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The flaws in our current system are there and to a normal person these rules may look like enough
to help a survivor of harassment, assault or rape but I am here to show you how they have
loopholes. This is the short version of what’s wrong. I have sent this to anyone who will listen,
Congressmen, DoD, VA and others. Sorry, this is a lot to swallow but please take a couple minutes
to read it. If you have any questions, comments or want to share your story please do! You can
reach me at militarysexualtrauma@yahoo.com or info_can_save@yahoo.com or via the HelpLine at
the top of the page.
(NOTE TO VICTIM: A lot of this can activate triggers so please, if you choose to read this,
understand this is not out to hurt, anger or upset you but to educate others.)
EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE SEXUAL ASSAULT
RESPONSE COORDINATOR AND PROGRAMS
SARC Rules and recommendations to follow: The black lettering is the instructions given in
briefings and online information sites. The red lettering is what I have discovered is wrong with
parts of them, from experience. I do realize that it may seem more complicated and simplicity is
important to the mindset of post-assault situations, but I also know that safety, their rights and
thoroughness is much more important to a violated soldier than simplicity.
Below according to sexualassault.army.mil
I have been sexually assaulted. What should I do? (Make a statement that these rules apply to you,
not who you think or know did this to you, ‘you report the same way if your attacker is an active
duty, same branch, different branch, civilian etc….’)
If you have been sexually assaulted or think you have been:
• Go to a safe location away from the attacker.
• Contact your local Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC), Victim Advocate (VA) (who,
prior to reading this, has never been identified or defined, SARC either) or healthcare provider. You
may also contact your chain of command (You are not guaranteed safety or confidentiality from
your chain of command EVER. If you feel you cannot trust them to handle this case or if they are at
fault in any way.) or law enforcement (military or civilian) (This is also not made clear to a service
member before looking this up-no briefings on THESE definitions), however if you do (report this to
law enforcement), an investigation will occur and you will not have the option of making a
Restricted Report (see below). (A recommended amendment that if someone else contacts law
enforcement, under emergency circumstances, is called you can still go restricted, somehow… to
be determined)
• Seek medical care as soon as possible. Even if you do not have any visible physical injuries,
you may be at risk of becoming pregnant or acquiring a sexually transmitted disease. (Make sure
that the SARCs know that they are to encourage care alternative reporting. And no matter what the
victim CANNOT be reprimanded in ANY way for handling this according to these policies, and no
retaliations for realizing you need health care. If it is found you need to leave for mental or other
healthcare the commands have no right to ask why and to tell a victim what to say when he/she is
asked why so they can report as they so choose, restricted or unrestricted- it is too many commands
who mislead victims at a vulnerable time to tell more than they want and are later forced to go
unrestricted when tricked into it by an knowledgeable or uncaring command)
• Ask the healthcare provider to conduct a sexual assault forensic examination (SAFE) to
preserve forensic evidence. (This part, though important, is asking a lot for a victim to remember
or even agree to, saying don’t bathe and get help ASAP I believe is enough. Anything more you are
asking a lot or you will scare the victim off reporting at all. If it explained, one at a time by a health
care provider it is MUCH easier to take than a list of things that seem like more involuntary
violations)
• If you suspect you had been drugged, request that a urine sample be collected.
• Preserve all evidence of the assault. Do not bathe, wash your hands or brush your teeth. Do
not clean or straighten up the crime scene.
• Write down, tape or record by any other means all the details you can recall about the assault
and your assailant.
Restricted Reporting
This option is for victims of sexual assault who wish to confidentially disclose the crime to
specifically identified individuals and receive medical treatment and counseling without
triggering the official investigative process. Service members who are sexually assaulted and
desire restricted reporting under this policy must report the assault to a Sexual Assault Response
Coordinator (SARC), Victim Advocate (VA), a healthcare provider or chaplain (If there is a unit
Chaplain, give name and available number for chaplain- other religions as well, comfort and open
availability are important). This policy on restricted reporting is in addition to the current
protections afforded privileged communications with a chaplain, and does not alter or affect those
protections.
Healthcare providers will initiate the appropriate care and treatment, and report the sexual assault
to the SARC in lieu of reporting the assault to law enforcement or the command (commands
pushing or misleading or even using ‘lack of knowledge’ excuse for doing more or asking for more
than a victim is willing to give MUST be subject to punishment of some sort. The victim being
FORCED into reporting unrestricted by threats to interview every person the victim has ever met
while in the military. Coercion of the victim to get information is UNCALLED FOR). Upon
notification of a reported sexual assault, the SARC will immediately assign an advocate to the
victim. The assigned Victim Advocate will provide accurate information on the process of
restricted and/or unrestricted reporting. (It is crucial that the VA and SARC training are handled by
licensed, experienced rape/assault therapist/counselors due to the extreme sensitivity and
delicacy of the situations, not a bunch of poorly trained policy police and/or insufficiently trained
civilians)
At the victim's discretion/request an appropriately trained healthcare provider shall conduct a
sexual assault forensic examination (SAFE), which may include the collection of evidence. In the
absence of a Department of Defense provider, the Service member will be referred to an
appropriate civilian facility for the SAFE. (This should be prominent for unrestricted reporting as
well, and should include access to healthcare providers, commands, SARCs or VAs and emphasize
the importance of timely, however to push the victims AT ALL will only hurt the case by causing
the victims to withdraw or feel animosity towards investigators.) – (Also, it must be made clear to
commands that no unauthorized questions, or retaliations of any sort will be allowed, and this
policy will be strictly ENFORCED (maybe even reportable to an outside agency if violated).
Confidentiality must be upheld with, for and about any and all healthcare, including mental
health, for the victims, whether reporting restricted or unrestricted, for example, commands may
not tell a soldier that going to mental health will dock them promotion points, etc.)
Who May Make A Restricted Report
Restricted reporting is available at this time only to military personnel of the Armed Forces and the
Coast Guard. Military personnel include members on active duty and members of the Reserve
component (Reserve and National Guard) provided they are performing federal duty (active duty
training or inactive duty training and members of the National Guard in Federal (Title 10) status).
Members of the Reserve Component not performing Federal duty are not eligible. Retired
members of any component are not eligible. Dependents are not eligible. Department of Defense
civilian employees are not eligible.
Considerations when Electing a Restricted Report (This is where a lot of commands make
significant mistakes. In my experience, commands will say, “Tell us the details and as long as
you don’t say a name it’s still eligible for restricted reporting”). This is clearly not correct. Once
the word ‘assault’ or even if ‘an incident occurred’ it is required for commands to launch a full
investigation with or without your cooperation.
• You receive appropriate medical treatment, advocacy, and counseling. (It is critical that
confidentiality and safety from retaliations (either by commands or by assailants or their
sympathizers) are emphasized and enforced, possibly by an outside agency or by an alternate or
higher command)
• Provides some personal space and time to consider your options and to begin the healing
process.
• Empowers you to seek relevant information and support to make more informed decisions
about participating in the criminal investigation.
• You control the release and management of your personal information.
• You decide whether and when to move forward with initiating an investigation.
Limitations
• Your assailant remains unpunished and capable of assaulting other victims. There is no
significant oversight of the requirement that commands punish offenders at all or with sufficient
severity. I would recommend having a non-command influenced authority investigate and
sentence the perpetrators found guilty. Too much of the entire process depends on the integrity of
the commands, which even in the best cases leaves a significant conflict of interest, and in the
worst cases leaves no recourse for the victim if the process is being handled badly. When the
guilty perpetrator is discharged (86% of guilty released honorably) they often have NO sex offender
records or civilian follow up- THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE! As part of an effective prevention
campaign it must be made clear to offenders – potential or actual – that sexual assault will result in
a permanent record which will follow them outside the military.
• You cannot receive a military protective order. This should be explained more fully - even
this has been known to fail when reporting unrestricted.
• You will continue to have contact with your assailant, if he/she is in your organization or
billeted with you. The importance of this fact will become clearer IF the commands are held
accountable (as said above) throughout the ENTIRE process -Also, it is important to guarantee
confidentiality so the victim is not ostracized – during either restricted or unrestricted reporting -
to avoid re-victimizing our service members, either through rumors, or by letting assailants or
those who might side with them know more than necessary.
• Evidence from the crime scene where the assault occurred will be lost, and the official
investigation, should you switch to an unrestricted report, will likely encounter significant
obstacles. If the victim goes to a healthcare provider and gets evidence collected in a timely
manner for evaluation for a later date, it should be possible to have a guarantee of confidentiality
secure chain of evidence. It might even be prudent to set a timeline for this guarantee, i.e. keep
these specimens safe and locked down for a year, so the victim can have the eligibility to go
restricted with evidence initially, then when they feel up to it, and a little more collected and
understanding of their options, they can proceed more knowledgeably – perhaps with eligibility for
law enforcement as well to collect scene evidence.
• You will not be able to discuss the assault with anyone, to include your friends, without
imposing an obligation on them to report the crime. The only exceptions would be chaplains,
designated healthcare providers, your assigned victim advocate, and the sexual assault response
coordinator. It should be possible for a victim to pick their own healthcare, or mental healthcare
provider.
• You will be ineligible to invoke the collateral misconduct provision of the Department's
sexual assault policy in the event that your command learns that you had been engaged in some
form of misconduct at the time you were assaulted.
Unrestricted Reporting
This option is for victims of sexual assault who desire medical treatment, counseling and an
official investigation of the crime. When selecting unrestricted reporting, you should use current
reporting channels, e.g. chain of command, law enforcement or report the incident to the Sexual
Assault Response Coordinator (SARC), or request healthcare providers to notify law enforcement.
One of the options available to the victim must be to have the power to remove them from a
threatening command and also to be free from having to report to or from the command at any
stage after initiating the reporting process. I recommend a new civilian UCMJ and policy enforcer
that has complete independence from the victim’s command. Upon notification of a reported
sexual assault, the SARC will immediately assign a Victim Advocate (VA). At the victim's
discretion/request, the healthcare provider shall conduct a sexual assault forensic examination
(SAFE), which may include the collection of evidence. Details regarding the incident will be
limited to only those personnel who have a legitimate need to know.
Role of the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (I cannot stress better training enough!)
The Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) is considered the center of gravity when it comes
to ensuring that victims of sexual assault receive appropriate and responsive care. They serve as
the single point of contact to coordinate sexual assault victim care. The term Sexual Assault
Response Coordinator (SARC) is a standardized term utilized throughout the Department of Defense
and the Services to facilitate communication and transparency regarding sexual assault response
capability.
Role of the Victim Advocate Victim advocates must have better training! They also must have less
personal/professional responsibility when called up as VA. For example, they cannot be an active
commander of another unit with too many things to do, as victim focus is crucial. The VA must be
put higher on the checklist and clearly identified in briefings with a phone number they can be
reached at in case all else fails).
The Victim Advocate (VA) provides essential support and care to the victim to include providing
non-clinical information on available options and resources to assist the victim in making
informed decisions as they progress through resolution and healing. The VA maintains
communications and contact with victim as needed for continued victim support. As will command
change, there must be the ability to call someone else to have new VA or SARC and/or higher chain
recourse to enforce these rules and regulations with consequences if duty to the victim is not
fulfilled. And legally should not be allowed to PRESSURE anyone into reporting differently.
I would even go so far as having this printed out, with room to fill in contact
numbers, in a wallet sized card for any soldier to keep with them if so desired.
Above according to sexualassault.army.mil
No one is verifying that Commands know these policies and are willing to abide by them. Also, no
one is investigating whether commands are intentionally circumventing enforcement of the
policies. It must be guaranteed that rank is in NO WAY is a deciding factor in the investigations,
leading to the frequent “his word vs. her word, who has higher rank… the rank wins..” Rank cannot
trump evidence. There must be a way for victims to document harassment or threats, like the
option of carrying a hidden recording device for example, or something… to be determined.
Too many levels are a joke at this point and the only people paying for the problems and lack of
enforcement in this system are the victims.
This is so important to me because I have experienced a lot of sexual trauma in the military and I
have unfortunately seen the loopholes that these rules have left to the commands. And all in all I
know that due to these, and other policies, victims are paying the price of professional conduct,
expert leadership skills, promotions, careers, relationships of all kinds, and even as much as their
lives for a very fixable problem. I joined the military to give back to a country that has given me so
much, and for that I am very thankful. But to come home, broken, and ashamed of my service
because what others, criminal cowards, have done to me, and the commands that did little to
nothing about it, is an outrage. An outrage I cannot and do not want to keep silent anymore. I do
not want anyone else to regret his or her service under these circumstances ever again. I want to
encourage others, including my children, to join and serve, to give back as I wanted to, and to
know they are as safe as they can be.
Please forgive me as this was written on short notice but I do believe this is a good start to a huge
problem within our military. I am very concerned about the severity of this and am ready and
willing to see effective changes go through for our soldiers’ protection and sanity! I would love to
participle and know I can be an effective contributor to creating new policies, and updating
current policies. I would be appreciative of the serious thought and time to put these or other
effective regulations into effect as soon as possible.
to help a survivor of harassment, assault or rape but I am here to show you how they have
loopholes. This is the short version of what’s wrong. I have sent this to anyone who will listen,
Congressmen, DoD, VA and others. Sorry, this is a lot to swallow but please take a couple minutes
to read it. If you have any questions, comments or want to share your story please do! You can
reach me at militarysexualtrauma@yahoo.com or info_can_save@yahoo.com or via the HelpLine at
the top of the page.
(NOTE TO VICTIM: A lot of this can activate triggers so please, if you choose to read this,
understand this is not out to hurt, anger or upset you but to educate others.)
EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE SEXUAL ASSAULT
RESPONSE COORDINATOR AND PROGRAMS
SARC Rules and recommendations to follow: The black lettering is the instructions given in
briefings and online information sites. The red lettering is what I have discovered is wrong with
parts of them, from experience. I do realize that it may seem more complicated and simplicity is
important to the mindset of post-assault situations, but I also know that safety, their rights and
thoroughness is much more important to a violated soldier than simplicity.
Below according to sexualassault.army.mil
I have been sexually assaulted. What should I do? (Make a statement that these rules apply to you,
not who you think or know did this to you, ‘you report the same way if your attacker is an active
duty, same branch, different branch, civilian etc….’)
If you have been sexually assaulted or think you have been:
• Go to a safe location away from the attacker.
• Contact your local Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC), Victim Advocate (VA) (who,
prior to reading this, has never been identified or defined, SARC either) or healthcare provider. You
may also contact your chain of command (You are not guaranteed safety or confidentiality from
your chain of command EVER. If you feel you cannot trust them to handle this case or if they are at
fault in any way.) or law enforcement (military or civilian) (This is also not made clear to a service
member before looking this up-no briefings on THESE definitions), however if you do (report this to
law enforcement), an investigation will occur and you will not have the option of making a
Restricted Report (see below). (A recommended amendment that if someone else contacts law
enforcement, under emergency circumstances, is called you can still go restricted, somehow… to
be determined)
• Seek medical care as soon as possible. Even if you do not have any visible physical injuries,
you may be at risk of becoming pregnant or acquiring a sexually transmitted disease. (Make sure
that the SARCs know that they are to encourage care alternative reporting. And no matter what the
victim CANNOT be reprimanded in ANY way for handling this according to these policies, and no
retaliations for realizing you need health care. If it is found you need to leave for mental or other
healthcare the commands have no right to ask why and to tell a victim what to say when he/she is
asked why so they can report as they so choose, restricted or unrestricted- it is too many commands
who mislead victims at a vulnerable time to tell more than they want and are later forced to go
unrestricted when tricked into it by an knowledgeable or uncaring command)
• Ask the healthcare provider to conduct a sexual assault forensic examination (SAFE) to
preserve forensic evidence. (This part, though important, is asking a lot for a victim to remember
or even agree to, saying don’t bathe and get help ASAP I believe is enough. Anything more you are
asking a lot or you will scare the victim off reporting at all. If it explained, one at a time by a health
care provider it is MUCH easier to take than a list of things that seem like more involuntary
violations)
• If you suspect you had been drugged, request that a urine sample be collected.
• Preserve all evidence of the assault. Do not bathe, wash your hands or brush your teeth. Do
not clean or straighten up the crime scene.
• Write down, tape or record by any other means all the details you can recall about the assault
and your assailant.
Restricted Reporting
This option is for victims of sexual assault who wish to confidentially disclose the crime to
specifically identified individuals and receive medical treatment and counseling without
triggering the official investigative process. Service members who are sexually assaulted and
desire restricted reporting under this policy must report the assault to a Sexual Assault Response
Coordinator (SARC), Victim Advocate (VA), a healthcare provider or chaplain (If there is a unit
Chaplain, give name and available number for chaplain- other religions as well, comfort and open
availability are important). This policy on restricted reporting is in addition to the current
protections afforded privileged communications with a chaplain, and does not alter or affect those
protections.
Healthcare providers will initiate the appropriate care and treatment, and report the sexual assault
to the SARC in lieu of reporting the assault to law enforcement or the command (commands
pushing or misleading or even using ‘lack of knowledge’ excuse for doing more or asking for more
than a victim is willing to give MUST be subject to punishment of some sort. The victim being
FORCED into reporting unrestricted by threats to interview every person the victim has ever met
while in the military. Coercion of the victim to get information is UNCALLED FOR). Upon
notification of a reported sexual assault, the SARC will immediately assign an advocate to the
victim. The assigned Victim Advocate will provide accurate information on the process of
restricted and/or unrestricted reporting. (It is crucial that the VA and SARC training are handled by
licensed, experienced rape/assault therapist/counselors due to the extreme sensitivity and
delicacy of the situations, not a bunch of poorly trained policy police and/or insufficiently trained
civilians)
At the victim's discretion/request an appropriately trained healthcare provider shall conduct a
sexual assault forensic examination (SAFE), which may include the collection of evidence. In the
absence of a Department of Defense provider, the Service member will be referred to an
appropriate civilian facility for the SAFE. (This should be prominent for unrestricted reporting as
well, and should include access to healthcare providers, commands, SARCs or VAs and emphasize
the importance of timely, however to push the victims AT ALL will only hurt the case by causing
the victims to withdraw or feel animosity towards investigators.) – (Also, it must be made clear to
commands that no unauthorized questions, or retaliations of any sort will be allowed, and this
policy will be strictly ENFORCED (maybe even reportable to an outside agency if violated).
Confidentiality must be upheld with, for and about any and all healthcare, including mental
health, for the victims, whether reporting restricted or unrestricted, for example, commands may
not tell a soldier that going to mental health will dock them promotion points, etc.)
Who May Make A Restricted Report
Restricted reporting is available at this time only to military personnel of the Armed Forces and the
Coast Guard. Military personnel include members on active duty and members of the Reserve
component (Reserve and National Guard) provided they are performing federal duty (active duty
training or inactive duty training and members of the National Guard in Federal (Title 10) status).
Members of the Reserve Component not performing Federal duty are not eligible. Retired
members of any component are not eligible. Dependents are not eligible. Department of Defense
civilian employees are not eligible.
Considerations when Electing a Restricted Report (This is where a lot of commands make
significant mistakes. In my experience, commands will say, “Tell us the details and as long as
you don’t say a name it’s still eligible for restricted reporting”). This is clearly not correct. Once
the word ‘assault’ or even if ‘an incident occurred’ it is required for commands to launch a full
investigation with or without your cooperation.
• You receive appropriate medical treatment, advocacy, and counseling. (It is critical that
confidentiality and safety from retaliations (either by commands or by assailants or their
sympathizers) are emphasized and enforced, possibly by an outside agency or by an alternate or
higher command)
• Provides some personal space and time to consider your options and to begin the healing
process.
• Empowers you to seek relevant information and support to make more informed decisions
about participating in the criminal investigation.
• You control the release and management of your personal information.
• You decide whether and when to move forward with initiating an investigation.
Limitations
• Your assailant remains unpunished and capable of assaulting other victims. There is no
significant oversight of the requirement that commands punish offenders at all or with sufficient
severity. I would recommend having a non-command influenced authority investigate and
sentence the perpetrators found guilty. Too much of the entire process depends on the integrity of
the commands, which even in the best cases leaves a significant conflict of interest, and in the
worst cases leaves no recourse for the victim if the process is being handled badly. When the
guilty perpetrator is discharged (86% of guilty released honorably) they often have NO sex offender
records or civilian follow up- THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE! As part of an effective prevention
campaign it must be made clear to offenders – potential or actual – that sexual assault will result in
a permanent record which will follow them outside the military.
• You cannot receive a military protective order. This should be explained more fully - even
this has been known to fail when reporting unrestricted.
• You will continue to have contact with your assailant, if he/she is in your organization or
billeted with you. The importance of this fact will become clearer IF the commands are held
accountable (as said above) throughout the ENTIRE process -Also, it is important to guarantee
confidentiality so the victim is not ostracized – during either restricted or unrestricted reporting -
to avoid re-victimizing our service members, either through rumors, or by letting assailants or
those who might side with them know more than necessary.
• Evidence from the crime scene where the assault occurred will be lost, and the official
investigation, should you switch to an unrestricted report, will likely encounter significant
obstacles. If the victim goes to a healthcare provider and gets evidence collected in a timely
manner for evaluation for a later date, it should be possible to have a guarantee of confidentiality
secure chain of evidence. It might even be prudent to set a timeline for this guarantee, i.e. keep
these specimens safe and locked down for a year, so the victim can have the eligibility to go
restricted with evidence initially, then when they feel up to it, and a little more collected and
understanding of their options, they can proceed more knowledgeably – perhaps with eligibility for
law enforcement as well to collect scene evidence.
• You will not be able to discuss the assault with anyone, to include your friends, without
imposing an obligation on them to report the crime. The only exceptions would be chaplains,
designated healthcare providers, your assigned victim advocate, and the sexual assault response
coordinator. It should be possible for a victim to pick their own healthcare, or mental healthcare
provider.
• You will be ineligible to invoke the collateral misconduct provision of the Department's
sexual assault policy in the event that your command learns that you had been engaged in some
form of misconduct at the time you were assaulted.
Unrestricted Reporting
This option is for victims of sexual assault who desire medical treatment, counseling and an
official investigation of the crime. When selecting unrestricted reporting, you should use current
reporting channels, e.g. chain of command, law enforcement or report the incident to the Sexual
Assault Response Coordinator (SARC), or request healthcare providers to notify law enforcement.
One of the options available to the victim must be to have the power to remove them from a
threatening command and also to be free from having to report to or from the command at any
stage after initiating the reporting process. I recommend a new civilian UCMJ and policy enforcer
that has complete independence from the victim’s command. Upon notification of a reported
sexual assault, the SARC will immediately assign a Victim Advocate (VA). At the victim's
discretion/request, the healthcare provider shall conduct a sexual assault forensic examination
(SAFE), which may include the collection of evidence. Details regarding the incident will be
limited to only those personnel who have a legitimate need to know.
Role of the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (I cannot stress better training enough!)
The Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) is considered the center of gravity when it comes
to ensuring that victims of sexual assault receive appropriate and responsive care. They serve as
the single point of contact to coordinate sexual assault victim care. The term Sexual Assault
Response Coordinator (SARC) is a standardized term utilized throughout the Department of Defense
and the Services to facilitate communication and transparency regarding sexual assault response
capability.
Role of the Victim Advocate Victim advocates must have better training! They also must have less
personal/professional responsibility when called up as VA. For example, they cannot be an active
commander of another unit with too many things to do, as victim focus is crucial. The VA must be
put higher on the checklist and clearly identified in briefings with a phone number they can be
reached at in case all else fails).
The Victim Advocate (VA) provides essential support and care to the victim to include providing
non-clinical information on available options and resources to assist the victim in making
informed decisions as they progress through resolution and healing. The VA maintains
communications and contact with victim as needed for continued victim support. As will command
change, there must be the ability to call someone else to have new VA or SARC and/or higher chain
recourse to enforce these rules and regulations with consequences if duty to the victim is not
fulfilled. And legally should not be allowed to PRESSURE anyone into reporting differently.
I would even go so far as having this printed out, with room to fill in contact
numbers, in a wallet sized card for any soldier to keep with them if so desired.
Above according to sexualassault.army.mil
No one is verifying that Commands know these policies and are willing to abide by them. Also, no
one is investigating whether commands are intentionally circumventing enforcement of the
policies. It must be guaranteed that rank is in NO WAY is a deciding factor in the investigations,
leading to the frequent “his word vs. her word, who has higher rank… the rank wins..” Rank cannot
trump evidence. There must be a way for victims to document harassment or threats, like the
option of carrying a hidden recording device for example, or something… to be determined.
Too many levels are a joke at this point and the only people paying for the problems and lack of
enforcement in this system are the victims.
This is so important to me because I have experienced a lot of sexual trauma in the military and I
have unfortunately seen the loopholes that these rules have left to the commands. And all in all I
know that due to these, and other policies, victims are paying the price of professional conduct,
expert leadership skills, promotions, careers, relationships of all kinds, and even as much as their
lives for a very fixable problem. I joined the military to give back to a country that has given me so
much, and for that I am very thankful. But to come home, broken, and ashamed of my service
because what others, criminal cowards, have done to me, and the commands that did little to
nothing about it, is an outrage. An outrage I cannot and do not want to keep silent anymore. I do
not want anyone else to regret his or her service under these circumstances ever again. I want to
encourage others, including my children, to join and serve, to give back as I wanted to, and to
know they are as safe as they can be.
Please forgive me as this was written on short notice but I do believe this is a good start to a huge
problem within our military. I am very concerned about the severity of this and am ready and
willing to see effective changes go through for our soldiers’ protection and sanity! I would love to
participle and know I can be an effective contributor to creating new policies, and updating
current policies. I would be appreciative of the serious thought and time to put these or other
effective regulations into effect as soon as possible.
| Current Regulation Issues |
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