Sergeant Rapey is the backbone of the Army there, subby. Without his tireless dedication and hard... work, where would the lower ranks learn to be that productive?

You gotta wonder how many sex crimes in the Army are actually reported. By all accounts, women are VERY strongly discouraged from filing those reports. The actual rate has got to be at least three times as high.

GAT_00: You gotta wonder how many sex crimes in the Army are actually reported. By all accounts, women are VERY strongly discouraged from filing those reports. The actual rate has got to be at least three times as high.

Sounds scientific.

Well, stop feckin' clapping then!

I hope someone who served in the core can come in here and set the record straight.

GAT_00: You gotta wonder how many sex crimes in the Army are actually reported. By all accounts, women are VERY strongly discouraged from filing those reports. The actual rate has got to be at least three times as high.

From anecdotal evidence from former servicewomen I know, I'd tend to agree with you. It is a SERIOUS problem the military really isn't coming to grips with. Part of it is inhereintly biological. We know for a fact that men's sex drives (production of testosterone, sperm count, etc) increase astronomically after near-death experiences-which makes evolutionary sense. It is one of the reasons that rape has been such a constant feature of wartime thoughout recorded human history.

A much Larger part of it however is a lack of Command Will to eliminate the problem. We ask soldiers to overcome all sorts of other, even stronger biological urges, like the self preservation instinct-though military discipline and training. It's a matter of overcoming the sexism of the senior command ranks more than anything I think. Soliders seem to have an extreme "Madonna/Whore Complex" when it comes to females in the ranks.

For example, I know woman who was a Seabee Lt who found herself as the only US servicewoman in Somalia back in the "Blackhawk Down" days. While she's an extremely "sex-positive" woman generally, she was chaster than a nun during her whole time there. When I asked he why she explained, utterly matter of factly, that as long as she didn't show interest in anyone, she was safe, as her entire platoon would defend her honor like they would their own kid sister's. The minute she hooked up with anyone, she knew she'd be regarded as "fair game" for EVERYONE, her own feelings in the matter be damned

atomic-age: CapnBlues: I hope someone who served in the core can come in here and set the record straight.

You know they will!

By 4 a.m. New Year's Day, we'd already had drive-by murder committed by a soldier. The guys are coming back messed up, and they are always ready to fight or shoot. Not surprising, given how many times they've been deployed.

in case you don't know the reference, here's the classic thread (new window)

I have a friend who is a former marine and she says either you become a slut and are just okay with it or get raped frequently. Either way, if you are a woman you will be having sex no matter how you feel about it. One woman on base filed a rape charge after her first encounter and the command staff let her be constantly tormented by the other soldiers. She ended up committing suicide over it and all my friend learned was never file a rape charge. This was maybe ten years ago. I hope things have improved since then because it is a real travesty these things even happened.

/Would be proud to have a son in the military
//Would be constantly worried if it were a daughter

Tapakip: Saw a news story on TV that the military estimates there were 22,000 rapes in one year. 19,000 of which went unreported. That's an atrocity.

But it's OK because of you are in the military you are automatically a hero, so why does subby hate America?

but i thought that people in the armed forces were of stronger moral fiber than other citizens? I thought that people in the core were the finest americans in all of america.

Magorn: A much Larger part of it however is a lack of Command Will to eliminate the problem. We ask soldiers to overcome all sorts of other, even stronger biological urges, like the self preservation instinct-though military discipline and training. It's a matter of overcoming the sexism of the senior command ranks more than anything I think. Soliders seem to have an extreme "Madonna/Whore Complex" when it comes to females in the ranks.

For example, I know woman who was a Seabee Lt who found herself as the only US servicewoman in Somalia back in the "Blackhawk Down" days. While she's an extremely "sex-positive" woman generally, she was chaster than a nun during her whole time there. When I asked he why she explained, utterly matter of factly, that as long as she didn't show interest in anyone, she was safe, as her entire platoon would defend her honor like they would their own kid sister's. The minute she hooked up with anyone, she knew she'd be regarded as "fair game" for EVERYONE, her own feelings in the matter be damned

I'm telling you, it'd be a cold day in hell before I advised my sister, daughter or wife to enlist in the military. As an officer, sure no problem. But being an EM (enlisted man, which is used to define men or women) is pretty much the closest thing to being a slave I could imagine (short of actual slavery) and sexual degradation is too easy to comprehend.

I served a 2-year enlistment (got out about 17 days before 9/11), and heard of 2 instances of sexual assault while I was in. One was on a drunk passed out female mechanic, the other was on a guy in my platoon, a member of the platoon sergeant's tank. If a tanker can damn near get raped, it can happen to anyone, anytime. Even officers, though if that happened I'd expect that fellow's penis to be missing before CID got a hold of him.