U.S. soldier goes AWOL -- alleges sexual harassment

[deadparrot]

Car keys in hand, Army Spc. Suzanne Swift was about to leave her home in Eugene, Ore., for a second tour of duty in Iraq in January when she turned to her mother and said she couldn't do it. With 2 1/2 years to go on her commitment, she opted out.

Swift hadn't wanted to go to Iraq when she signed papers while still in high school, but she was no conscientious objector. She believed in what her president told her about the war on terror, and in Iraq she endured discomfort and danger with her unit. She had already shipped her personal belongings to Iraq for her next tour.

But Swift said she had also been singled out for repeated sexual abuse. In the eyes of some with whom she served, she said, she was never a comrade in arms; she was a target for their sexual advances. And despite her complaints, she said, the Army hadn't protected her.

To go back, she believed, would be to suffer this all over again. So for the next five months, Swift spent time with her boyfriend on the Oregon coast, stayed in month-to-month apartments, even hunkered down at home while a lawyer tried to start negotiations with the Army.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/15/MNGJFL6BUE1.DTL

[Erika]

1. An indecent war will never produce decent results

So sorry for the lady.

[rodeodance]

2. In the military, it's all about punishing the transgressor. ...

.......Swift complained to Cox, the same Equal Opportunity rep whose help she had sought in Iraq. This time, he investigated with the help of a female soldier -- standard procedure when a soldier makes a formal complaint of sexual harassment.

The investigators found enough merit in her claims to transfer the team leader. But she says they also admonished her for not taking her complaint up her chain of command.

At the conclusion of Swift's interview with the investigators, the female investigator required her to participate in a role-playing exercise to help her verbally fend off unwanted attention in the future. In an interview, Swift said that whatever its official purpose, the exercise seemed to lay the blame on her: If only she had been more forceful in telling a superior to get lost, the role-playing seemed to imply, none of this would have happened.

James Klimaski, a civilian lawyer in Washington, D.C., who represents military personnel in military courts, said, "In the civilian world, it's all about relief for the victim. In the military, it's all about punishing the transgressor. ........

[rodeodance]

3. after she was arrested, the Army put her back in her SAME unit!!

....."The U.S. Army does not make an effort to search for deserters," according to Gini Sinclair, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Deserter Information Point at Fort Knox in Kentucky, one of two centers that process deserters. "They wait for these soldiers to turn themselves in or for them to be picked up when stopped for a routine traffic violation."

Sinclair said she couldn't comment on the Swift case.

Two days after the Eugene police took her into custody, Swift was returned to Fort Lewis and put under the same platoon sergeant who she claimed harassed her in Iraq. After her mother and lawyer complained, she was transferred to another unit, where she is awaiting the results of the investigation.

So far, the Army's psychological evaluation of Swift has not confirmed the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. The Army has issued no charges against Swift or those she accuses of mistreatment.

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[IndianaGreen]

5. Women that don't submit are often accused of being lesbians

and the fear of being drummed out of the service plays a part in the sexually charged atmosphere.

This is not an isolated incident!

[Benhurst]

6. Well, that makes sense. Any real woman would want it.

God! How sick this society has become!

[SpiralHawk]

4. Commander AWOL: "How can I get in on the action."

Deserter.

[Benhurst]

7. I think you're being a bit unfair.

He's got Gannon to give him all the military action he desires.