14,000 male soldiers experience some type of unwanted sexual contact per year

Female Commander Investigated over Alleged Sexual Assaults of Male Subordinates, Pattern of Harassment

Military.com
By Steve Beynon
25 Apr 2023

Male victims account for only 10% of sexual assault cases in the military, according to 2021 data from the Department of Defense. That data estimates roughly 14,000 male soldiers experience some type of unwanted sexual contact per year, though male cases of sexual assault and harassment are likely underreported due to societal stigma.

Lt. Col. Meghann Sullivan takes the 5th Battalion, 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade guidon at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington, June 28, 2021. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joseph Knoch)

A top officer in the Army's 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade has been investigated following allegations of multiple sexual assaults and a pattern of sexual harassment, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation. It is unclear whether the investigation is ongoing, but it comes while another is underway into allegations of toxic leadership by the brigade's commander.

Col. Meghann Sullivan, commander of the 5th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 5th SFAB, faces allegations of assaulting at least two subordinate men and harassing several others, with some of those incidents allegedly tied to alcohol abuse, according to one of the two sources. At least one of those alleged assaults involved forceful kissing and another grabbing a man below the belt without his consent.
read more here

Senators outraged over military sexual assaults....again

Today in Washington, yet again, Senators expressed outrage over the rise in military sexual assaults. While they can act as if this is a "new" problem...their problem is very little was done over all these years. This hearing happened in 2013!

Female Senators Express Outrage Towards Male Military Commanders at Sexual Assault Hearing
11,082 views •Jun 5, 2013

The general public has twisted ideas about female veterans...time to change the conversation

Kathie Costos on Remember The Fallen

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 20, 2020

Last night I was the guest on Remember The Fallen Podcast with one of my buddies, Sgt. Dave Matthews who was with the Florida National Guard.

The topic was military women and veterans. You would think that since women have fought for this country...before it was one, they would not be regarded as second class anything, but they are.

The general public has twisted ideas about them. Take a man and woman, sitting together, each with a military hat on, the male is thanked for his service, while the woman is lucky to get a reluctant smile. It is the same when they hear about a female veteran with PTSD.

Hear about a male veteran with PTSD and right away, folks assume combat. Hear about a female veteran with PTSD and they think sexual assault. Even now researchers and reporters point to that when offering facts, instead of acknowledging that women are exposed to most of the same traumas males endure...and males are also exposed to sexual assaults too!

In this episode, Dave mentioned a woman during the Revolutionary War who strapped down her breasts so that she could serve next to the males. We did not get to talk more about her, but this is the woman we were talking about.

Deborah Sampson became a hero of the American Revolution when she disguised herself as a man and joined the Patriot forces. She was the only woman to earn a full military pension for participation in the Revolutionary army.

When we talk about our fabulous females, all things are considered and they are equally worthy of honor for their service. The percentage, while growing, remains a barrier to healing, that does not have to be there. We are doing what we can to break that down by helping you #BreakTheSilence so you hear it is possible to #TakeBackYourLife and be defined by what you decide to do from this moment onward!

HEAR HER ROAR on Remember The Fallen Podcast

Joint Chiefs Senate confirmation shows they do not take military sexual assaults seriously

Why This Veteran Is Suing One of the Joint Chiefs for Sexual Assault

The Daily Beast
Molly Jong-Fast
Dec. 30, 2019

Twenty-eight-year veteran Kathryn Spletstoser couldn’t get the military to take her claims against a decorated Air Force general seriously. Now she’s making those claims in court.

Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty

Army Lt. Col. Kathryn Spletstoser just wanted to fade into retirement. She’d served 28 years in various posts and had done four combat deployments: two in Iraq, and two in Afghanistan. She’d been a White House fellow. She had earned three master’s degrees. She was one of the most accomplished officers of her generation. She was ready to go into private sector work, spend time with her aging mother, and go back to her native Wisconsin.

But in April 2019, when President Trump nominated Air Force Gen. John Hyten, then the commander of the U.S. Strategic Air Command and her boss, to serve as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—the second highest ranking military officer in the United States and the second most powerful position in the U.S. armed forces—she put those plans aside.

She claims that Hyten sexually assaulted her numerous times throughout 2017. For two years, she had said nothing about the alleged incidents, but when the oft-decorated Hyten stood to be elevated to such a high position, she went public, reporting him in April.

Trisha Guillebeau, the public affairs adviser to the Joint Chiefs, said: “In response to your request for comment I’d like to state that all investigations found the allegations against Gen. Hyten to be unsubstantiated. All allegations provided to the Department of Defense were subject to comprehensive investigation and unsubstantiated. In addition, the Senate conducted its own exhaustive, comprehensive review of the matter during Gen. Hyten’s confirmation process to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Hyten’s confirmation by the Senate as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff validates the trust that has been placed in him by our nation, our department’s leadership, and Congress.”
read it here

Female veterans #BreakTheSilence and get your service on equal footing

Yesterday I posted on PTSD Patrol about female veterans service being overlooked. Too many times people have assumed that when you mention a female veteran with PTSD, they try to point to military sexual assaults. Not that they do not happen, but no one jumps to that conclusion when a male veteran has PTSD, even though they get attacked too.

As you can see in this recent report, it happens to males as well as females.

The US military is reporting a disturbing spike in the number of active-duty service members who said they’d experienced sexual assault last year, raising questions once again about the military’s handling of misconduct.
The Pentagon estimates that about 20,500 service members across the military branches — about 13,000 women and 7,500 men — were sexually assaulted in the 2018 fiscal year, based on data from an anonymous survey that’s compiled by the Department of Defense every two years.
That’s a four-year high — and an alarming jump from 2016, in which 14,900 service members said they had been sexually assaulted. VOX.com

Yet the public assumes that PTSD caused by combat situations in females, on top of everything else, does not happen.

There are, sadly still, too many things that are getting worse while it seems as if more is being done claiming to change all of it.

Things our politicians do, do not work, then everyone wants more done. Huge problem when it is all more of the same and the worst outcome spreads out! If you are a female veteran, or currently serving, use your voice and make sure that your service is honored, your wounds are tended to and you get the help you need to live a better quality of life. #BreakTheSilence

Why do women wonder when their service will count?

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
December 22, 2019

We read about it all the time. A couple is sitting together, both wearing military hats, yet it is only the male who receives a "thank you" for his service.

Someone forgot to inform the "thanker" that women have served this country since before it was a country.

Today over 210,000 women serve on active duty in the military services of the Department of Defense (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force), and another 5,955 serve in the Active Coast Guard—part of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime.

The Reserve Components are federal forces. Guard components play dual state and federal roles. Like most of the active forces, the Reserve and Guard components have an increasing percentage of women in their ranks. As of February 2018, women constituted 158,090 or 19.8 percent—of all personnel serving in the six DoD Reserve and Guard forces. Women number 1,067—or 17.4 percent—of all personnel serving in the Coast Guard Reserve.

Women have been bestowed with every military medal for heroism, including the Medal of Honor. Dr. Walker not only served during the Civil War, she was a POW.

Released from government contract at the end of the war, Dr. Walker lobbied for a brevet promotion to major for her services. Secretary of War Stanton would not grant the request. President Andrew Johnson asked for another way to recognize her service. A Medal of Honor was presented to Dr. Walker in January 1866. She wore it every day for the rest of her life. read it here

Lowlife jerks caught ripping off veterans and troops and sexual assaults

Businessman indicted in $510 million Tricare fraud scheme

By: The Associated Press
September 27, 2019

JACKSON, Miss. — Federal prosecutors say a Mississippi businessman has been indicted in one of the nation’s largest health care fraud investigations.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced that 52-year-old Wade Ashley Walters of Hattiesburg is charged for his alleged role in a scheme involving fraudulent prescriptions.

Prosecutors say the fraud led to TRICARE and other health care benefit programs reimbursing various companies more than $510 million.

The scheme targeted people insured by TRICARE, which covers military members, their families, retirees and some National Guard members and reservists. read it here

Doctor pleads guilty to sexually exploiting VA patients

By: The Associated Press
September 27, 2019

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A California doctor has pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting five women — several of them veterans — while doing work for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Edgar Manzanera pleaded guilty Wednesday as trial was to begin on more serious charges of sexual assault. Instead of potentially facing more than a dozen years in prison, Manzanera will be sentenced to three years of probation. He also must surrender his medical license and register as a sex offender.
read it here

Wisconsin Army National Guard assaulted and betrayed getting justice the hard way

Final punishment: As Wisconsin National Guard officer Megan Plunkett took steps to leave the Guard after she said she was sexually assaulted three times, officials tried to revoke her benefits

Madison.com
Katelyn Ferral
May 11, 2019

“I was like, ‘I’m out, I just want to be left alone.’ I don’t want to cause more problems and then he came at me with fraternization. Are you ... kidding me?” she said. “He… assaulted me and how dare they accuse me of fraternization without asking me what happened?”

Eight months after the Wisconsin Army National Guard finished its investigations into 1st Lt. Megan Plunkett’s sexual assault claims, they tried to kick her out.

They did so even though Plunkett was already making her own way out. She was going through a medical discharge for post-traumatic stress disorder connected to alleged sexual assaults by two different men in two different units she served in.

She was not actively training at that time but was having a consensual relationship with an enlisted soldier in her unit. After the relationship ended, Plunkett said that man also sexually assaulted her. As it did in the first two cases, the Guard said her allegations were unsubstantiated, but they went one step further than that, finding Plunkett guilty of “fraternization.” In the military, officers are forbidden to have sexual relationships with enlisted soldiers.

As of today, Plunkett has won some measure of vindication from other agencies. A panel of out-of-state Army officers ultimately rejected the Guard's attempt to strip her benefits and status, though that ruling is not yet final. Separately, the Veterans Administration awarded her full service-connected disability compensation and medical benefits for PTSD, which they determined was caused by military sexual trauma she experienced in the Wisconsin Army National Guard.

'Failure to Protect'
This week, the Cap Times is publishing “Failure to Protect,” a four-part investigation by reporter Katelyn Ferral into the Wisconsin Army National Guard and its treatment of soldiers who are sexually abused in its service. The series is centered on 1st Lt. Megan Plunkett, a soldier who says she was sexually assaulted by three different Guard colleagues over the course of three years.

After she brought those allegations forward, the Guard not only decided that they were unsubstantiated, but took multiple steps to punish her. Plunkett eventually brought her story to the Cap Times, and after a four-month investigation including access to extensive records of a type rarely available to the public, we are sharing her story with you. It is alarming, nuanced and sometimes graphic, but it is important to hear, coming amidst growing concern among government officials in Wisconsin and nationally about the number of military sexual abuse victims and their treatment.

Part one focused on Plunkett’s allegations, the Guard’s responses and also explains its procedures for responding to sexual assault allegations.

Part two took a close look at a yearlong, internal Guard investigation into Plunkett’s first unit, which concluded that it had a longstanding culture of sexual misconduct.

Part three examined the phenomenon of “military sexual trauma” as well as Plunkett’s often frustrating efforts to maintain consistent medical care and legal representation.

Part four (below) describes the Guard’s final — and at this point, unsuccessful — effort to strip Plunkett of military benefits even after she was in the process of getting a discharge for medical reasons.
read more here

Military sexual assault victims, now lead in the Senate

Sen. McSally, ex-Air Force pilot, says officer raped her

Associated Press
Coleen Long
March 6, 2019

McSally's revelation comes not long after Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, detailed her own abuse and assault, and at a time of increased awareness over the problem of harassment and assault in the armed forces.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Martha McSally, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, said Wednesday that she was raped in the Air Force by a superior officer.

The Arizona Republican, a 26-year military veteran, made the disclosure at a Senate hearing on the armed services' efforts to prevent sexual assaults and improve the response when they occur.

McSally said she did not report being sexually assaulted because she did not trust the system, and she said she was ashamed and confused. McSally did not name the officer who she says raped her.

"I stayed silent for many years, but later in my career, as the military grappled with the scandals, and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know I too was a survivor," she said, choking up as she detailed what had happened to her. "I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled. I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again."
read more here

Press missed the biggest issue on Graham's outburst

Senator Graham has no answer for hell he added to military sexual assault survivors
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 2, 2018

After reading some of my Republican friends lash out on social media today, it made me sick to my stomach. Then again, they are letting the political haze cloud their judgment to the point where they miss the biggest point of all. 

When I think of all the female veterans I have talked with over the last 30+ years, all I could think about was what they went through after being attacked by other service members who were supposed to be ready to die for them, but used that trust to attack them.

The press has ignored the worst part about Senator Graham's outburst yesterday. That is, the message he sent every member of the military about what he thinks about sexual assaults.

When he sat there and defended a man accused of sexual assaults, after listening to the woman tell what happened to her, he sent a shock wave throughout female veterans who have been subjected to this attitude for far too long.

Was he actually trying to say that sexual assaults were not crimes? Is that what he and many other Senators think?

What makes this worse is Graham was a Colonel in the Air Force.

Before being elected to Congress, Graham compiled a distinguished record in the United States Air Force as he logged six-and-a-half years of service on active duty as an Air Force lawyer. From 1984-1988, he was assigned overseas and served at Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany. Upon leaving active duty Air Force in 1989, Graham joined the South Carolina Air National Guard where he served until 1995. During the first Gulf War in the early 90's, Graham was called to active duty and served state-side at McEntire Air National Guard Base as Staff Judge Advocate where he prepared members for deployment to the Gulf region.

In 1995, Graham joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves. During American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Graham put his experience in military law to use pulling numerous short-term Reserve duties in both countries over congressional breaks and holidays.

Graham retired from the Air Force Reserves in June 2015 having served his country in uniform for 33 years. He retired at the rank of Colonel.

Lindsey Graham erupts during Kavanaugh hearing

When you consider the committees he serves on, it is even worse.

  This same senator serves on these committees

Lindsey Graham sits on the following committees:

Senate Committee on Appropriations
Chair, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Member, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Member, Subcommittee on Department of Defense
Member, Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies
Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
Member, Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Chair, Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
Member, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution
Senate Committee on Armed Services
Member, Subcommittee on Cybersecurity
Member, Subcommittee on Personnel
Member, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Senate Committee on the Budget

And if you have not been paying attention to how huge sexual assaults are in the military, far worse than what we civilians deal with, here is a little bit more you should know.

The DOD released this

DoD Releases Annual Report on Sexual Assault in Military

---

WASHINGTON --The Defense Department today released its Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, which shows that service member reporting of sexual assault increased by about 10 percent in fiscal year 2017.The increase in reporting occurred across all four military services.The report for fiscal 2017 says the department received 6,769 reports of sexual assault involving service members as either victims or subjects of criminal investigation, a 9.7 percent increase over the 6,172 reports made in fiscal 2016.The department encourages reporting of sexual assaults so that service members can be connected with restorative care and that perpetrators can be held appropriately responsible, Navy Rear Adm. Ann M. Burkhardt, the director of the Defense Department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, told reporters."Every sexual assault in the military is a failure to protect the men and women who have entrusted us with their lives,” she said. "We will not rest until we eliminate this crime from our ranks."

Military.com released this

VA Must Prove to Women Vets That They Belong

Last month, a Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General report revealed that roughly 1,300 claims for military sexual trauma were incorrectly processed and denied, leaving veterans suffering from PTSD without the benefits they deserve.

Military Times had to produce this

Sexual assault risk at your military base: Here’s a searchable database

So yes, as Senator Graham talked about the hell that he saw the accuser and the accused go through, he just added to the hell survivors of sexual assaults have been in while he had the power in the military and when he sat on the committees that were supposed to make it right for them.

They just heard him loud and clear. 

PTSD From Sexual Assaults

Washington Post finally picked up on this one...today! (6/5)


More Vets Who Are Coping With PTSD From Sexual Assaults Get Honorable Discharges
NPR
Quil Lawrence
June 1, 2018

"I still have nightmares about it," he told NPR in 2016. "I am 45 years old, and I still have that vision in my head."

Heath Phillips says the trauma of being sexually assaulted drove him to alcoholism and to go AWOL. Three decades later, the military has agreed to upgrade his discharge to honorable. Courtesy of Heath Phillips

Sexual assault is still a major issue for the military. Reports rose by 10 percent last year, though there is some discussion about whether that is an increase in the number of assaults or an increased willingness of troops to come forward and report them. That would be an improvement because victims of rape in the military often face retaliation, sometimes even a less than honorable discharge from the military.

Among those veterans there is another number that is going up: the people getting their records corrected to show they served honorably.

Sexual assault and harassment affects female troops at a higher rate. But because the military is still mostly male, it's men who make up a much larger number of victims among the thousands of sexual assaults each year. Women report the crime more than twice as much as men.

This makes Heath Phillips, who speaks publicly about his experience, rare.

Phillips was sexually assaulted repeatedly by a group of sailors right after he joined the Navy.
read more here

Military Women: POW, MOH, heroes, nurses, spies and smugglers?

How much do you know about military women?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 6, 2018

A friend asked me to do a video for an event honoring Women's History Month. I figured it would be easy, since it is one subject that I've been tracking for a very long time. What I didn't count on was the other parts of the stories I did not remember.

The number of female veterans over 2 million according to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Disabled American Veterans has a great report on what these women face when coming home from the same places the males were sent to.

Stunning how if a man and women are sitting together, both wearing a service hat, the male is thanked for his service, while folks just assume she must be wearing her's to support him.

Another stunner is how a woman can talk about having PTSD but people just think about military sexual assaults instead of what causes it most in males.  So here is a bit of history to actually honor females for their service.

Aside from Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the first and only woman recipient of the Medal of Honor, actually twice. Since Congress took the official award from her, but she refused to give it back, and then President Carter officially gave it back to her, Walker's story is even more impressive!

Over and over again, there are more parts to be discovered of the women we think we know about. 

 Women in the Army

A willingness to assume new roles
"During the Civil War, women stepped into many nontraditional roles. Many women supported the war effort as nurses and aides, while others took a more upfront approach and secretly enlisted in the Army or served as spies and smugglers. Women were forced to adapt to the vast social changes affecting the nation, and their ability and willingness to assume these new roles helped shape the United States."

One of the first women to serve, had to be crossdressers.

"Deborah Sampson wore men’s clothes, served as a man, fought like a man and was wounded. After she died, her husband received 'widow’s pension.'"

Yes, you read that right. Her husband collected her pension as a "widow" instead of the other way around.

"Nancy Morgan Hart, did more than that. She dressed in men’s clothing and pretended to be a crazy man. She was a spy for the Patriots against British forces."

Still Margaret Corbin wore a dress as she helped her husband load the cannon. When he was killed in battle, she replaced him and fired the cannon. Congress awarded her pension in 1779 for her service and being a disabled veteran. It also made her the first servicewoman in the Army.

Fast forward to the Civil War and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker

WALKER, DR. MARY E.

Rank and organization: Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), U. S. Army

Places and dates: Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Patent Office Hospital, Washington, D.C., October 1861; Chattanooga, Tenn., following Battle of Chickamauga, September 1863; Prisoner of War, April 10, 1864-August 12, 1864, Richmond, Va.; Battle of Atlanta, September 1864

Entered service at: Louisville, Ky.

Citation: Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, "has rendered valuable service to the Government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways," and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, Ky., upon the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and Whereas by reason of her not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her; and Whereas in the opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and sufferings should be made: It is ordered, That a testimonial thereof shall be hereby made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her. Given under my hand in the city of Washington, D.C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865. Andrew Johnson, President (Medal rescinded 1917 along with 910 others, restored by President Carter 10 June 1977.)

Given under my hand in the city of Washington, D.C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865.

Yes, you read that right too! She was a POW. 

You can read more of their stories from Women in the Army Oh, no, I didn't forget about the other branches.

History of Women Marines

1953 - Staff Sergeant Barbara Olive Barnwell First female Marine to be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps medal for heroism for saving a fellow Marine from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean in 1952.

1967 - Master Sergeant Barbara Jean Dulinsky first woman Marine to serve in a combat zone in Vietnam. She was assigned to U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam combat operations center in Saigon. 

1973 - Colonel Mary E Bane, first female to become Commanding Officer of Headquarters and Service Battallion, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton.

The Marines,

Margaret A. Brewer became the first female Marine general when she was promoted to brigadier general in 1978 and made the director of public affairs. Fifteen years later, in 1993, 2nd Lt. Sarah Deal became the first female Marine to be accepted into Naval aviation training. Five years later, in 1998, Carol A. Mutter became the first woman in any service branch to achieve three-star status when she was promoted to lieutenant general. Prior to the promotion, Mutter had been in command of the 3rd Force Service Support Group in Okinawa, the first woman to command a Fleet Marine Force unit at the flag level.

For the Navy

Loretta Walsh: First Woman to Enlist in NavyLoretta Perfectus Walsh was the first woman to enlist in the U.S. Navy (March 17, 1917) and the first woman to reach the rank of chief petty officer. This opportunity also made her the first woman to serve in a non-nursing capacity in any branch of the armed forces. 

Answering the call 1862 

In 1862, Sisters of the Holy Cross served aboard USS Red Rover, the Navy’s first hospital ship, joining a crew of 12 officers, 35 enlisted, and others supporting medical care. Red Rover remained the only hospital ship in the Navy until the Spanish-American War. 

Over 11,000 Navy nurses served at naval shore commands, on hospital ships, at field hospitals, in airplanes, and on 12 hospital ships. Lieutenant Ann Bernatitus, Navy Nurse Corps, escapes from the Philippines just before the Japanese invaded; she later becomes the first recipient of the Legion of Merit award. Eleven Navy Nurses were prisoners of war in the Philippines from 1941 to 1945; they received the Bronze Star for their heroism.  

And you can read more here

Women Trailblazers

• First African American Female Officers
• First Female Flag Officer: Rear Admiral Alene B. Duerk, NC, USN
• Making Dreams Come True
• Navy Women of Courage and Intelligence

Ships Named in Honor of Women

• Higbee (DD-806)
• Hopper (DDG-70)
• Mary Sears (T-AGS-65)
• Roosevelt (DDG-80)

Air Force

In 1948, President Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, which allowed women to enlist directly in the military. That same year, the U.S. Air Force let the first female members into its ranks. The first recruit to the Women in the Air Force (known as WAF) was Esther Blake, who enlisted on the first day it was possible for women to do so—65 years ago today. The first commissioner of the WAF was Geraldine Pratt May, who was the first Air Force woman to become a colonel.

Today, the top-ranking woman in the Air Force is Lieutenant General Janet Wolfenbarger, the first female four-star general in Air Force history. According to the Air Force, women make up just 9.1 percent of the general officer ranks. There are only four female lieutenant generals, twelve major generals and eleven brigadier generals.

The American Legion has their first female National Commander, Denise Rohan, and she is an advocate for medical cannabis.

The Disabled American Veterans have their first female National Commander, Retired Army veteran Delphine Metcalf-Foster  and she was the first female to lead a national veterans group.

Do some Trump supporters think the world will stay flat?

Correction: Only some supporters do. My bad, just added that word.

If anyone thinks that President Donald Trump would ever take sexual harassment seriously, they must also think the earth will stay flat.

Considering there was no "due process" for the women it happened to, seems Trump recovered to the highest office in the land, and then hired more accused abusers, with serious enough records the FBI could not give them security clearance. 

“Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning. “Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused — life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?”

Trump decries lack of ‘due process’ for men accused of sexual harassment, abuse

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), a leader in the effort to combat sexual harassment in Congress, said her stomach turned when she saw Trump’s tweet Saturday morning.

It just turned my stomach too. Just a reminder of who was elected and why he would have this disgusting attitude, The Washington Post added it.

As a candidate, Trump acknowledged that he had made lewd comments about grabbing women’s crotches after The Washington Post reported on a recording of Trump making these claims. “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump said on a hot mic before recording a segment of “Access Hollywood” in 2005. Trump denied making any such assaults and dismissed the recording as “locker room” talk.

POTUS said it didn't happen, before he admitted it did, then defended why he said it.

I was a victim of domestic violence. The second it stopped, I was a survivor of it. Back then the attitude toward domestic violence was not what we needed it to be. Men denied it, said we deserved it, or simply got away with it.

So much for family values voters defending any part of what we've seen from this man, who was accused of marital rape by his first wife, left her for his second wife and then is now on his third marriage.

You may consider this off topic, but if you do then you must have not been paying attention to what continues to happen to women in the military. If you think this Commander-in-Chief, or any of his department heads will do anything about sexual assaults, you have been under the spell of the delusion wand he keeps waving as the master of deflection.

Don't count on this Congress either. Remember they thought it was OK to pay off survivors of their abuse with our tax money?

See a female veteran as one of you

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 21, 2018

When I was growing up getting sassy was something bad. I heard that remark from my Mom probably more than a thousand times. (Gee, I'm sure no one was shocked by that.)

It is defined as "Lively, bold, and full of spirit; cheeky." Safe bet there are times when you are feeling like you are the only one feeling miserable, it would be comforting to know someone else felt the same way. Makes it even better to know that feeling that way is not all there is. 

The best comedy shows we watch have something most of us go through and then spin it around to make us laugh. Seeing it in a different way, especially in a funny way, makes it seem less like a burden we'll never be free of, to something that is part of our past.

For some reason when I was channel surfing I thought about how few movies there are with female soldiers, or even veterans as the lead character. I thought about all the Civil War movies and how Dr. Mary Edwards Walker did not manage to deserve a movie script even though she is the only female to have received the Medal of Honor. Yes, the Medal of Honor.

I searched for more reminders of women who fought for this country, right along side of men, even though sometimes, they had no clue the soldier next to them was female.

"More than 400 women disguised themselves as men and fought in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War."

Most of the time when women are gathered at veterans events, the males are thanked for their service, but females are lucky if the same person acknowledges them with a simple "hello."

Keeping with slamming-shaming suicide awareness as fake news, when was the last time you saw any of them talking about female veteran suicides?

The Department of Veterans Affairs put out "Facts About Suicide Among Women Veterans" August 2017

"From 2001 through 2014, the suicide rate among women Veterans increased to a greater degree (62.4 percent) than the suicide rate among male Veterans (29.7 percent)."

As you just read, yet one more group that has been left out of all the "awareness" being picky on who they want you to care about. Most of the groups talk about OEF and OIF veterans, failing to mention that the largest group needing help are over the age of 50...older veterans waiting longer for help. I don't know when the last time I read anything about any awareness being raised for female veterans.

If you are a female veteran and found help to heal, please share it with other female veterans. PTSD does not just hit females like too many assume, with sexual assaults, but the same way males are hit by it...combat zones chaos. It can hit you as a nurse, as much as it can hit you as a truck driver. It can hit you even if you did not deploy overseas but did your duty at Dover or in any of the military hospitals. Only you can understand them and it is very unlikely you will minimize anything they try to open up about.

If you SEE a female veteran looking lost in a crowd, go over and ASK her where she served, or what branch, or anything that will let her know that someone just acknowledged she serve too. SPEAK about your own service and SHARE something about YOURSELF with a good attitude and let her find some hope in what you are standing as an example of as a survivor.

Females may be the smallest group of veterans in the country but you are worth a lot more attention than anyone gives you credit doing.

BS on Military Sexual Assaults When Congress Made Payouts for Their Own

Members of Congress need to be removed if they approved of coverup!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 10, 2017

The Department of Defense reported there were 3,000 women sexually assaulted in 2006. By 2008, Senator Bob Casey said that harassment and assault of military women, especially in combat ones, is a "scourge" that needs to be eliminated. No one said when they actually planned on treating this as a crime.

Given the fact recent reports of payouts happening when members of Congress have regarded assaulting women as something ok with them, no need to wonder why nothing has been done to protect women from other service members.

(CNN)Two things have become painfully clear on Capitol Hill this week: Lawmakers and staffers say sexual harassment is "rampant" -- but even members of Congress have no idea just how widespread the problem is.

On Thursday, the Office of Compliance released additional information indicating that it has paid victims more than $17 million since its creation in the 1990s. That includes all settlements, not just related to sexual harassment, but also discrimination and other cases. 

By 2008, the GAO reported that 52% of service members who had been assaulted, had not reported it. They did the research from just 14 installations.

Women at War: When the enemy is one of your own was a followup to the video I did back in 2006.  
There are more, but you get the idea.

Now, take a look at what was just reported about Fort Bragg.

Fort Bragg leaders say recent Pentagon data ranking the installation among the highest for reports of sexual assaults reflect in part their efforts to combat the crimes for which they have zero tolerance. 

Still, advocates for veterans and sexual assault victims believe the military needs to do more to address the problem, including how cases are handled at installations and the reluctance of some victims to report assaults. 

Fort Bragg, as the nation’s largest military installation, has been at the forefront of the Department of Defense’s efforts to prevent sexual assault for years, officials said. Now, comprehensive sexual assault data from all installations, released for the first time, is bringing the issue into focus. 

Even as many local troops have been deployed around the world to help fight the nation’s enemies, the data shows the on-going fight against sexual assault in the military that is taking place on the home front. 

And for the first time, it reveals installation-specific data. In past years, the Pentagon had instead released aggregated numbers for each branch of service. 

The latest data shows four years worth of reports across more than 200 installations, both large and small, from 2013 to 2016.At Fort Bragg and Pope Field, the Pentagon says 156 sexual assault reports were made in last year. The number of reports for the installation has risen each of the past four years.

The title of the news report is 

"Fort Bragg leaders respond to sexual assault data"

What should the headline be when members of Congress are forced to explain why this was all ok to them while they were telling the public a totally different story? 


UPDATE

Current and former cadets speak out on sexual assault at Air Force Academy

UPDATE

Fifty-six female Democratic lawmakers ask House to investigate Trump sexual misconduct claims

Former Air Force Academy official alleges sexual assault cover-ups