27 April 2012 - The Gulf Defender

A4 | Gulf Defender Commentary
Friday, April 27, 2012
Surviving sexual assault
By Airman Daniel B. Blackwell
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFNS)—
“That night, my whole world
turned upside down,” said airman
Samantha Smith, a sexual assault
survivor in the Air Force.
On the night Smith was
recalling, she became a victim of
sexual assault and took her first
of many steps down the road of
recovery.
That night, Smith attended a
party with people she believed to
be her close, trusted friends. Her
attacker knew her boyfriend and
accompanied her to the party.
Smith dismissed warnings from
other close friends about her
would-be attacker and his motives
for spending time with her.
“I should have noticed the
signs, but I was naïve,” Smith
said.
At the party, Smith drank
alcohol despite being underage.
She became drunk and chose to
leave with the male friend she
assumed she could trust. After
the party, he drove her back to his
apartment, where she spent the
night.
“When I awoke, he was having
intercourse with me,” she said.
“I knew what was happening, but
I was trapped in my own body,
paralyzed by fear. No one can
understand that feeling unless
they’ve been there. I couldn’t fight
back, I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t
move. Soon after, I blacked out.”
Smith woke up the next
morning at 9 a.m., and the man
had already left.
“I wish I could forget, but I
can’t,” Smith said.
She first confided in her
mother, then in her close friend,
as she felt those were the only two
she could trust.
“My friend made me call
the sexual assault response
coordinator line,” she said. “I was
so afraid I would get in trouble for
underage drinking. I used to think
the SARC would record what you
say and tell your commander, first
sergeant and supervisors. I was
wrong.
“They explained to me the
difference between restricted and
unrestricted reports,” Smith said.
“I ended up doing a restricted
report at first but later decided to
do an unrestricted report.”
A restricted report must be
kept confidential and cannot
be investigated or prosecuted.
An unrestricted report allows
command notification and
engagement as well as the option
of investigation.
“After this, I signed a paper
and went to Columbia, (S.C.,) for a
sexual assault nurse examiner’s
Commentary by Chief
Master Sgt. Harold L. Hutchison
7th Air Force
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea
(AFNS) — Recently, I received
and reviewed, with great
concern, the alarmingly high
Air Force suicide rates for fiscal
2012. As of March 27, we have
had 30 suicides for the year
compared to 23 at this same time
last year.
One of the many things we
can do to reverse this negative
trend is employ increased faceto-face
communication with
airmen, to show we care.
Leaders need to get out from
behind the desk to visit, mentor
(investigation),” Smith said.
This type of forensic medical
exam may be performed at
hospitals and certain health care
facilities by a sexual assault nurse
examiner, sexual assault forensic
examiner or another medical
professional. The investigation
is complex and takes three to
four hours on average. These
medical and forensic exams are
comprehensive and attend to the
victim’s medical needs and any
other special attention the victim
might require.
“I went to work without telling
anyone what happened. I was
watching my back and not talking
to anyone,” she said. “If I did talk,
I would sound irate or cry for no
reason. I wouldn’t go anywhere
by myself, because I was scared.
Everything was triggering my
fear and anger.
“I kept blaming myself for what
happened,” Smith said. “It’s my
fault: my clothes were too skimpy;
I drank too much; why couldn’t I
fight back?
“That same week I started
counseling off base. I always
thought counseling was for crazy
people. I thought I could suck it
up and handle it on my own; I was
wrong, but my counselor really
helped get me through.”
Because Smith filed an
unrestricted report, she was
required to speak with the office
of special investigations, which
investigates major crimes in the
Air Force.
OSI officials instructed Smith
to write down all the details
she could remember about
her assault. After this, they
questioned her multiple times
about the events that took place
during and before the assault.
The initial process took more than
five hours, and Smith paid three
more visits to OSI in the following
weeks.
Air Force legal officials decided
to file a complaint under Article
120: Rape and Carnal Knowledge.
Shortly after pressing charges,
Smith received her medical exam
results back, which confirmed her
fears.
“I had about three pages of
evidence that this assault actually
occurred,” Smith said. “Most
people would find three pages
of evidence a victory on their
part, (but) I didn’t. I felt dirty and
disgusting.
“The legal process was long
and grueling,” she said. I felt like
a lab rat, with no privacy or rights.
Throughout this process, I found
out that I was not the first girl he
had raped. It made me so mad.”
“He assaulted (another) about
a year prior to me, and got away
with it. Knowing this gave me a
and socialize with our airmen.
Effective personal
communication is no small task
in the modern military. With
units consistently deploying,
issues associated with increased
family separation, long hours and
countless other factors, airmen
might feel a heavy physical and/
or mental burden to which no
rank is immune.
Within our military culture,
we have come to a crossroads
with regard to communicating.
Long forgotten is the talent of
the one-on-one, face-to-face
mentoring. Email has certainly
expedited the communication
process, but it has also hindered,
to some degree, the ability and
little more motivation to bring him
to court.”
The hearing was scheduled in
August, and Smith was given the
option not to testify. However, she
was told if she refused to testify,
her case had a high probability of
being thrown out.
“That day was so nervewracking
for me. I had to tell my
story again in front of more than
10 people, including my attacker,”
she said. “I could feel his eyes
burning through me as I talked
about what happened.”
One week following the initial
hearing, Smith received news
that they had enough evidence to
forward the case to court-martial.
“I didn’t want to testify again,”
she said. “When you’re on the
stand, they rip your story to
pieces. They try to make you
seem like the worst airman there
is, like the scum of the earth. I
debated whether or not I’d testify
up to the last minute. A week
before the court martial was to
take place, the Area Defense
Counsel representing my attacker
met with me and explained they
were opting to submit a package
for a bad conduct discharge.
“I agreed with it. As long as I
didn’t have to see him anymore,
I was happy,” Smith said. “The
ADC then sent the request up the
chain of command, where it was
later approved. The day I was told
he was being discharged, I cried
tears of joy. I had a weight lifted
off my shoulders. Justice had
been served.
“I received a letter of
reprimand for underage drinking,
which was deserved on my
part,” she said. “I was blessed
not to have received anything
worse. The LOR gave me more
motivation to do better for me and
the Air Force.
“To this day, I still have
flashbacks, night terrors and
memories,” Smith said. “It doesn’t
get any easier. I’m still judged
by this. I’m not the rape victim
you see on ‘Law and Order’; I’m
an average airman who’s been
through hell and back. So before
you judge someone because of
how they act (or) dress, think
about what they might have been
through.
“But more importantly, if
you’re a victim of rape, please
come forward to the SARC,” she
said. “The sooner the better.”
Editor’s Note: This story is
a personal, victim-submitted
account of an actual sexual
assault and its aftermath. The
names and identities of the
individuals involved have been
omitted or altered to maintain
confidentiality.
willingness of some of us to get
out from behind the desk. It’s
taken away from the time we
spend with our airmen because
we spend so much time emailing.
I’ve seen airmen send emails to
someone 10 feet away from them
in the same office. Is this the way
we want to communicate with
each other?
In a peacetime military
atmosphere, relying on email
to communicate is sufficient,
but a wartime force, with all the
demands placed upon it, needs
face-to-face communication.
An often neglected leadership
principle in today’s environment
of technology is getting to know
your workers and showing
I am sure many of you
have heard about Staff
Sgt. Robert Bales in the
news over the last couple
of months. I was not
surprised to hear that he
and his family had been
facing financial struggles.
Financial problems
alone could not lead
Bales to do what he
is accused of, but it
definitely added to
the stress he was
under.
Bales is
charged with 17
counts of murder
and six counts
of attempted
murder, along with
other charges, in
connection with a shooting
rampage in two southern
Afghanistan villages on
March 11. If convicted of
premeditated murder,
Bales could face the death
penalty.
A poor financial situation
at home only added to the
stress this man was faced
with. His wife put their
Washington home up for
sale only days before the
rampage. To say the least,
Bales was dealing with a lot
of stress in his life.
Poor finance is merely a
single example of an added
stress military members
face. Military life is difficult
enough without adding
more problems to the
mix, especially finances.
Financial stress alone,
even among nonmilitary
members, is the leading
cause for divorce.
It is key that military
families remain responsible
for finances with as little
debt as possible, preferably
none.
Many people make the
huge mistake of running
out and getting loans for
anything and everything.
But remember that you
will still have to pay that
money off eventually. Also,
credit cards can be good to
build credit, but if you have
sincere interest in their
problems, career development
and welfare. It’s hard to show
someone you really do care about
them in an email.
I believe today, more than
ever, we need to put more
emphasis back on face-to-face
communication. Gen. Ronald R.
Fogleman, a former Air Force
chief of staff, once said, “To
become successful leaders, we
must first learn that no matter
how good the technology or how
shiny the equipment, people-topeople
relations get things done
in our organizations. If you are
to be a good leader, you have to
cultivate your skills in the arena
of personal relations.”
NEED ASSISTANCE?
The Defense Department has established a place to go
whenever service members or family members need assistance
with any kind of problem. It’s called Military One Source, and
it is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This service
can help with everything from everday issues to more difficult
issues that might be pressing on your family.
The toll-free telephone number for Military One Source is
800-342-9647, international collect 484-530-5908.
Families also can get assistance from the Airman and
Family Readiness Center at Tyndall AFB. Contact 283-4204 or
visit www.tyndall.af.mil/.
Don’t throw financial
stress into the mix
Defending the
home front
Laura E. Eggers
leggers@pcnh.
com
a problem relying on them
or spending more than you
have on a credit card, then
you are probably better off
without one.
A 2010 military survey
found that “27 percent
of service members said
they had more
than $10,000 in
credit card debt,
while 16 percent
of civilians do. The
study also found
more than a third
of military families
have trouble paying
monthly bills,
and more than 20
percent reported
borrowing money
outside of banks.”
Experts say families
are straining under
multiple deployments and
frequent relocations. To
make matters worse, it
can be difficult for military
spouses to keep a job. “The
unemployment rate among
military spouses is about
26 percent,” according to a
report from the nonprofit
group Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans of America.
Taking all of this into
consideration, our families
are important as well as the
mental state of our airman.
It is essential that we live
as much as we can without
stress. Life likes to throw
little curve balls, so it is
important to be prepared
for the unexpected and to
be frugal and careful with
money.
If there is a topic you
would like for me to discuss
or if you would like to
comment on a past column,
email me at leggers@pcnh.
com with Defending the
Home Front in the subject
line. I would love to hear
from you!
Laura E. Eggers lives
at Tyndall AFB with her
husband, an Air Traffic
Controller in the United
States Air Force, and their
two dogs Kiah and Kay.
Leaders should walk and talk instead of click and send
I believe cultivating our interpersonal
skills is as simple as
taking the time to talk to your
subordinates and get to know
them. Show them you genuinely
care for them. A leader who
knows his airmen will be able to
recognize when one of them is
having problems, either in their
personal life or with assigned
tasks, and hopefully you will be
able to take steps and actions to
affect change in the situation. If a
leader doesn’t know what normal
behavior is from one of his or her
airmen, how will you know what
abnormal is?
Let’s face it, we cannot
provide the leadership required
from behind the desk.