Army drill sergeants at Fort Benning, Ga. suspended in sex assault probe

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

#U.S. AUGUST 23, 2017 / 10:01 AM / 2 HOURS AGO

Army drill sergeants at Fort Benning, Ga. suspended in sex assault probe

Reuters Staff
2 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A number of U.S. Army drill sergeants at Fort Benning, Georgia, have been temporarily suspended from their duties following allegations of sexual misconduct with trainees, the Army base said on Wednesday.

Investigators looking into an initial sexual assault allegation by a female trainee against a drill sergeant at the fort uncovered other incidents of alleged sexual misconduct, prompting a wider investigation, the base said in a statement.

A spokesman declined to say how many drill sergeants had been suspended as part of the investigation, but the statement indicated it was more than one.

Cracking down on sexual assault has been a priority for several years in the U.S. military, which reported in May that anonymous surveys in 2016 found that 14,900 service members experience some kind of kind of sexual assault in 2016, from groping to rape. That was down from 20,300 in 2014, according to the surveys, which are conducted every two years.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-army-sexcrimes-idUSKCN1B31MC

[procon]

1. This is an institutional problem that begins at the top.

Those drill sergeants have gotten away with sexual misconduct for years because they knew that no one was going to do anything about. Not the people above them, not their peers, not their victims, and not the victim's squad members.

The stats show a dismal record in how ineffective the military is in eliminating sex based crimes. And yet those men would expect the women in service to be loyal to the team? Nothing will change until the men in command take responsibilty for changing the military culture so that EVERYONE who is fit to serve and do so without fear of an assault.