pants and raping him. He stated that he did not report the assault because he was devastated and shocked and did not want to be labeled a "homo" by other soldiers. He indicated that he began to have problems with his rectal area after the assault but never sought treatment. He sought a release from service six months after entering service. The Veteran testified that he waited twenty-one years before he reported that assault until September 11, 2001, when he was watching people jump from windows and had a breakdown.

Bad things happen now but as you just read, they were happening way back then too.

Sgt. Santiago J. Erevia earned the Medal of Honor in Vietnam in 1969. He is finally getting the Medal of Honor this month.

“We were delegated to go get the bodies from the helicopter,” Erevia continued. “I can remember one that they took out. He had no legs, just the upper body. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a body or like when you’re barbequing hamburgers or chicken and all that blood is coming out? That made me the sickest man in the world.”

It seemed as though he couldn’t escape the violence. In fact, the events of that day were so traumatic and disturbing that Erevia’s commander sent him on a weeklong rest-and-relaxation trip to Da Nang, not only as a small reward for his bravery, but to help him recover. Like many troops in Vietnam, Erevia then spent the remainder of his yearlong deployment performing administrative tasks in the rear at Landing Zone Sally, delivering meals or replacing Soldiers’ used uniforms with clean ones.

After Vietnam, Erevia finished his tour at Fort Riley, Kan., and went back to San Antonio, where he joined the Texas National Guard and served for another 17 years. He received the nation’s second highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, in 1970, and he thought that was the end of it. It was an honor, one that he was proud of, one that helped him get a good job as a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service (a job he held for the next 32 years), but he was never one to brag about his accomplishments. He didn’t want to talk about Vietnam. He just wanted to move past what had happened: “I didn’t give it too much thought. You know, you go from day-to-day, do what you’re told.”

MOH Sammy Davis also went on to serve in the National Guard after his actions in Vietnam saved lives and he earned the Medal of Honor. He was attacked in an airport after being treated for his wounds.

As bad as things are for veterans of today, we cannot forget that had it not been for Vietnam Veterans not giving up on the rest of us, there would be nothing available for PTSD treatment today. All these years later, they remain the majority of the VA claims at 36% and the among the backlog of claims they represent 36% of the claims taking longer than 125 days. They are the majority of homeless veterans and suicides tied to military service. The American public does not know any of this but Vietnam veterans and families know the truth all too well.

Do they want to hear "I'm sorry" from you or anyone else? Not really. How would a few words take away 50 years of what was done to them? What is meaningful to them is what is happening to the adult kids and grandchildren suffering from the same mistreatment after all these years. They wonder what all their suffering meant if it is all still happening.

If this country really wants to honor Vietnam veterans then we better hurry up and get to the point where this is all taken seriously enough for us to do something about it.

Members of Congress continue to play political games pretending outrage as if all of this is new but we know it isn't. The press, lovers of the pushing what divides Americans, ignore what history has already proven so they can cause the public to look the other way. The truth is none of the politicians have actually done anything to fix any of this for the good of all.

What can you do for them? The next time you read an article check the facts. Look back at other reports available online from other news outlets, not blogs or Facebook rants. Know what was reported before and then leave a comment since most sites allow comments. Help to educated the public at the same time you give reporters a history lesson. Contact members of Congress and remind them of how long they have already have to fix all of these problems veterans face.

If not, then what comes 30 years from now will be a repeat of what happened to Vietnam veterans and being a grateful nation will be nothing more than a slogan on a poster.

Fall of Fort Bragg General on trail could get life in prison

Trial set to begin at Fort Bragg for general facing sex charges
The Associated Press
BY MICHAEL BIESECKER
March 4, 2014 Updated 1 hour ago

FORT BRAGG — Once a rising star among the U.S. Army's top battle commanders, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair is now fighting sexual assault charges that could land him life in a military prison if convicted.

Sinclair, who was the deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne, was set to appear Tuesday in a Fort Bragg courtroom to face court martial on criminal charges that include physically forcing a female captain under his command to perform oral sex.

While denying that accusation, lawyers for the married father of two have said he carried on a three-year extramarital affair with the junior officer during war tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The admission of an affair will almost certainly end his Army career.

Sinclair, 51, has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges including forcible sodomy, indecent acts, violating orders, and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
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Marine rape victim attempted suicide, rapists walked away

Retired Marine Reveals Secret Suffering of Male Military Rape Victims
Daily Beast
Caitlin Dickson
February 27, 2014

Former Marine Lance Corporal Jeremiah Arbogast tried to kill himself after he watched his rapist walk free. He shared his story, Wednesday, in hopes of helping spark change within the ranks. Twenty-two veterans commit suicide everyday. Jeremiah Arbogast was almost one of them.

“Choosing death was my way of taking responsibility for my circumstances,” the former Marine Lance Corporal told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on personnel Wednesday. “I felt my death would spare my wife, daughter and myself the dishonor the rape brought upon us.”

From the wheelchair to which he has been confined ever since his self-inflicted gunshot wound left him paraplegic, the 32-year-old started the committee’s hearing on the relationship between military sexual assault, PTSD and suicide, with a heartbreaking testimony.
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Was Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Designed to Fail?

UPDATE Keep in mind that I have no inside information but managed to report the same findings.  Not just yesterday but last year when I wrote my book and since 2009 when I warned about this program would in fact increase military suicides. I have only been proven right because I paid attention!

Report: Military efforts to prevent mental illness ineffective
FROM USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
February 20, 2014

There's little evidence that the military's efforts to prevent mental illness among troops are effective, a panel of scientists has concluded.

The military has produced dozens of programs aimed at preventing mental illness among troops during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but there's little evidence that most of them work, a blue-ribbon panel of scientists said in a report released Thursday.

The findings by a committee of 13 experts appointed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies come as about 1,000 Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans are being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder each week, according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"There's no substantive indication of effectiveness (in the military prevention programs) and most importantly, there's no evidence of an enduring impact," said panelist David Rudd, provost at the University of Memphis and an authority on suicide in the military.
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Was Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Designed to Fail?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 19, 2014

Veterans and their families have been paying attention and wondering if the military efforts to address wide ranging issues was designed to fail on purpose or not. No one can blame them considering what the result have been while every branch of the military has been pushing the same spiel for years no matter what happened afterwards. The thoughts turned from hope that the military finally understood what the men and women were going thru into thoughts of being pushed into suffering and suicide.

This was the "news" on Valentines Day

Pentagon data provided to Military Times show 296 suicides among active-duty troops and reserve or National Guard members on active duty in 2013, down 15.7 percent from the 2012 total of 351.

It followed the worst year for suicides on record. It also followed what amounted to thousands of servicemen and women dishonorably discharged. According to the AP report, Misconduct Forces More Soldiers Out put together with the report on the number of suicides, it is obvious what the military is doing is not working.

Army 2012 351 2013 296=55 less suicides. 11,000 discharged for "misconduct" in 2013
Navy 2012 59 2013 46=7 less suicides. 3,700 discharged for "misconduct" in 2013
Air Force 2012 59 2013 55=4 less suicides. 2,900 discharged for "misconduct" in 2013
Marines 48-45=3 less suicides. 3,000 discharged for "misconduct" in 2013

Yes, that is a Power Point slide show but it should be called, "powerless point" since no one learned much from it. They actually make fun of it. Take a look at this group among the empty chairs. They are bored.

The military can claim these were all behavioral problems but what they cannot do it prove it. Considering the military does do psychological testing and checks backgrounds, they have also claimed to be addressing problems from substance and sexual abuses, yet they still continue.

Since early 2006 the Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program (SARP) has been integrated into the Behavioral Services Department. In the case of sexual abuse they have been "addressing" that for many years including this report from what happened in 2009

Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report on Sexual Assaults in the Military

"In 2005, the Department enacted the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Program to encourage increased reporting of the crime, facilitate improved access to victim care, better organize response resources, and promote prevention. The Department‘s vision is to enable military readiness by establishing a culture free of sexual assault. The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) within the Office of the Secretary of Defense is responsible for the policy that supports this program and oversight activities that ensure its effectiveness. The Department of Defense (DoD) policy requires each Military Service to maintain its own SAPR program, investigate Unrestricted Reports of sexual assaults, and hold subjects appropriately accountable."

Suicides, PTSD, misconduct and everything else going wrong can be summed up in one terrible approach that began in 2008.

Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2) is designed to build resilience and enhance performance of the Army Family — Soldiers, their Families, and Army Civilians. CSF2 does this by providing hands-on training and self-development tools so that members of the Army Family are better able to cope with adversity, perform better in stressful situations, and thrive in life.

CSF2 has Training Centers located across the United States. These Training Centers provide Resilience and Performance Enhancement Training where it is needed most – at Army installations (unit level). CSF2 is an integral part of the Army’s Ready and Resilient Campaign ; a campaign that promotes physical and psychological fitness and encourages personal and professional growth. Resilient Soldiers, Family members and Army Civilians perform better, which results in improved unit readiness and better lives.

Nice slogan but not worth more than the lives lost while they continued to push it.

FIVE DIMENSIONS OF STRENGTH but the outcome has been proven to be a failure. It isn't as if no one warned about any of this.

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a professor of psychiatry at Boston University

“This report reads more like propaganda than a serious scientific study,” he said in an email after reviewing the Army study results. “The big question, though, has not yet been addressed: Does this intervention make combat soldiers more resilient and prevent PTSD and somatization [a condition in which a person has many physical symptoms but no physical cause that can be detected]?

Anything else we try to do will fail until we can undo the damage done by this.

When we see the outcome spread past the military life and into the lives of our veterans, the whole nation should have screamed instead of just yawning. How could the military push something that experts have been complaining about for years? How could they just ignore the results?

If you want to know how much we knew and how much was spent to produce these deplorable results, read THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR Everything in this book was complied from news reports along with military documents. Nothing in it was hidden but most of it was forgotten.

Adultery, sexual assaults, Fort Bragg General faces both charges

Rapid fall for Army general accused of sex crimes
The Associated Press
By MICHAEL BIESECKER
Published: January 3, 2014

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — With a single star studded on each shoulder of his immaculate dress blues, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair waited his turn to go through the metal detectors at the federal courthouse at Fort Bragg, just like everyone else.

He smiled broadly at one of the armed military police officers posted at the door and asked: "How many jumps do you have?"

The young soldier, wearing the wings and beret of a paratrooper with the elite 82nd Airborne, stood a little straighter as he confidently answered 28. Sinclair nodded in approval, not mentioning the 217 jumps listed in his own log. After a few more pleasantries, Sinclair put his arm around the man and smiled again as another MP snapped a cellphone photo.

The exchange last summer would be routine for a general building rapport with enlisted troops — but for the fact that Sinclair is believed to be the highest-ranking U.S. Army officer ever charged with sexual assault.

Sinclair, 51, has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges including forcible sodomy, indecent acts, violating orders and conduct unbecoming an officer. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison at a court-martial scheduled to begin March 3.

While he denies the most serious allegation that he physically forced a female captain under his command to perform oral sex, the married father of two concedes he carried on a three-year extramarital affair with the junior officer. That admission alone will almost certainly end his 28-year Army career, as adultery is a crime under military law.
read more here

Military Sexual Assaults committed against males 53%

Air Force member's allegation of sex assault brings him more grief
Tribune Washington Bureau
By David S. Cloud
Published: January 1, 2014

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — Shortly after he arrived at Ramstein Air Base in Germany in March 2012, Air Force security guard Trent Smith was at an off-base apartment when, he says, a male sergeant touched him and pressed him to go into the bedroom for sex.

"I said, 'No, I don't want to spend the night,' " Smith recalled. But Smith, 20, says he felt he had no choice. "I went along with it."

For Smith, the encounter — which he reported up the chain of command three days later — began an emotional ordeal. As the months passed, his doctors say, the trim, polite airman with an engaging smile suffered bouts of anger, guilt and depression so severe that he contemplated suicide several times.

More disturbing for a Pentagon struggling to gain control of a seeming epidemic of charges concerning rape and unwanted sexual advances in the ranks, Smith's attempts to get help only worsened his troubles. After a lengthy investigation, the military decided that no crime had occurred, and it later moved to discharge Smith on medical grounds.

The case highlights a little-recognized reality for the male-dominated military. Although members of Congress have focused their outrage on abuse of women in uniform, the Pentagon reported in May that 53 percent of the estimated 26,000 troops who were raped or forced into sex last year were men.
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This Congress has learned nothing on military sexual assaults

UPDATE
December 27, 2013
Military Sexual Assault Reports Jump By 50 Percent

This Congress has learned nothing on military sexual assaults
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 26, 2013

First the news,

HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed into law a comprehensive defense bill that cracks down on sexual assault in the military.

The White House says Obama signed the bills Thursday while vacationing in Hawaii.

The bill provides $552.1 billion for the regular military budget, plus $80.7 billion for the Afghanistan war and other overseas operations. It gives military personnel a 1 percent pay raise, but also reflects deficit-driven efforts to trim spending and the drawdown in Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting there.

The bill signing caps a yearlong campaign led by the women of the Senate to address the scourge of rape and sexual assault in the military. Under the bill, military commanders no longer will be permitted to overturn jury convictions for sexual assault.

Now the truth. We've heard it all before. Not by President Obama or this congress. But back in 2007 in a report going back to 2006.

Nearly 3,000 women reported last year that they were sexually assaulted while serving in the military, according to the Department of Defense's 2006 annual report on military sexual assault.

That was what the news was when a "new program" out of the "Cincinnati VA was getting national attention." You are not alone if you are wondering why after all these years we are where we are that a defense budget bill has to have sexual assault changes in it.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a Monday letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates that harassment and assault of military women, especially in combat zones, is a “scourge” that needs to be eliminated.

Casey is particularly interested in how the military handles complaints from women in the National Guard and reserve, whose cases may be harder to investigate than those of women on full-time active duty and in the federal civilian workforce.

Not this past Monday but back in 2008. Also reported by Reuters in 2008 was this piece of news.

Nearly 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking medical care from the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department have suffered sexual trauma, from harassment to rape, researchers reported on Tuesday.

And these veterans were 1.5 times as likely as other veterans to need mental health services, the report from the VA found.

But if you not adequately angry by now, this should drop your jaw.

V.A. Plans Review of Billing for Care in Sexual Assaults
By JAMES DAO
Published: May 6, 2009

The Department of Veterans Affairs will review the billing practices of veterans health centers around the country amid concerns that some are improperly charging for care relating to sexual assault in the military, officials said Wednesday.

The department is required to provide free care, including counseling and prescription drugs, to veterans who were sexually harassed or assaulted while in military service. Sexual assault includes rape and attempted rape.

But the Office of Inspector General at the department found this year that an outpatient clinic in Austin, Tex., had repeatedly charged veterans, mostly women, for those services. Based on concerns that the practice may be more widespread, the office decided to expand its review to a sampling of veterans health care centers and clinics nationwide.

An official in the office declined to comment, saying it does not discuss pending reviews. The official said the review would be made public when it was completed, possibly by October.

In a statement, the Department of Veterans Affairs said the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, which oversees the Austin clinic, was reimbursing patients who had been improperly billed. “Patients seen for military sexual trauma should not be billed for payment,” the statement said. “We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.”

Can we please stop pretending that things are going to change?

Passage of defense authorization bill will create winners, losers

Passage of defense authorization bill will create winners, losers
Stars and Stripes
By Leo Shane III
Published: December 19, 2013

WASHINGTON -- After a long, lurching journey, the annual defense authorization bill appears poised to become law in the next few days. The final version is a stripped-down measure of sweeping issues lawmakers hoped to tackle, but still contains plenty of interest for servicemembers and their families.

Winner: Sex assault prosecutions


The massive overhaul of the military justice system that many advocates wanted isn’t in the final legislation, but the bill does include a host of new provisions designed to protect military sex assault victims. Among them: removing commanders ability to overturn jury convictions, requiring a dishonorable discharge for sex assault offenders and more legal assistance for victims.
read more here

Major General Gary Patton out in DOD sexual assault post

Gary Patton out in DOD sexual assault post
Politico
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN
12/16/13

Major General Gary Patton (AP)

The Pentagon’s top sexual assault prevention official is stepping down next month amid an internal investigation that he intimidated whistleblowers during a previous stint in Afghanistan.

Maj. Gen. Gary Patton is set to retire in the spring after a 35-year Army career that culminated as director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. There, he’s been in the direct line of fire as members of Congress have pushed the Defense Department to make big changes in how it deals with sexual predators in its ranks.

Patton had been the subject of an internal Army review into patient abuse and corruption at a U.S.-funded Afghan hospital and questions over whether he tried to keep staffers from talking with investigators.

Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel agreed to let another Army commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, quietly retire over the same whistleblower incident.
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David Lynch Foundation TM Women's Initiative

Doing nothing hasn't worked for you. Medication hasn't worked for you. Maybe everything you've tried so far hasn't worked but you haven't tried everything. Keep looking until you find the best way for you to heal!

The David Lynch Foundation Women's Initiative

 DavidLynchFoundation

Published on Dec 10, 2013

http://davidlynchfoundation.org/women

Domestic violence, rape and violent assault are all around us. Consider these facts:

One out of four women will be assaulted or raped by their spouse or intimate partner during their lifetime, and nearly 3 million children are witnesses to it every year.

250,000 children are at risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking every year.

In the military, 19,000 incidences of rape and sexual assault against female military personnel were recorded in 2010 alone.

To help combat the epidemic of violence and assault against women and children, the David Lynch Foundation launched a Women's Initiative in 2012 that offers Transcendental Meditation, an evidence-based, alternative therapy shown to heal and empower victims of abuse. The Initiative partners with leaders in the field of domestic violence and human trafficking across the U.S. and around the world to provide this therapy to women and children who need it most. Key findings from over 340 peer-reviewed studies include:

Reduced flashbacks and bad memories

Greater resistance to stress

Twice the effectiveness of conventional approaches for reducing alcoholism and substance abuse

42% decrease in insomnia

Twice as effective as other relaxation techniques for decreasing trait anxiety

Improved quality of life

"The person who had assaulted me almost tried to actually kill me. Finally, I found a way to escape but I had no money and nowhere to go. Being homeless... that feeling I think is the worst feeling I've ever had. And because there was so much stress, I started losing my hair as well. At that point I felt I just didn't want to to be part of this world anymore."

"He would just beat me up until he sees I'm unconscious, choke me until I passed out, and unfortunately he did these things in front of my child. When I look back to all... what I went through, it's truly a miracle that I'm alive."

"I was a platoon sergeant over in Iraq. As soon as that truck in front of mine blew up, all hell broke loose. Here come the bullets, just all over the place. I sustained multiple injuries to my face, torso, stomach, and legs. On November 18, 2011, I stood in the window ledge and shut my eyes and said a prayer, and was about to jump. I know what got me into that window ledge, but I also know what got me out of that window ledge and why I'm here now."

"When I started practicing Transcendental Meditation I just felt new, refreshed, reborn. And my hair started growing back, I'm very happy about that. I think if it can change my life it can change anyone's life. It's, like, miraculous."

"To learn TM has been, like, a life-changing experience. I feel hopeful. Life that has been grey for so long became come back to colors. I wish everybody have the opportunity to learn this."

"I believe in my heart Transcendental Meditation is a humongous portion of the reason I'm still sitting here now. To know that something as small of a concept - 20 minutes twice a day - can make me feel like I feel now. That's a gift that you can't buy. I've never felt this good in life, I don't think. It's given me me back."

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Military Sexual Assault Amendment: 'It's The Least We Can Do'

We assume the DOD is serious about addressing sexual assaults and treating the perpetrators like criminals. That also means we assume the DOD thinks they are criminals. The problem is, they have not given any indication they believe it is a real crime.

We've been reading about these attacks from within for far too long to be able to pretend they are doing something about it now. How many more years does it take before the DOD stops protecting the criminals? Senators standing in the way of this have no acceptable excuse.

Kirsten Gillibrand On Military Sexual Assault Amendment: 'It's The Least We Can Do'
The Huffington Post
By Ashley Alman
Posted: 11/20/2013

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Wednesday failed to reach agreement on amendments to the military justice system, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-N.Y.) proposal to remove military sexual assault cases from the chain of command.

The Senate adjourned Wednesday evening after discussing amendments for more than five hours. Gillibrand, who has the public backing of 53 senators for her proposal, told MSNBC's Chris Hayes she is "still hopeful" that the Senate will vote when it reconvenes on Thursday. She argued that her proposal would benefit both victims and defendants in serious cases by protecting them from bias. She said the amendment will bring an "objective review, outside the military chain of command."

Gillibrand said the amendment would allow a justice system that members of the military deserve.
read more here

John McCain Was Wrong Then, And He's Wrong Now

Has McCain explain yet what good it has done this far to leave it in the military chain of command? How many more years does he think it will take SINCE IT HAS BEEN GOING ON ALL THESE YEARS AND HE KNOWS IT.

Kirsten Gillibrand: John McCain Was Wrong Then, And He's Wrong Now
The Huffington Post
By Paige Lavender
Posted: 11/20/2013

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) criticized Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for not supporting her proposal to remove military sexual assault cases from the chain of command, saying this isn't the first time he's been wrong.

“I respect Sen. McCain and we are friends, but with all due respect to him, he was wrong about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and he was wrong about sexual assault in the military,” Gillibrand said in a Wednesday interview with Fusion's “AMERICA with Jorge Ramos.”

“Our job as members of Congress is to provide that oversight and accountability over the military, over the Department of Defense,” Gillibrand said. “And there is a growing chorus of military leaders who have even more experience than Sen. McCain who are saying, 'This should be taken out of the chain of command.'"
read more here

Here are just a few of the headlines going back to 2008

More than anything, Michelle Nagle wants to give her daughter, Jorden, a happy life.

But a memory from Michelle's military life threatens their happiness.

No, it's not the "war;" Michelle wasn't called to Iraq. What haunts her is the day she was sexually assaulted by a fellow soldier.

"I was in the barracks and we were getting ready to watch football and he was making me nervous because he wouldn't sit down, Michelle said. "That's when he threw me on the bed. I'm just begging him to get off me. I guess I was screaming, because my next-door neighbor heard and he came in and got him off me."

The attack traumatized Michelle, especially because it wasn't the first time. Michellle had been sexually abused as a child, and she thought the military would be a safe place. At six-feet-tall, she challenged herself to meet the men's physical standards.

"If I was as strong as them, they can't hurt me. That didn't work out so well," she said.

Michelle was afraid to tell her superiors about the attack, but she couldn't forget.

Keri Christensen spends the day watching her children. She prepares their meals, gets them ready for school and helps them with their homework. Christensen says that she was sexually harassed by a superior while serving in Iraq and that the harassment added to the pressure created by just being in a war zone.

The VA diagnosed 60,000 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Of those, 22 percent of women suffered from "military sexual trauma," which includes sexual harassment or assault, compared with 1 percent of men.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a Monday letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates that harassment and assault of military women, especially in combat zones, is a “scourge” that needs to be eliminated.

Casey is particularly interested in how the military handles complaints from women in the National Guard and reserve, whose cases may be harder to investigate than those of women on full-time active duty and in the federal civilian workforce.

In the letter, Casey said he knows the military is trying to do more, but added: “I am still very troubled by a process that may dissuade many victims from ever coming forward with claims.”

There are more but you get the point. McCain should have gotten it too but he just refuses to see how little they have done.