OFF THE WIRE
by Julie Watson
SAN DIEGO -- The laughter and chatter ceased as soon as the two naval
chiefs appeared on the rooftop deck of the barracks, where four sailors
-- three men and one woman -- were having drinks in a hot tub with a
sweeping view of San Diego Bay.
Chief Petty Officer John Tate approached the group and asked a
23-year-old in a don't-try-to-fool-me tone whether his Gatorade bottle
was spiked. Then Tate turned to the only female in the hot tub: "You on
the same ship? You drinking a little bit, too?"
"I'm just sipping on it," she said.
There was no mention of the military's push to prevent sexual
assaults in its ranks, but those in the hot tub at Naval Base San Diego
said they knew that's why Tate was there. Tate serves on one of the
Navy's new nightly patrol units charged with policing bases to control
heavy drinking and reckless behavior.
The patrols are among a number of new initiatives the armed forces is
implementing to try to stop sexual assaults by changing the military's
work-hard, play-hard culture. The effort follows a Pentagon report,
released in May, that estimates as many as 26,000 service members may
have been sexually assaulted last year.
The head of the Army has called sexual assault "a cancer" that could
destroy the force, while Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the problem
threatens to undermine troops' effectiveness in carrying out missions.
But military leaders have rejected far-reaching congressional efforts to
strip commanders of some authority in meting out justice, saying that
would undercut the ability of commanders to discipline their troops.
Now every branch is scrambling to demonstrate it can get the
situation under control by instituting new measures that emphasize a
zero-tolerance message and crack down on alcohol, which is said to be a
major contributor to the problem.
"We need cultural change, where every service member is treated with
dignity and respect, where all allegations of inappropriate behavior are
treated with seriousness, where victims' privacy is protected, where
bystanders are motivated to intervene, and where offenders know that
they will be held accountable by strong and effective systems of
justice," Hagel said after the report was released.
Hagel ordered all commanders to inspect workspaces by July 1 to
ensure they were free of degrading material, and he gave military
leaders until Nov. 1 to recommend ways to hold officers accountable for
their commands' environments.
In June, thousands of military men and women attended interactive,
in-your-face training programs as part of a Pentagon-ordered stand-down
from regular duties to specifically address sexual assault. The service
members role-played uncomfortable scenarios, watched explicit videos
that included rape scenes and were grilled over the meaning of "consent"
in boot camp-style lectures. Some branches allowed media to attend the
sessions.
During one course at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island,
S.C., 1st Sgt. Rena Bruno paced in front of screens filled with
statistics as she schooled 200 recruits, in their 10th day of basic
training, on the definitions of sexual assault and harassment.
"We're tired of hearing about it in every military branch!" Bruno
bellowed. "It brings dishonor to the Marine Corps! You got that?"
"Yes, ma'am!" the young men yelled back.
Bruno cited an incident in which a Marine drugged his roommate, and
then videotaped the ensuing encounter. The class groaned, but recruit
Alex Ritter, 21, of Lafayette, La., said Bruno's message came through
loud and clear: "It shows what's happening both in the civilian world
and in the armed forces."
At another class at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle,
about 200 airmen, mostly in their 20s, watched videos that showed an old
World War II bomber plane decorated with a painting of a pinup girl and
a sexually suggestive squadron patch.
Saying the culture has to change, Lt. Col. Rick Hughes told the
group: "America's view is that the military condones sexual assault."
At Fort Bliss Army base in Texas, Sgt. Wallace Levy inappropriately
rubbed a soldier's back to see if those in his training class would
react. When no one did, he admonished them: "Don't look the other way if
you see it happening."
Each branch of the military is imposing new rules, mostly aimed at
service members in their 20s, who the Pentagon says are most vulnerable
to an attack.
The Army implemented a 9 p.m. curfew and banned alcohol for young
soldiers at 22 of its basic training facilities. The Marine Corps' top
leader ordered "climate surveys" for all new commanders to check for
harassment, hazing and alcohol problems among their subordinates.
The Air Force put a female two-star general in charge of a beefed-up
office responsible for sexual assault prevention and response, while the
U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado hired a civilian psychology
professor to teach courses on interpersonal violence and men and
masculinity for one year.
The Navy plans to replicate the nightly patrols roaming San Diego's
bases at some 70 installations worldwide, including in Pensacola, Fla.;
Naples, Italy; and Yokosuka, Japan.
Military officials are also learning from mistakes made while trying
to address the problem. Responding to a lawmaker's complaints, the Air
Force this summer pulled a brochure circulated at a South Carolina base
that stated, "If you're attacked, it may be advisable to submit than to
resist."
Some service members have bristled at the new restrictions, calling them unfair for punishing all for the sins of a few.
"This represents the military's simplistic approach to solving a
complex issue that it has ignored for years," Army Spc. Sam Ellison, a
28-year-old soldier at Texas' Goodfellow Air Force Base, which has a 9
p.m. curfew for new troops, wrote in an email to the Army Times
newspaper.
Ellison said the misguided thinking is, "If we treat all of the soldiers like criminals, they can't commit crimes."
"Big Brother would be proud," he wrote.
Military officials defended the actions, given the rise in cases. The
Pentagon report found a 6 percent increase in reported sexual assaults,
or 3,374 cases, in fiscal year 2012 over the previous year. But
officials believe the problem is far worse. Based on that number and
anonymous surveys of service members, the Pentagon estimated the number
of victims may be as high as 26,000.
More people are stepping forward after word spread about resources
for victims, including a 24-hour hotline and expedited transfers from a
unit after an abuse is reported. But the crime is still widely
underreported because of fear of retaliation and other reasons, Pentagon
officials said.
The Pentagon established its Sexual Assault Prevention and Response
program eight years ago with the goal of reducing attacks through annual
training and campaigns to encourage more reporting by victims. Since
then, the number of reported cases has risen by 98 percent - which
critics say shows the need for judicial reform.
"Until there are structural changes, you're not going to train your
way out of this epidemic," said Brian Purchia of Protect Our Defenders, a
nonprofit that helps military sexual assault victims. "There needs to
be actual punishment."
A sweeping defense bill approved by the U.S. House in June would
impose new punishments, including requiring a mandatory minimum sentence
of two years in prison for military personnel convicted of rape or
sexual assault. The bill also would strip military commanders of the
power to overturn convictions in those cases. The Senate is expected to
take up the issue this fall.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen, a Pentagon spokesman, said Hagel
has not ruled out any remedies but that "the key to preventing sexual
assaults ... will be our commanders" and the standards they set.
Troops also are being trained to speak out if a higher-ranking officer behaves inappropriately, military authorities said.
In San Diego, Chief Petty Officer Tate said the roving patrols, along with other measures, seem to be making a difference.
Six months ago, the Navy banned pitchers of beer at bowling alleys
and pizza parlors on all three of its bases in the city. At the same
time, each base also launched a resident adviser program. Chief petty
officers now live in every barrack and are trained to respond to
situations that could spiral out of control.
Many of the resident advisers, like Tate, also serve on the roving
patrols, which started in February and were modeled after a similar
effort at the Navy's training facility for new recruits in Great Lakes,
Ill. Sexual assaults there dropped by more than 60 percent over a
two-year period.
In San Diego, rotating teams of two senior enlisted officers patrol
from 7 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on
weekends, walking from barrack to barrack to peek in on communal areas
before checking popular drinking spots.
On a warm May night at Naval Base San Diego, Tate and his partner
stopped by picnic tables, a bowling alley and the rooftop hot tub on the
base, which borders a working-class neighborhood near downtown. An
adult entertainment shop sits on a crime-ridden street near the base;
sailors are barred from the thoroughfare.
The most common infraction Tate said he had handled so far were male
sailors violating base rules banning earrings. Still, he said he
believed his impromptu appearances were helping to keep people in line.
"They know we're watching them," he said.
-- Associated Press writers Susanne M. Schafer in Parris Island,
S.C.; Juan Carlos Llorca in El Paso, Texas; and Melissa Nelson-Gabriel
in Pensacola, Fla., contributed to this report.
