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Invisible War
Final Transcript: 5/22/12
START
LOGO until 00:19
[00:00:20].
CARD
All statistics in this film are from US Government Studies
[00:00:25:]
Opening Credits cont.
Chain Camera Pictures
And Regina Kulik Scully and Jennifer Siebel Newsom present
In association with Rise Films
And ITVS, Fork Films, Cuomo Cole Productions, Canal Plus
[00:00:45]
Music
[00:00:53]
ANNOUNCER VO:
Today, the latest weapons coupled with the fighting skill of the American soldier
stand ready on the alert all over the world to defend this country, you the American
people against aggression. This is the big picture. Now, to show you part of the big
picture, here is Sergeant Stewart Queen.
[00:01:14]
SGT. STUART QUEEN:
The privilege of serving the United States in uniform is no longer limited to men.
[00:01:35]
(A film by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering)
WOMAN VO:
The values place by the Women’s Army Corp on meticulous grooming and feminine
grace is one of the first lessons learned by the recruit.

(Cinematography: Thaddeus Wadleigh, Kristen Johnson)
ANNOUNCER VO:
There were demands that will require of her perfect physical health and stamina.
(Design & animation: Bil White)
[00:01:55]
FEMALE NURSE VO:
I’m sure you all heard the saying, “There’s the right way, a wrong way, and the Army
way.”
(Editors: Doug Blush, Derek Boonstra)
(Executive Producer: Teddy Leifer, Nicole Boxer‐Keegan, Sally Jo Fifer)
(Executive Producer: Sarah Johnson Redlich, Women Donors Network)
(Executive Producers: Abigail Disney, Maria Cuomo Cole)
(Executive Producers: Regina Kulik Scully, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Geralyn
White Dreyfous)
(Produced by: Tanner King Barklow)
(Produced by: Amy Ziering)
NARRATOR VO:
With the (inaudible) bound helicopter hanging on your every word, it doesn’t
matter whether you’re a man or a woman, only that you’re good.
NARRATOR VO:
Thanks for your help
FEMALE PILOT:
Roger.
[00:03:05]
(Written and Directed by Kirby Dick)
FEMALE PILOT VO:
I’m flying a helicopter right now. Don’t second‐guess yourself. It’s a lot of work, but
it’s totally worth it.

[00:03:44]
THE INVISIBLE WAR
KORI CIOCA:
I would just always see the movies of the military and I just knew that was me.
That’s what I wanted to do. That’s what I wanted to be. There was a waiting list for
the Navy, over a year, and I knew I didn’t want to wait that long. So um, I had a
friend who told me about the Coast Guard and I went to the Coast Guard, and they
said that they could get me in within a month so I said, “Okay”, and they shipped me
off.
[00:04:15]
JESSICA HINVES:
I tried college and a good job at a Vineyard in East Texas. I bought my own little
house. The military was always something I wanted to do. I come from a military
family. I was always taught that it’s every citizen’s duty to join the military. If you
can you should. So, I wanted to go ahead and join and start a career.
[00:04:39]
ROBIN LYNN LAFAYETTE:
I joined the Air Force. I was 17 years old. I had a boyfriend that encouraged me to go
in so that’s what I did. My mom signed, gave me permission to go.
ARIANA KLAY:
When I was in high school, I was impressed with the marines that I had met. There
used to be a lieutenant colonel that used to run laps around the track after soccer
practice. And, he said, “You’d be perfect for the Marine Corps cause you’re really fit
and smart and that’s what the Marine Corps needs.” The professionalism, the
camaraderie, everything about it inspired me.
[00:05:13]
TRINA MCDONALD:
After I graduated high school, I left for Orlando, Florida, which was the first time I
was every on an airplane in my life. Initially, it was just wanting to go see the world
cause I’m from a really small town. I had a college scholarship to go play basketball
but I instead, opted to go into the military. So, that’s what I chose to do.
[00:05:40]
ELLE HELMER:
I come from a long line of military lineage. Somebody from every generation on both
sides of the family, all the way back to the revolutionary war, had served in the

armed forced. I chose the Marine Corps because nobody in my family had ever done
it.
HANNAH SEWELL:
I love putting on a uniform every day and, you know, just getting out there and
giving it my all. It’s a very proud feeling.
[00:06:11]
KORI CIOCA:
I would have done boot camp over and over again. It was great, the camaraderie, the
discipline, everything it taught you. Who I wanted to be. That’s what they taught you
there.
TRINA MCDONALD:
Obviously it was different taking a shower with 80 different people all of a sudden
cause I was pretty shy. But, just a great experience. I was a 4‐0 sailor. Every single
report done on me was excellent, great. I knew what I needed to do in my job. I was
a great team leader.
[00:06:44]
JESSICA HINVES:
I really enjoyed the whole challenge of it. I got several different awards and kudos. It
was mainly men. I loved that I could blend in and keep up with the guys and work as
hard as they did.
ARIANA KLAY:
The Naval Academy was challenging. The education was top‐notch. In my senior
year, I was selected to be in one of the top 30 leadership positions by the company
grade officers there.
[00:07:11]
TRINA MCDONALD:
After basic, I went to Naval Security Group in Adak, Alaska. I remember getting
there, you know, issued a parka, I got set up in the room. And then he took me to the
bar, which was in our barracks and sat down at a table where it was me and about
10 others guys. And, you know, I kind of felt like a piece of meat on slab at the point.
And I’ve never wanted to turn around and leave so much in my entire life. But I
couldn’t.
[00:07:46]
CARD: Ohio

ROB MCDONALD:
I met Kori December 17 of 2007. I was on watch when she got to the station and she
kind of just blew me away when she walked in. The command told us that she was
coming and there were some issues but none of the crew knew exactly what had
happened. And I didn’t find out for a long time.
[00:08:26]
KORI CIOCA:
He loved his job. And it’s kind of like he gave it up for me.
ROB MCDONALD:
She loved the Coast Guard more than I did. She wanted to make it a career, but
seeing how they treated her, I didn’t want to stay in. I did it and did my extra year
and I got out. I couldn’t believe what had happened to her, what she had went
through.
[00:08:50]
KORI CIOCA:
I was stationed in Sagano, Michigan. I was the only female in my section. I had a
supervisor. It got to the place where I would get calls at 3 o’clock in the morning and
he’d be drunk at a bar telling me to come get him. And I’m like I can’t I’m in bed and
he would then threatened me. I’d walk in from training and he’d be sleeping in my
bed. When we went to one of the higher‐ups in the chain of command, they were all
like his drinking buddy and they told me just because I didn’t like someone, they
weren’t going to switch me away from this guy.
[00:09:30]
KORI CIOCA:
It was in the evening, around 10 o’clock around taps, and he had unlocked the door
and he had come in, and he had an erection and he tried to get me to touch him. I
took my right hand and I pushed him in the chest and started to yell for the other
guys to try to hear me, “hey hey hey.” He hit me across the left side of my face. I
remember holding the closet thinking, “What just happened?” And my face hurt so
bad. And when we went to the command about it, me and this petty officer who saw
my face, they let it wait cause they didn’t want any problems going on.
[00:10:18]
KORI CIOCA:
A couple weeks later, I needed the key to do my cleanup so I knocked on his door
and he said “Okay yeah come on in here. It’s in here.” And I said, “No, no no, I’ll wait
out here.” And he said screamed at me and he made me come in, and he grabbed my
arm and he raped me in his birthing area.

[00:11:03]
JESSICA HINVES:
Everything came a complete change the day that I was raped.
TRINA MCDONALD:
I got there in February and by April I was drugged and raped for the first time.
ROBIN LYNN LAFAYETTE:
I had a like cold or pneumonia like symptoms and so they sent me to get checked
out. And, while I was waiting to be examined, he came in and he helped himself.
JESSICA HINVES:
He said he was going to the bathroom and he came into my room and that’s when he
raped me.
HANNAH SEWELL:
Then entire time I was screaming and yelling for help and for him to stop, Nobody
came to the door, nobody came to help, came to my rescue or anything.
[00:11:44]
TRINA MCDONALD:
They made it very very clear that if I said anything, they were going to kill me. You
know, and then of course, I didn’t have anyone to go talk to because the people who
were perpetrating me were the police.
HANNAH SEWELL:
It was my first time ever, and I’ve had a tough time convincing myself that I’m still a
virgin.
TRINA MCDONALD:
If this is happening to me, you know, surely I’m not the only one in which I find out
later, going through the claims process, that I wasn’t.
[12:20:00]
CARD:
Over 20% of female veterans have been sexually assaulted while serving.
[12:39:00]
ROBIN KHALE:
It’s just after 3 am, I see shadow of a human head over my body.

AYANA DEFOUR:
Next thing you know, like I wake up and like he’s on top of me.
CHRISTINA JONES:
He pushed my legs apart and put himself on top of me and started pulling at my
shirt.
DEBRA DICKERSON:
And I wake up, and he’s on top of me. He’s already penetrated me.
REGINA VASQUEZ:
I was drugged. I remember the sounds, the smell.
LEE LE TEFF:
He put his locked and loaded 45 at the base of my skull, and gaged the bolt so I knew
that it was a round chambered.
KATIE WEBBER:
All I could do was continue to concentrate on breathing.
TIA CHRISTOPHER:
He slammed my head against the concrete wall and very forcefully had sex with me.
JESSICA BRAKEY:
I just went to my tent, pulled the sleeping bag over my head and cried myself to
sleep.
TEAH BEDNEY:
So, within the two periods, he raped me five times.
VALINE DEMOS:
When we got tested, I had Trick and gonorrhea and I was pregnant.
KRISTEN MILLER:
And he did it. He raped me.
[00:13:36]
AMY HERDY:
In 1991, in Congressional testimony, it was estimated that 200,000 women had been
sexually assaulted so far in the US Military. If you take into account that women
don’t report because of the extreme retaliation and that was, you know more than a
decade ago. I would say you could easily double that number and it’s probably
somewhere near about half a million women have now been sexually assaulted in
the US military.

[14:11:00]
ANU BHAGWATI:
Well, according to the Department of Defense, 3,230 women and men reported
assaulted in the last fiscal year, fiscal year 2009. But they also admit, D.O.D itself,
that 80% of sexual assault survivors do not report. So if you do the math, 16,150
service members were assaulted, which is an extraordinary number.
CARD: OHIO
[00:14:50]
KORI CIOCA:
We have more in the car, Rob. This all was prescribed in the last three to four
months. This is Proxatine, this is Serraquell, Serraquell, the Satalapram, this is
Xanax. I’m tired of taking all these meds. I just want the VA to fix my jaw.
[00:15:14]
KORI CIOCA:
I was having the most horrible pain in my face, so I went to the dentist because I
thought it was my teeth or something was wrong. The doctor came in after the X‐
rays and ask me if I had been in a car accident. When he hit me in my face, he
dislocated my jaw and it sent both of my disks forward in my face so I don’t have
any disks where they should be in my face. They told me I’d probably need a partial
bone replacement. From where my bone had been laying on my nerves for so long
it’s starting to actually disintegrate.
[00:15:47]
KORI CIOCA:
I’ve been on a soft diet for five years now. I can’t eat the foods that I used to eat.
Everything is mashed potatoes, jello. Well, I can go out during the summer time,
spring time if it’s warm. If it’s too cold outside, it’s usually just Rob and Shea go
outside. When it’s really cold, it’s like my jaw would just lock up. I just stand, watch
from the window and hear about the stories when they come in.
[00:16:30]
AUTOMATED VA SYSTEM:
We are sorry, but due to a large volume of calls and unusually long wait times,
counselors are unable to answer your call at this time.
AUTOMATED VA SYSTEM:
Please stay on the line, the calls will be answered in the order received.

AUTOMATED VA SYSTEM:
15 minutes could save you hundreds on car insurance.
AUTOMATED VA SYSTEM:
It’s the Saint Louis holiday tradition.
KORI CIOCA:
(Singing along to on‐phone waiting music)
[00:16:57]
VA EMPLOYEE:
This is Stan.
KORI CIOCA:
Hi Stan, I just wanted to check the status of my VA claim.
VA EMPLOYEE:
It’s still on file, let me check. It looks like it’s about a year old now.
KORI CIOCA:
Yes it is. Okay it’s still pending? Did it say what status is was in?
VA EMPLOYEE:
Well, it looks like they’ve gathered all the information that they need but it still
hasn’t moved to the rating board yet.
KORI CIOCA:
OKAY
VA EMPLOYEE:
Thank you for calling ma’am. You have a good day.
KORI CIOCA:
You too. Thank you.
[00:17:26]
KORI CIOCA:
This is the stuff they prescribed me for migraines even though I don’t have
migraines. So, I was looking online and there are actually other vets at the age of like
25 and they would actually just die because their body wasn’t processing because
the mixture of the Serraquel, the Gavapentin, the some kind of anxiety which was
the Xanax, and, there was something else, an antidepressant. The mixtures of that
stuff, which is everything I have here that other vets were taking and they have died.

CARD: Kentucky
[00:18:28]
HANNAH SEWELL:
Both my dad and my brother are prior Navy and now Army National Guards. And it’s
kind of like it follows in the family and follows the footsteps. I was excited and
completely jut hyped up about going. All my family was proud of me. My dad is my
biggest hero.
SGT. MAJOR JERRY SEWELL:
I told her, I said, ”You are going to be taken care of.” And I guess that’s one of the
hard things that I have to accept because I told her that she would be. It was in
February, we got a call.
[00:19:03]
CARD:
On February 1 st 2008, Hannah was locked in a hotel room and raped by a fellow
recruit.
[00:19:04]
HANNAH SEWELL:
Once he was done, he rubbed his hand all over my entire body and told me, he said, “
I own all of this.” And I was just absolutely scared, didn’t know what to do. I called
my dad.
SGT. MAJOR JERRY SEWELL:
One of the first things she said is , “Dad, I’m not longer a virgin.” And I said, “What
happened?” And she said, “I was raped.” And I said, “Hannah, you’re a virgin because
he took something from you that you didn’t give.” I said, “So, don’t ever think you’re
not.”
[00:20:07]
HANNAH SEWELL:
My main nerve in my spine was pinched in three places and my hips were rotated. I
could barely walk. I had collapsed due to muscle spasms in my back because my
back was injured during the rape.
[00:20:24]
ADMIRAL ANTHONY KURTA:

My title is Director of Military Plans and Personnel policy for the Navy. We have
specifically trained judge advocates, our Navy lawyers, in our naval criminal
investigative service, those investigating are all specifically trained in sexual assault.
Any report of a sexual assault is fully investigated in the United States Navy.
SGT. MAJOR JERRY SEWELL:
They didn’t take care of it. For a year and a half, they were tracking down witnesses.
They had all these students there and they could have locked them down and said,
“Hey you’re on legal hold and not leaving till I get this statement.” And they didn’t.
Hannah went through three investigators. It was like, okay I’m giving this case.
That’s what it sort of felt like. “Oh, alright I’m giving this case. I’ll take care of it. Oh
well this isn’t even one. I really don’t have the time to deal with it.”
[00:21:10]
CAPTAIN GREG RINCKEY:
Females would come up to their commander or their NCO’s and say that they were
either sexually assaulted or abused and I don’t think it was taken seriously. I think a
lot of times a cursory investigation was done and they were basically just told to
suck it up.
STAFF SERGEANT STACE NELSON:
I remember bringing in a young service member who had been brutally raped, and
bringing her in to see her command, and trying to make sure that this young girl was
taken care of properly. And this idiot, this idiot chewed her out for crying, told her to
stop crying over spilt milk.
CAPTAIN GREG RINCKEY:
A lot of times, the credibility of the witness was called into account. Had the
potential victim, had she made claims like this in the past? There was a lot of witch
hunting going on.
[00:21:50]
MAYA HAIDER:
I was ordered to advise a victim of her rights for false statement when I knew that
she wasn’t lying. I was asked to bring her in and advise her of her rights, like a
criminal, and interrogate her for false statement quote on quote, until I got the truth
out of her. If the woman makes a rape complaint, they are always people asking
what she was doing there, what she was wearing, whether she had a boyfriend or
not.
MIETTE WELLS:
If any rape cases came in, they were never given to women. The men always took
care of those. Because we were too sympathetic. We couldn’t see what was really
going on because we always took the woman’s side.

MAYA HAIDER:
I was told I should have been a social worker. I had no business being in the police
field. There was a lot of resistance there toward the idea that victims should be
afforded some kind of sensitivity. It was almost a laughing matter.
[00:22:45]
ADMIRAL ANTHONY KURTA:
We have given specific training and continual training to our NCIS, Navy Criminal
Investigative Service, those investigators on how best to respond and to investigate
those crimes.
[00:23:02]
HANNAH SEWELL:
They told me they lost my rape kit and my nurse examiners report and the pictures
from the bruising on my arm.
AMY:
They lost these things?
HANNAH SEWELL:
That’s what they told me, that they had lost them. And me being me, I decided to do
a little digging of my own and I spoke with NCIS headquarters in Washington DC,
and they have all the evidence.
AMY:
So what does this mean?
HANNAH SEWELL:
Because the cause is already closed, there’s nothing they can do.
[00:23:45]
SUSAN BURKE:
What we hear again and again from soldiers who have been raped, as bad as it was
being raped, what was as bad, if not worse, was to received professional retaliation
in their chosen career, merely because they were raped.
THERESA VERDERBER‐PHILLIPS:
When you report something, you better be prepared for the repercussions.
DEBRA DICKERSON:
If a man gets accused of rape, it’s a set‐up; the woman is lying.
REBECCA CATAGNUS:

I could choose to report it, but if they found what I was saying wasn’t to be truthful,
then I would be reduced in rank.
ALLISON GILL:
You could lose your rate, you could loose rank, you could loose your school, if you
file a false report. So do you want to file a report? (Laughing)
[00:24:32]
CHRISTINA JONES:
Even with the rape kit, and everything, and my friend catching him raping me, they
still don’t believe me.
TANDY FINK:
I reported it two different times to my squad leader and he told me that there was
nothing he could do about it cause he didn’t have any proof.
ANDREA WERNER:
They actually did charge me with adultery. I wasn’t married. He was.
TIA CHRISTOPHER:
They took me before my lieutenant commander. He says, ‘you think this is funny?’ I
said, ‘what do you mean’? He said, ‘You think this is all a joke to you?’ I said, ‘What
do you mean?’ And he goes, ‘You’re the third girl to report rape this week. Are you
guys like all in cahoots, you think this is a game.’
[00:25:17]
CARD: Ohio
VA WAITING LINE:
We are sorry, but due to a large volume of calls and unusually long wait times,
counselors are unable to answer your call at this time.
VA EMPLOYEE: (Phone call)
Your name please?
KORI CIOCA:
KORI DANIELLE MCDONALD
VA EMPLOYEE:
Okay, I show that we’ve got a claim open for non‐service‐connected disability
pension, depression, TMJ, bilateral disk condition, PTSD, nerve‐damage. It’s at the
rating board in Cleveland.
KORI CIOCA:

Okay, and how long does that usually take?
VA EMPLOYEE:
Anywhere from 102 to 139 days.
KORI CIOCA:
Really?
VA EMPLOYEE:
And that’s just an estimated time.
KORI CIOCA:
139 days? I mean that’s like; I’ve already be waiting like 14 months. What the fuck is
going on up there? What the fuck is going on at the VA? Like, my shit is new? And,
it’s 14 months? I bet if we were there in person, they would have to do something.
[00:26:25]
(VETERANS DAY)
KORI CIOCA:
Are you ready? Say ready. Where are we going? No, to the doctor. Why are we going
to the doctor? What hurts on mommy? My face, that’s right. This goes everywhere
with me, and then this goes everywhere with me. You always have protection with
Jesus but sometimes you need just a little bit more.
[00:27:16]
(VA Outpatient Clinic)
ROB MCDONALD:
In doctor’s appointments, I come to every one just in case she gets worked up and
she’s uneasy about men already. So, I have my phone up on me, she has, I tell her to
have a text message or me on speed dial if she needs to get out of there. They just
don’t fully understand what she’s been through.
ROB MCDONALD:
How did it go?
KORI CIOCA:
It went good. They, of course, they ordered a back x‐ray instead of a face x‐ray. Here,
here’s some make‐up. They should know what’s wrong with me. Like read my stuff
and you’ll see it’s my face. It’s not my back, it’s not my legs, it’s not my arms, it’s my
face.
ROB MCDONALD:
The people who need your proof don’t even know what your case is about.

KORI CIOCA:
Like I don’t even know why we wasted the gas money, the trip, anything. It was
completely a waste of time. What a good Veterans Day, right?
ROB MCDONALD:
Yeah, it’s a perfect way to spend it.
KORI CIOCA:
Yeah, screw it.
[00:28:33]
ROB MCDONALD:
Alright, it’s uh around midnight on October 24 th , and Kori woke up myself and our
baby. She woke up screaming so it’s been happening quite a bit. I think Kori almost
likes it better because it’s quiet and you don’t really what to run into at midnight.
[00:29:26]
(ADAK ISLAND, ALASKA)
TRINA MCDONALD:
Because it was in isolated duty station, they kind of had their own world of things
going on. They were in charge and we were just kind of like cattle. The first time I
was drugged and raped. I was in this room with some of my friends and I only had
like one or two drinks. I went and laid down. It was like instantly. I not feeling well
and came to to having a pillow over my head and my friend raping me. And that
went on repeatedly. You had to call an operator to get a line off base so they listen to
your phone calls so they were screened and I used to call my dad and beg him to get
me out of there. He would always ask me, you know, “Hun, well what’s wrong.” And
I’m like, “I can’t tell you what’s wrong,” because the people who were listening to
our phone calls were the same people that could hurt me.
[00:30:28]
RUSSELL STRAND:
Most sex offenders are hunters. Just like any hunter; they study their prey, they
study their movements, they study their behaviors, they study the environment.
STAFF SERGEANT STACE NELSON:
You have rapists that prey on other human beings. They stalk them, they weight
until the victim is at the most vulnerable point in time to perpetrate their crimes.
[00:30:50]

MYLA HAIDER:
A lot of times the victim is somebody that the suspect is very familiar with and
they’re very aware of what’s going on.
RUSSELL STRAND:
Most sex offenders have this hidden persona that nobody ever sees other than the
victim. Therefore when they’re caught or when somebody reports, people don’t tend
to believe that because they don’t see the typical sex offender.
CAPTAIN GREG RINKEY:
If it’s an officer, it’s an officer that has habitually, in the past, preyed on an enlisted.
They would do it once, they would get away with it, and then they think, ‘wow this is
pretty easy, I’m going to try it again.’
[00:31:23]
BRIGADIER GENERAL LORRE SUTTON:
Particularly for a savvy perpetrator, to work with within a relatively closed system,
like the military, it becomes a prime target rich environment for a predator.
[00:31:42]
CARD:
A navy study found that 15 percent of incoming recruits attempted or committed
rape before entering the military. Twice the percentage of the equivalent civilian
population.
[00:32:01]
TRINA MCDONALD:
When I was discharged, I moved to Seattle where things got really bad. I started to
lose everything. I was homeless, there was addiction, I was selling drugs, packing
gun.
[00:32:21]
HELEN BENEDICT:
Forty percent of homeless female veterans have been raped while they were
serving. They spin into such depression and abuse that they can’t hold jobs, they
can’t hold their lives together, and they end up on the streets.
[00:32:41]
TRINA MCDONALD:
(Puget Sound Washington)

My partner, Amy, I met her a few years ago. I was going and trying to do some stuff
at the gym.
AMY ROSAAEN‐MCDONALD:
When I first saw Trina I was at the gym and I look over and it was like the universe
was like “Here you go.” And in my head, I was like “oh there you are.” Well I knew
there was something “special” about her for sure. When we first started dating, it
was hard. The biggest hurdle was not taking PTSD personally. It does get really
stressful.
[00:33:39]
TRINA MCDONALD:
If I’ve ever lived with anyone, it’s just been with that person. So when I moved in, it
was like “oh my god” you know, it was Amy, three boys.
AMY ROSAAEN‐MCDONALD:
I’m not just moving in with Amy, I’m moving in with an entire family.
TRINA MCDONALD:
So, they were so used to such open space, and with my PTSD we had some moments.
[00:34:04]
TIM AND MITCH ROSAAEN:
I’m sort of sad to have never known Trina before hand when she was sort of in her
prime. Now she’s anxious and sad a lot.
[00:34:15]
CARD:
Women who have been raped in the military have a PTSD rate higher than men
who’ve been in combat.
[00:34:31]
TRINA MCDONALD:
A lot of times if we’re out doing something, you know, Mitch will be like checking in
like, “Oh, it’s okay Trina. It’s alright.” I’m appreciative of it, you know, but it makes
me really sad that here’s this little 11‐ year‐old boy that’s watching out for my wellbeing.
It hurts. I want it to go away, you know, and it doesn’t go away.
[00:35:24]
(Military recruitment footage)

RUSSELL STRAND:
I think that the men that we attract in the military, you know we’ve got the army of
one you know be all you can be, all those things we’ve had for so many years are
very very heavily masculine. Masculinity cannot be victimized, because if you’re a
leader, if you’re a masculine person, and you’re victimized, then you’re weak. The
problem is anybody can be a victim of sexual assault.
[00:35:46]
MICHAEL MATTHEWS:
I joined the service in 1972. The military is a great way of life, I got to see the world,
I got educated. I loved the military. I was 19 and I went to the chow hall alone, and
the next things I know I was laying on the ground, and I was struck from behind, and
two guys were holding me down, and one guy was pulling my pants down. And, you
know, he was taking care of his business. And you know I struggled, and I was being
struck and hit and told to shut up or they’d kill me. And I see how it destroyed my
life. I mean, I’ve been married three times. Luckily I have a wife right now who I’ve
been married to for 25 years.
[00:36:42]
JERI LYNN MATTHEWS:
You start wondering and you start sort of, you know either coming up with reasons
why things are the way they are. And for a long time, I kept thinking, I don’t know,
there’s something else.
MICHAEL MATTHEWS:
I never told anybody in over thirty years. I decided to tell my wife. It was the scariest
moment of my life. I was going to tell my wife, she was going to leave me, and I
would be lost with out her. I mean, honest to god I couldn’t get up every morning
without my wife, you know. And I told her.
JERI LYNN MATTHEWS:
I felt horrified, and I felt sad and I felt angry, along the course of the evening, feelings
just started to surface that were probably just simmering for a very very long time.
MICHAEL MATTHEWS:
And she put her arms around me, and we both sat there and sobbed. It was like this
great weight had been lifted off of me.
[00:37:48]
BRIGADIER GENERAL LOREE SUTTON:
I think it’s important to recognize that military sexual trauma is not limited to
women, and in fact when it comes to the absolute numbers because of the

proportion of men, in much larger numbers than women, actually the numbers are
even greater.
RUSSEL STRAND:
I think one of the last bits of research showed that about 1% of males had been
victims of sexual assault in the last year in the military. That equals about 20,000.
[00:38:14]
JEREMIAH ARBOGAST:
You would get labeled as a ‘buddy‐fucker,’ and that’s not a nice term to be related to.
So, it’s just one of those things that you don’t talk about or you don’t bring to
anyone’s attention. You kind of just keep to yourself.
ARMONDO JAVIER:
It’s really really hard to forget. You know up until now, they live in my head, I can
hear them laugh, I can see their faces, I can see what they’re doing to me.
BRIAN LEWIS:
I felt scared and I was scared to tell my friends, the people that really knew me the
truth about what happened.
[00:38:57]
HELEN BENEDICT:
The shame as bad as it is for women is even worse for men, because it’s all tied in
with homophobia.
SUSAN AVILA SMITH:
The people who are doing the raping are not gay, that’s not the problem, they’re
worried about gays in the military, the gays are not the rapists. They are
heterosexual men for the most part.
ANU BHAGWATI:
This is not an issue of sexual orientation, this is simply an issue of power and
violence, male sexual predators for the large part, have targeted whoever is there to
prey upon, whether that’s men or women.
BRIGADIER GENERAL WILMA L. VAUGHT:
Whenever I see, you know that there is evidence that another woman has been
sexually assaulted, the question I keep asking myself is, when does this ever end?
[00:39:36]
CARD:

1991 Navy Tailhook.
NARRATOR VO:
Breaking news at this hour, the navy appears to be facing a huge sex scandal. Details
are still coming in.
ANNOUNCER VO:
From ABC, this is world news tonight with Peter Jennings.
PETER JENNINGS:
Good evening, we’re going to being tonight by putting a human face on the worst
case of sexual harassment in the navy’s history. At an annual naval aviators
convention called the Tailhook convention. Senior officers have known since 1985
that the convention included the so called, ‘gauntlet’, set up for the specific purpose
of targeting and sexually molesting women.
[00:40:11]
PAULA COUGHLIN:
I got off the elevator on the third floor. You could see maybe 200 men. It was just a
few steps into the hallway before they closed ranks all around me. And then it
happened very quickly, from both sides and behind, many came in and started
reaching in my shirt. I was getting pushed down to the floor and someone was
reaching under my skirt pulling my underwear off, and it was about maybe 30 or 40
feet of 200 guys trying to pull my clothes off, like I was a high valued target. The next
morning I met with my boss for breakfast and I said, you know, what happened
here? And he said, well that’s what you get for walking down a hallway full of drunk
aviators. And I said, I don’t think so.
[00:41:02]
PETER JENNINGS VO:
An investigation was finally begun but 1500 interviews later the Navy’s inspector
general reported that his investigators were being stone walled. A great wall of
silence had gone up to protect the guilty.
[00:41:17]
CARD
1996 Army Aberdeen Proving Grounds
NEWS ANCHOR VO:
The US army today is trying to establish the extent of a new and growing rape and
sexual harassment scandal. It all took place at the army base at Aberdeen Proving
Ground where 30 women have filed complaints of sexual advances ranging from
unwanted touching to rape and forcible sodomy.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL CLAUDIA KENNEDY:
Aberdeen Proving Ground is a location where the non‐commissioned officers were
assaulting and raping trainees and then passing the name of the person they had
assaulted to another CO.
REIMER:
That unacceptable conduct for soldiers, it’s unacceptable to the army and we have
zero tolerance.
[00:42:00]
CARD:
2003 Air Force, Air Force Academy
NEWS ANCHOR VO:
12 years ago, the Tailhook sex scandal shook the US Navy and now the Air Force
faces what may be an even bigger problem.
PETER JENNINGS:
Rape and other sexual abuse at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
NEWS ANCHOR:
142 allegations of assault against women have been made in the last decade.
NEWS ANCHOR SHELLEE SMITH:
The highest ranking generals knew about serious problems of sexual assault at the
academy, yet failed to take action.
[00:42:31]
MILITARY SPOKESMAN:
We don’t intend to sweep this under the rug, we take it very seriously, we’re going
to address it publicly.
NARRATOR VO:
In congress, outraged senators accused Air Force brass of ignoring assaults on
women.
SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS:
We have a clear pattern of reports of sexual assault where the reaction of the Air
Force Academy seems to be to blame the victim.
JOHN JUMPER:

We’re in the process of instituting those changes now.
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN:
You’re in the process of making those changes now? Obviously you and I and the
secretary have a fundamental disagreement here.
[00:43:05]
CARD:
Present Day
(Secretary of Defense Confirmation Hearing)
SENATOR CLAIRE MCCASKILL:
What needs to be done and what should be done as it relates to the problem of
sexual assault in the military, women in the military that have had a great deal of
difficulty accessing some sense of justice.
LEON PANETTA:
I really totally share your concerns. We have to be, we have to have zero tolerance
for any kinds of sexual assaults in the military.
[00:43:33]
CARD:
One mile from the US Capitol Building, Marine Barracks Washington DC.
NARRATOR VO:
At a small post in Washington DC, Marine pride, history, and tradition live on.
Marine Barracks at 8 th and I streets is the oldest post in the core and for 100 years,
since the early 1800s, Marine Corps headquarters.
[00:44:00]
DONNA MCALEER:
Marine Barracks in Washington DC is the most prestigious unit there is in the
Marine Corps. This is the unit where the best of the best go. It is the Marine Corps’
showcased ceremonial unit. It handles president’s and dignitaries. Security at the
White House, the Silent Drill Team.
[00:44:31]
ARIANA KLAY:
After my deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2008/2009, my command
officer recommended me for the Marine Barracks in Washington. I was excited. It
was the tip of the spears as far as the Marine Crops is concerned.

BEN KLAY:
She would stay at work late and then she would drive home and she would call me
and she would be on some little sort of high and tell me how she loves her job. She
was this sweet person who was trying really hard in succeeding.
[00:45:04]
ARIANA KLAY:
One of the first things I was told when I checked in was ‘don’t where any makeup
because the marines will all think you’re going to want to sleep with them. And I
thought, that’s just ridiculous.
ELLE HELMER:
The atmosphere off the bat at Marine Barracks Washington was horrible. People
asked me what sexual favors had I performed to get my orders there.
ARIANA KLAY:
There was senior officer in my command who the first time he spoke to me, he said,
“Female marines here are nothing but objects for the marines to fuck.”
[00:45:34]
HIDDEN SOLDIER:
So, the minute a female shows up at my work, she is immediately pounced on. All of
the new females get talked about, saying that they’re having sex, sleeping with so
and so. Apparently I slept with all these men, and I mean, I didn’t.
ARIANA KLAY:
It got progressively worse and worse. They determined that I welcomed the sexual
harassment by wearing my regulation length uniform skirt and running in running
shorts. There were several junior female marines that came up to me crying while I
was there saying that they felt too humiliated to come to work.
[00:46:10]
CARD:
In units where sexual harassment is tolerated, incidents of rape triple.
ELLE HELMER:
One of the duties at Marine Barracks Washington was a ceremonial drill. The
evening parades are what you would see on the news, the sound drill platoon,
president, everybody goes to those type of things.
[00:46:37]
ARIANA KLAY:

After the parades, all of the officers are required to stay til midnight and drink at
Center House at Marine Barracks Washington. So we’re talking about Wednesday
night happy hours that start at three and end at 2 AM.
HIDDEN SOLDIER:
It was a partying and drinking culture. The atmosphere revolved around going out
and partying and drinking.
ELLE HELMER:
I was ordered to drink, I was ordered to attend the drinking events.
ARIANA KLAY:
My boss even said that they were mandatory to me, she’s like we do our best work
at these events.
[00:47:08]
ELLE HELMER:
We went to various pubs and bars and the goal was to do a shot at each one. All paid
for by the Marine Corps.
ARIANA KLAY:
You’re talking about drinking events where other senior officers are drinking to the
point of peeing in their pants, you know, passing out on lawns. This is the norm.
ELLE HELMER:
At one bar, I had water, and I was ordered a shot anyway and was told I needed to
take two shots to make up for that.
[00:47:33]
CARD:
March 16, 2006.
ELLE HELMER:
I left the bar to get a cab. My company commander followed me and said I need to
talk to you about some things. So we walked up the stairs in to his office. There was
a little bit of a struggle. He tried to make an advance and try to kiss me. I tried to
leave and he slammed the door on my arms. I fell on the ground and hit my face on
his desk and the next thing I realized was I had woken up wearing his shorts with all
of my clothes off and in tremendous pain. I knew enough about me that something
wasn’t right and I had felt entirely violated.
[00:48:11]
CARD:

The day after the incident, NCIS opened an investigation. It was closed three days
later with no action taken. Two days later, the base commander initiated his own
investigation.
ELLE HELMER:
The colonel at one point said, you know, Lieutenant Helmer, boys girls and alcohol
just don’t mixed. We’ll never really know what happened inside that office—only
you and the major know and he’s not talking. So, at this point, the investigation is
closed for a lack of evidence and we’ve reopened a new investigation against you for
conduct unbecoming of an officer and public intoxication.
[00:48:52]
HIDDEN SOLDIER:
I remember going to the bar, and there were officers, they were buying shots for us.
After I had a couple of drinks, that’s all I remember.
[00:49:02]
CARD:
The same officer stalked and raped her on three separate occasions.
HIDDEN SOLDIER:
This officer bragged to his fellow officer friends that he had ‘bagged’ me. I got called
up to a major’s office and he charged me with fraternization and adultery. He was
married, I wasn’t, and I was charged with adultery.
[00:49:27]
ARIANA KLAY:
I told the battalion XO about the humiliation and the comments, and he said you
know you should do what a marine officer should do and that’s to ignore it and
move on.
BEN KLAY:
I used to lie awake in bed, you know wondering what I could do to help her get out.
[00:49:47]
CARD:
After a weekly drinking event in August 2010, Ariana was raped by a senior officer
and his friend.
ARIANA KLAY:

He said that if I told anybody that he was going to have his friend Marve from
Indiana kill me and throw me in a ditch, because that’s how they took care of things
things in Indiana.
BEN KLAY:
She went to war and gave nine years of her life, and for them to take it and come
back and say yes they called you a whore, yes they called you a slut, yes they called
you a walking mattress, it’s documented over and over and over again, but you
deserved it and when you complained about it, you were welcoming it.
[00:50:35]
ARIANA KLAY:
The actions of my seniors both in the assault and in the ensuing investigations have
really destroyed me.
BEN KLAY:
When your wife doesn’t come home to, rummage through the house searching for
the suicide notes, to call the police with one hand while you’re restraining her from
killing herself with the other.
[00:51:14]
ARIANA KLAY:
I think the thing that makes me the most angry is not even the rape in itself, it’s the
commanders that were complicit in covering everything up that happened.
[00:51:24]
CARD:
The filmmakers contacted five female marines who were each assaulted by an
officer while serving at Marine Barracks Washington. Four of the women were
investigated or punished after they reported. No officer was punished for any
assault.
[00:51:51]
BEN KLAY:
This is an organization that gives commanders an unbelievable amount of power.
And I felt it, as a lieutenant in Iraq, it’s scary. You appoint the prosecution, you
appoint the defense, you appoint the investigator, you’re in charge of the police
force, you’re in charge of the community. You own everything. You are judge, you
are jury, you are executioner.
SUSAN BURKE:

Most Americans assume there is access to a system of justice, so that, for example if
you’re a civilian and you’re raped, you can call the police and then you have
prosecutors, either federal prosecutors, state prosecutors, local prosecutors, that
bring the perpetrator to justice. The problem with the military is that they instead
have to go to their chain of command.
[00:52:33]
REAR ADMIRAL ANTHONY KURTA:
Now in our system of military justice it is the commander in the chain of command
who is responsible to determine how the investigation proceeds.
STACE NELSON:
I know that there’s been numerous times over my career that I regretted that an
individual commander had the total say so over a case. Most of them don’t have the
training or the education to determine what’s appropriate and in serious felony
investigations.
CAPTAIN GREG RINCKEY:
The problem in the military is the convening authority who is not legally trained,
makes the final decision.
[00:53:13]
JESSICA HINVES:
They had a chain of command at my old squadron where the guy that raped me was
still stationed. He had only been in command for four days, and he made a decision
over legal to stop the case.
ANU BHAGWATI:
What I saw was commanders field grade officers, lieutenant colonels, colonels, who
have been in 20, 25 years, they are career officers, and they sweep cases under the
rug.
[00:53:40]
MAJOR GENERAL DENNIS LAICH:
The last thing a company commander in the army wants to do, is make the phone
call to his or her battalion commander that I have had an allegation of a rape in my
unit. This is viewed in many cases as a failure to command that will adversely then
affect their career.
STACE NELSON:
Sometimes you would see a guy get four or five years for selling a minor amount of
drugs, and then you would have one guy get 2 weeks extra duty for rape.

[00:54:10]
SUSAN BURKE:
The military hides behind this notion that it is really really hard, almost impossible
to prosecute rape. But when you look at prosecution rates in the 2010 Department
of Defense reports, you begin with 2,410 unrestricted reports and 748 restricted.
What this means is they’ve already funneled 748 sexual assault victims into a
system that has absolutely no adjudication whatsoever. Then you take the 2410 that
have been reporter, of those they have identified 3,223 perpetrators. Now what
happens once you send a perpetrator over to command? Well, the command has just
completely unfettered discretion to do whatever it is they want. And what is it that
they do do? First off, they drop 910 of them, they just don’t do anything. Then of
the1,025 that they actually take some action, do they court martial them? No. Only
half of them, 529, actually got court martialed. The rest, 256 were subjected to
article 15 punishments, 109 to administrative discharges, and 131 to quote other
adverse administrative actions, whatever the heck that means. And then of the
convictions where they actually get jail time, when you work your way all the way
through the numbers, what you’re looking at, is that out of 3,223 perpetrators, only
175 end up doing any jail time whatsoever.
[00:55:40]
LOUISE SLAUGHTER:
I have been in congress for seven terms now, and every single term we have had
meetings with DOD and every time they tell us we’re going to be serious, we’re
going to take care of this, we’re going to stop this, zero tolerance. But the rhetoric is
not being turned into the reality of protecting our women, and in some cases men in
our military.
SUSAN AVILA SMITH:
So then they’re like, but we have this SARC and SAPRO program, it’s like oh great.
What does that do? They can strongly suggest to the military to do something. They
can’t order them, they can’t enforce it, they don’t back it up.
[00:56:28]
DR. KAYE WHITLEY:
In April of this year we will debut a social marketing campaign as part of our
prevention strategy.
ANU BHAGWATI:
It’s ludicrous, it’s 2011 and we have posters that say wait until she’s sober, I mean
it’s remarkable that that’s allowed to pass in today’s military.
[00:56:53]

DR. KAY WHITLEY:
Well, we’ve implemented training at each entry level of military service from the
moment they enter the service at basic training. And, our campaign consists of a
series of posters that are actually training tools, and each of those posters has a
different focus.
ANU BHAGWAIT:
You cannot prevent sexual assault with pretty posters. Posters do not prevent
sexual predators from praying upon women and men in the military. We’re talking
about barging into rooms in the middle of the night. No poster can prevent a
criminal from barging into a room. These are violent people.
[00:57:27]
DR. KAY WHITLEY:
Well one of the things that we do in our prevention strategy is to focus on bystander
intervention. And in that strategy and in that training we ask each soldier or sailor,
airman and marine, to be aware of what sexual assault is and how to prevent it.
JESSICA HINVES:
SARC is a joke. The things that are said are ignored or they’re made fun of.
[00:58:01]
(SHARP TRAINING VIDEO)
ARIANA KLAY:
There may be a video, or 20 slides. It’s like a lot of military training where it’s the
once of the year, check in a box.
ANU BHAGWAIT:
SAPRO can’t fix anything. And all the money seems to be spent on advertising, which
is just rife with victim blaming.
[00:58:40]
SUSAN BURKE:
And so there’s this notion that essentially anyone can be a rapist and we all have to
be alert. It misses an opportunity to take real steps towards preventing rape. If they
actually had systems of accountability that prosecuted and imprisoned perpetrators,
you would get rid of a lot of the rapes right away.
[00:59:02]
KIRBY:
How would you characterize the typical sex offender?

KAYE WHITLEY:
Well, if I look at the data from the Department of Defense, it is young people that are
ages 18‐25.
KIRBY:
Would you say that most of them are serial rapists?
KAYE WHITLEY:
Um, I don’t have data one way or another to determine that.
KIRBY:
And what percentage of the rapes do you think are caused by serial predators?
KAYE WHITLEY:
Um I don’t have any numbers. I don’t think we collect that type of data.
KIRBY:
There have been studies done, that people who enter the military are twice as likely
to have committed rape as the equivalent population in the civilian world.
KAYE WHITLEY:
I’m not aware of that study. My area of expertise focuses primarily on prevention
and victim care.
KIRBY:
But, wouldn’t prevention include focusing on the perpetrators?
[00:59:53]
CARD:
July 31, 2008, Kaye Whitley is subpoenaed to testify before the House Subcommittee
on National Security and Foreign Affairs.
CONGRESS CHAIRMAN:
I noticed that Dr. Kaye Whitley is not in her chair. Is it under your direction that she
is not showing for testimony this morning?
DOMINGAS:
Uh yes sir.
CONGRESS CHAIRMAN:
You directed her not to?
DOMINGAS:

I did.
CONGRESS CHAIRMAN:
Do you have an executive privilege to assert?
DOMIGAS:
Uh, no sir.
REP. HENRY A. WAXMAN:
You’ve instructed her not to come? What is your reason for doing that?
DOMINGAS:
If you find the department’s response and prevention efforts, fall short of your
expectations, responsibility for that shortfall rests with me.
REP. HENRY A. WAXMAN:
That’s a ridiculous answer. What is it you’re trying to hide, we all remember
Tailhook and the scandal, and how the military tried to cover that up. I don’t know
who you think elected you to defy the Congress of the United States, but we’re an
independent branch of government.
CHAIRMAN:
So for now Mr. Dominguez, you are dismissed.
[01:01:02]
(OHIO)
KORI CIOCA:
Intimacy is definitely affected. We’ll go months without sex. I have to initiate, if I’m
comfortable enough, if my husband looks hot for the day, I have to initiate it. When
he comes up to me sometimes I’ll cringe and I’ll just want him to, he’ll feel it, and
then he’ll get mad because he’ll be like, why aren’t you hugging me back? I don’t like
him grabbing my hips.
ROB MCDONALD:
I still do that. There’s times I didn’t understand, because I’m you’re husband, and I
still don’t fully understand now.
[01:01:42]
KORI CIOCA:
I see it in my dreams that’s what you don’t get, you know I say Rob I had a
nightmare, and you’re like ok. I don’t want to talk about stuff, and you know that.
ROB MCDONALD:

Yeah well that’s the hard part, I don’t know, I want to help you, but I don’t know, you
know?
KORI CIOCA:
You can’t help me. That’s the thing, cause you can’t. Sometimes I think, when he’s
having sex with me, is he thinking about me getting raped, is he upset, is he, you
know, because I think about that, and never does it not run through my head. That’s
why I didn’t want to have sex for a while.
[01:02:20]
ROB MCDONALD:
What if you were in my spot?
KORI CIOCA:
It would suck so bad, I’m not saying I don’t appreciate you, I appreciate everything
you do. See you’re going to make me cry, baby, this is why I don’t talk about it Rob,
because it does upset me.
[01:02:33]
KORI CIOCA:
Like when we almost split up cause of stuff, and I feel like I’m responsible for it.. I
don’t know what I’d do if I lost Rob, I’d be so lost. He’s like my only supporter. Like
my own blood.
[01:03:00]
AMY HERDY:
I’ve interviewed women in the civilian world, and rape is a very traumatizing thing
to have happen, but I’ve never seen trauma like I’ve seen from women who have
suffered military sexual trauma.
STACE NELSON:
I cannot remember how many times a young female marine who had been raped or
sexually assaulted had told me that she looked at these guys like they were her
brother, or the suspect as her brother.
BRIGADIER GENERAL LORRE SUTTON:
It’s akin to what happens in a family with incest. Because in the military when we’re
functioning in a cohesive unit, as brothers and sisters, you know the band of
brothers and sisters, I mean we are family. When that bond of trust is violated, the
wound penetrates to the very most inner part of one’s soul, one’s psyche.
[01:04:04]

KORI CIOCA:
I have this folder that I keep, I have all my boot camp letters in it, from my mom and
my sister and I was just going through it and I was like, what is this, and I was like,
oh my god, my suicide letter. ‘Mom, I’m sorry for the grief that you must feel, just
because I’m gone physically doesn’t mean I won’t be there spiritually. I truly feel
that God will take me without question, even though I took my own life. I’ve had the
most broken thoughts, dreams, and physical pain, to remind me of the horrific acts
upon me that happened while on duty. A mother, brother, sister and husband should
never live knowing the acts upon me, find peace in knowing that the body left
behind doesn’t consume my soul. I am free now, and not afraid. Ready to soar, Kori
Danielle.
[01:05:09]
TRINA MCDONALD:
I took a whole bottle of pills. And woke up strangely enough, I’m not sure why. At
that point in my life I just wanted it to be over. I think I was 20, 21 and then within
the next year, I tried again.
MICHAEL MATTHEWS:
I went out into the garage, which was separate from the house, and I turned the car
on, I was going to sit in the car and asphyxiate myself. And we have this little poodle
Blondie, she went out the little doggie door and she’s scratching at the door, and I’m
like, shut up, god dammit, you’re going to wake my wife up. So I get out, shut the car
off, and I thought for a moment, maybe I’ll just her in the garage with me, and I
thought, why would you kill a dog? And then I thought, well why would you kill
yourself?
HANNAH SEWELL:
I thought of it, so many times, and in so many ways. I thought about, at one point in
time, hanging myself from the flagpole, with on a sign on me saying exactly what
happened, to make him feel bad.
KORI CIOCA:
I was goin to, um, overdose on pain medication and sleeping medication and hope
that I would fall asleep and my body would just shut down, or do something. Um,
when I went to the doctor I had been feeling sick, and dizzy and nauseated, and they
took my urine and they toke me that I was pregnant. And it was like, there’s a life in
there, and maybe her life will be better than mine, and I’ve got to make sure of that.
So, she’s very special.
[01:06:52]
BRIGADIER GENERAL WILMA VAUGHT:
Sometimes it takes a different kind of action to cause change to come, and
sometimes that’s a lawsuit.

[01:07:06]
SUSAN BURKE:
I grew up on military bases, my dad was career army, when I was a child when we
answered the phone we would have to say, Colonel Burke’s quarters, and because of
that I have the understanding of the level of control that the military exercises, that
perhaps most in the civilian life don’t have. The Feres Doctrine is a judicial doctrine
that was developed by the Supreme Court that says, although the United States, is
going to allow people that are hurt by the government, to sue, just as you could sue a
company, congress could not possibly have meant to include the military in that.
Now Congress did not actually say that, rather it’s a judicial interpretation of what
they must have meant. If you’re in the military, you can not sue for something that
happens to you that’s incident to your military service. If military doctors amputate
the wrong limb, you’re out of luck, you can not sue for that harm that’s been done to
you, so we filed a law suit in federal court on behalf of 16 men and women seeking
to bring former Secretary Rumsfeld and Secretary Gates to justice.
[01:08:01]
KORI CIOCA:
I heard about the lawsuit and decided to become a part of it because I never wanted
another woman to go through what I went through.
AMY:
How have you been feeling emotionally about doing this?
KORI CIOCA:
I’m, oh, I’ve been so sick, just sick to my stomach, and I think right now I’m just like,
let’s get there, just numbing myself to get there, and then I know when I get there, it
should, I don’t know. I don’t know.
[01:08:44]
SUSAN BURKE:
The law suit alleges that they have overseen a system that has deprived the rape
survivors their constitutional rights, specifically we allege that they deprive them of
their substance of due process, their procedural due process, equal protection and
first amendment rights.
[01:09:17]
KORI CIOCA:
It made me sick to see everybody’s stories. How they kind of closely tie together. It’s
consistent, like what the military does to us.

MYLA HAIDER:
All the things that they’ve put in place are all pretty much intended to help women
deal with being raped better, that’s what they’re about.
[01:41:41]
MYLA HAIDER:
I joined the military halfway through my senior year of high school, wanting to serve
my country and do new things and challenge myself in a different way. I was in the
army for about 7 or 8 years before anything happened to me. I was raped by another
CID agent who was senior to me. I was contacted by an agent with Fort Riley CID
who said, they were investigating the suspect as a serial rapist who had raped
several military law enforcement women. I thought, you know, there was no way he
wouldn’t be convicted.
[01:10:22]
MYLA HAIDER:
If I have a difficult time with anything it’s about the fact that I had an almost ten year
career that I was very invested in, and I gave it all up to report a sex offender who
was not even put to justice or put on the registry, and he’s probably doing the same
thing right now.
SARAH ALBERTSON:
I had one female lieutenant pull me aside and tell me she had heard about her case,
and she thought she could talk to me from one female marine to another, and she
said, well what he did, was capitalize on an opportunity that you presented him,
that’s not the same thing as rape, you need to know that. A month after it happened
they made me go on a hike with him, and I tried to make everyone advocate for me
not to go because I just couldn’t deal with seeing him, so their solution to that was to
put him in front of me so that I could see him the whole time, so that I could know
where he was and know that he wasn’t able to do anything because he was standing
right in front of me. And I remember thinking the entire time we were up on the
hills, up at Camp Pendleton, if only it was steeper I would have jumped.
[01:11:18]
MYLA HAIDER:
There’s no way out of it, I mean if you think of it, the only way out of it is suicide or
a‐wall. Those are your only options, suicide, a‐wall or deal with it.
REGINA VASQUEZ:
Right now, I’m just barely appreciating learning how to appreciate being a woman
again, that’s 11 years, and I’m trying to have fun with it, not forcing myself to have
fun. I’m trying really hard not to cry but it just pisses me off. Watching you girls
having to go through what I have, it makes me want to explode.

KORI COICA:
Being here, me wanting to commit suicide, I’m not alone, me being hit and raped I’m
not alone. Everything, the way that they treated me, the way that they made me feel,
I’m not alone. And we have all of you guys, with all of your knowledge and
everything you guys are going to stand right up, you know that’s awesome. That’s all
I’m saying.
[01:12:25]
BRIGADIER GENERAL WILMA L. VAUGHT:
I think the women who are coming forward in this law suit are very courageous,
because they’re putting their names out there for criticism, they’re putting their
names out there in history as they were the ones who got raped, and that’s not
anything you want to go through life with.
[01:12:58]
ANU GHAGWATI:
Today I stand in solidarity with the courageous women and men who have served in
our armed forces. The inspirational plaintiffs you see before you are a small handful
of the tens of thousands of troops and veterans who have been sexually brutalized
by their fellow service members while defending our nation. It is time to finally
acknowledge that our military’s judicial system is broken when it comes to these
cases.
KORI CIOCA:
My name is Kori Cioca and in my case, my command was unwilling to help me. I
went for help many times with my petty officers and I was denied help, even with
other men saying please get her away from him, and it was still allowed.
[01:13:32]
SARAH ALBERTSON:
My name is Sarah Albertson. People were telling me don’t go to the public, because
it will make the military look bad.
MYLA HAIDER:
I really feel like it is my social responsibility to speak out about this issue, especially
considering my investigative experience and especially because the military justice
system allows so many offenders to escape justice.
KORI CIOCA:
Shes actually starting to play with her toys.
MYLA HAIDER:

Imaginative playing
KORI CIOCA:
It’s all the stuff that you teach them when they play, ya know. Its really cool.
MYLA HAIDER:
I miss my baby.
KORI CIOCA:
I do too.
[01:14:28]
KORI CIOCA:
Thank you for having us.
REP. CHELLIE PINGREE:
Sure, thanks for being willing to fill me in a little bit on the experiences.
REGINA VASQUEZ:
My name is Regina Vazquez and I served honorably in the United States Marine
Corps for four years.
KORI CIOCA:
My name is Kori Cioca and I served in the United States Coast Guard. I was harassed
and sexually assaulted.
MYLA HAIDER:
I was administratively discharged with no benefits after 9 and a half years of service.
[01:14:49]
REP. LOUISE SLAUGHTER:
Women should not have to bear that burden. That is not part of what we should
have to be doing to be doing our jobs.
REP. MIKE TURNNER:
We’re talking about criminal activity. We’re talking about a vicious attack that is
criminal. It is an assault.
MYLA HAIDER:
Almost none of the cases made it to court‐marshal, and out of the ones that do,
almost none of them result in conviction.
LORETTA SANCHEZ:

It seems to me all the times that I’ve looked at these things that the command is the
one who has such much discretion.
KORI CIOCA:
I think the advocate should actually be civilians. Not ones that work in the military. I
think we should have actual units, civilian units.
[01:15:26]
REP. JACKIE SPEIRE:
It absolutely kind of tears my inside to think that this has been going on, as long as
it’s been going on and we’ve never addressed it.
REP. TED POE:
All people in the military must know, if you’re a perpetrator of sexual assault against
someone else in the military, we’ll be to you, you’re going to be held accountable.
[01:15:47]
MYLA HAIDER:
As a CID agent, I found it tremendously frustrating when I would demonstrate that
an offender had committed an offense, and taking it to a commander and having a
commander being the deciding authority. You know, I don’t think commanders are
capable of making and objective decision. I do not think it should be in their hands.
REP. TSONGAS:
So you would suggest taking the discretion away from them?
MYLA HAIDER:
Yes, absolutely.
REP. TSONGAS:
Congresswoman Davis and I are both on the armed services committee.
REP. DAVIS:
There are a number of issues that you’ve raised that makes me want to go back and
particularly take another look.
[01:16:20]
REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ:
On an emotional basis, what happens after a crime like that has been committed is a
difficult thing to go through, and don’t think I don’t know. I know.
REP. PINGREE:

The fact that you’re willing to tell me your stories first hand, makes it much easier
for us to go back and to say you know these are policies we have to change. It’s a big
deal what you’re doing.
KORI CIOCA:
You rarely find people who stand up for us, and just thank you so much for
everything that you do.
[01:16:52]
REP. TED POE:
Last year, the military received over 3,000 reports of sexual assault involving other
members in the service. This week, 17 veterans are saying the military ignored their
cases of sexual assault while they were on active duty.
REP. JACKIE SPEIER:
Today I’m going to talk about seaman Kori Cioca who served in the Coast Guard
from August 2005 to June 2007. She now suffers from PTSD and an abnormal EEG
due to nerve damage in her face. Cioca later told the press, it’s like they didn’t care, it
wasn’t important, I wasn’t important.
[01:17:36]
KORI COICA:
So, we’re eating at Bob Evans and I overhear a girl talking about getting ready to go
into the military, so I go over there and try to talk to her.
KORI CIOCA:
Has anybody told you what to watch for or anything?
WAITRESS:
My boyfriend’s in the navy.
KORI CIOCA:
So, he knows how tough it is for women.
WAITRESS:
Yeah, he’s been in for a couple of months now.
KORI CIOCA:
So, how does he feel about you joining? Like, isn’t he scared that the men will do
something?
WAITRESS:
He’s a little scared but he knows I can take care of myself.

KORI CIOCA:
Oh I thought so too so be careful.
[01:18:05]
KORI CIOCA:
I definitely let her know that maybe she should reconsider college and getting a
degree, it’ll save her some of the trouble. I wish someone would have told me that.
KORI CIOCA: (to waitress)
You try to take care okay? You can still back out. You can be a civilian worker.
WAITRESS:
Yeah, thank you. I’m not signed yet.
KORI CIOCA:
Okay, well just, be careful.
[01:18:31]
MAIETTE WELLS:
People always ask me, was it worth it going in? The idea of it is honorable, serving
your country is great, there are good people in it, and then there are people who will
end up ruining your life.
ARIANA KLAY:
Just the other day I saw a girl running along the road. She looked like she was about
high school age. She was wearing a USMC t‐shirt, and I thought that, if she joins then
she’s going to have to accept rape and destruction of her life. I cannot in good faith, I
cannot recommend anyone to join with the way the organization is set up now. I
would not wish that on anyone.
[01:19:19]
REP. CHELLIE PINGREE:
You can’t ask women to serve and then say oh by the way, if you get in one of these
horrendous situations, we won’t be there to back you up or to help you.
REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ:
When I would do nominations for the air force academy, it was difficult to talk to
parents and say, don’t worry she’s not going to get raped.
CHRISTINA JONES:
No, I would tell my daughter not to join the military. They have good things to offer
but a rape is not one of them.

MIETTE WELLS:
Uh, not in my lifetime. She’s not joining, no.
ROB MCDONALD:
I would be terrified if my daughter wanted to join the military. I would have a
serious long talk and hope that the one thing is that’s what she’d listen to.
[01:19:59]
BRIGADIER GENERAL LOREE SUTTON:
Losing even one soldier, needlessly, because of military sexual trauma is one too
many.
[01:20:11]
KORI COICA:
I’m going to get the mail. Fingers crossed. Here’s my fate.
ROB MCDONALD:
What does it say?
KORI COICA:
Effective October 20 th 2009. My overall combined rating is 70%. Wait, service
connection for anxiety is denied, service connection for disk placement and bilateral
disk displacement is denied. Those mother fuckers man. Oh my god. My face doesn’t
have any disks in it, that’s what the x‐rays show.
ROB MCDONALD:
How can you deny medical help when there’s x‐rays?
[01:21:54]
ROB MCDONALD:
If you do not agree with our decision you should write us and tell us why?
KORI COICA:
Cause you’re an asshole.
ROB MCDONALD:
And you should identify specific issues.
KORI COICA:
You’re an idiot.
ROB MCDONALD:

The evidence that was reviewed showed that you served whatever, which is less
than minimum active duty requirements for disability pension. But it wasn’t your
choice.
KORI COICA:
They’re going to punish me for what they did, because I was short 2 months of two
years. I know I feel the same way Shea.
[01:22:33]
(Washington DC)
DR. KAYE WHITLEY:
It’s nice to see you again and thank you for coming. You have been provided
highlights of the numbers of the report and I’m going to walk you through those
slides, then I’m going to play a short public service announcement and then we can
entertain questions.
DR. KAYE WHITLEY:
I think the prevention aspect of sexual assault goes back in some ways to risk
reduction.
KIRBY:
What is risk reduction?
DR. KAYE WHITLEY:
Risk reductions are ideas like telling women to if they’re going to go somewhere,
always have a buddy with them.
KIRBY:
Are there other examples of risk reduction?
DR. KAYE WHITLEY:
Um, I’m not familiar, but that’s out of my area of expertise.
[01:23:16]
CARD:
August 1, 2011, Major General Mary Kay Hertog replaces Kaye Whitley as the
Director of the Sexual Assault and Prevention Office.
MAJOR GENERAL MARY KAY HERTOG:
Well I want to continue where Dr. Whitley left off, looking at where our focus is and
that’s on prevention as well as response, we’ve really done a very good job there and
the credit goes to Dr. Whitley and her staff that has been working this the past 5 to 6
years.

[01:23:38]
REP. MIKE TURNER:
I don’t think the Department of Defense has really yet embraced that they have a
sexual assault problem that its not just an issue of a cultural environment or that the
people at risk of sexual assault. The system itself does not value the rights of victims
and doesn’t provide them adequate protection.
MAJOR GENERAL MARY KAY HERTOG:
You know, I have heard the accusations as well that commanders are sweeping this
under the carpet. Now, what I would say to the people who have come forward to
you is that, if you feel that your commander is ignoring what you have asked them to
you, if they are not taking care of you within that chain of command, you need to go
to the DOD, the Department of Defense, inspector general.
[01:24:14]
REP. JACKIE SPEIER:
The GAO, General Accounting Office, just did a study, a report and guess what, not
one, not one case, of more than 2500 has been reviewed and investigated by the
inspector general, and when asked about that the inspector general said, well we
have other higher priorities.
SUSAN BURKE:
What you really want is you want there to be a system akin to a civilian system
where you go to the police and the crime is prosecuted by an impartial judicial
system.
[01:24:50]
MAJOR GENERAL MARY KAY HERTOG:
As a commander you have no favorites, you are equally take care of every single
person in your organization, that’s what command is all about.
SUSAN BURKE:
These are human beings just like everyone else. You cannot be impartial when you
are involved with people in other settings.
REAR ADMIRAL ANTHONY KURTA:
I would take exception with your characterization that the disposition of the case is
based on the relationship between the commander and the alleged perpetrator.
[01:25:17]
CARD:

33% of female soldiers didn’t report their rape because the person to report to was
a friend of the rapist.
[01:25:23]
MAJOR GENERAL MARY KAY HERTOG:
I’m going to speak to you with my former commanders hat on. There is absolutely
no conflict of interest, you do what the right thing is to do.
[01:25:30]
CARD:
25% of female soldiers didn’t report their rape because the person to report to was
the rapist.
MAJOR GENERAL MARY KAY HERTOG:
You have other avenues and if you feel like you have not been taken care adequately
by your commander, go up through your congressman, or congresswoman, file a
complaint that way.
SUSAN BURKE:
You can’t go to your congressman to obtain justice for being raped, I mean imagine
how silly that is, imagine if you told civilians that. ‘Oh jeez, sorry you were raped, go
talk to your congressman.”
[01:26:00]
CARD:
Many of our closest NATO allies no longer allow commanders to determine the
prosecution of sexual assault cases.
[01:26:07]
AMY:
If you could say something to this guy, what would you want to say to him?
JESSICA HINVES:
I don’t know. I don’t think it’s affected his life at all. And people in my old squadron
that I’ve talked to, um, they don’t see an effect on him at all, and that hurts because
it’s a struggle every day and it’s completely changed who I am.
KORI COICA:
I’m really hoping he falls off a coast guard boat and they never find him. I’m really
hoping for that. Or there’s a poor mishap and got chopped up by the prop.
ROB MCDONALD:

That would be great
KORIO COICA:
That would be great.
ROB MCDONALD:
That would be an exciting day.
KORI COICA:
It would. I’d probably celebrate.
[01:26:58]
TRINA MCDONALD:
I hope this reaches them too. You know. I hope that somewhere someone sees my
face, you know, wherever it is, and goes, I know them, and they’re talking about me,
because they know what they did. And then all they’ll have to mutter is to some
friend that goes, hey weren’t we stationed with her, and then it can’t be a secret any
more. So hopefully they have to deal with it too, you know, in some way shape or
form.
[01:27:35]
HELEN BENEDICT:
Most rapists are repetitive criminals. It’s a kind of crime that has an obsessive
quality so people do it again and again, so the tragedy of that is that every one of
these guys gets off freely will be doing it to other women, again and again, often for
years and years and years.
RUSSELL STRAND:
The average sex offender in their lifetime has about 300 victims, and the vast
majority of sex offenders will never be caught.
MYLA HAIDER:
A lot of civilians see it as being a military problem but it really isn’t because 5% or
less of reported offenders are convicted, so almost none of them wind up on the sex
offender registry.
[01:28:17]
MAJOR GENERAL MARY KAY HERTOG:
There is no military sex offender list that I’m aware of but if you’re convicted in
court, a felony conviction of sex offense of a sex offense, you’re going to go on the
national list.
KIRBY:

For any sex offense whatsoever?
MAJOR GENERAL MARY KAY HERTOG:
Correct.
STACE NELSON:
That is not the case. It depends on what level conviction they got. If they received
over a year, then that’s considered a felony. But a lot of these cases are plead down
so that they’re not felonies. The military doesn’t like to prosecute people and keep
them as felony convictions.
[01:28:50]
RUSSELL STRAND:
I often ask myself the question, why would they stop, and if there’s nothing to stop
them like incarceration or some other major life change, they’re going to continue.
STACE NELSON:
If you run a sexual predator through the judicial system and then you slap him on
the hand all you’ve done, is you’ve done the equivalent of the catch and release
program. You’ve caught them, you’ve educated them, and now you’ve released them
back into hometown America. He now knows a lot more about the law enforcement,
the judicial system than he did when he first started, which makes him a much more
capable criminal, and a much more dangerous criminal.
ANU BHAGWATI:
They go on to literally prey on women and men in our neighborhoods across the
United States. If we don’t care about women and men in the military then we should
hopefully care about women and men girls and boys in our neighborhood back
home.
[01:29:42]
CARD:
In December 2011, the Court dismissed the survivor’s lawsuit ruling that rape is an
occupational hazard of military service. An appeal has been filed.
[01:30:17]
HELEN BENEDICT:
The thing that broke my heart the most about this story was the young women who
went in with such idealism, I want to serve my country, I want to give back. To see a
young person’s hope and idealism crushed in that brutal way. I think we owe our
young people more than that.
REP. PINGREE:

Increasingly women are becoming some of the best‐trained officials that we have in
the military. These are great soldiers and we can’t afford to lose them.
[01:30:48]
SARAH ALBERTSON:
Yeah I’m happy I never have to wear that again.
PAULA COUGHLIN:
People deeply believe in their hearts to serve their country. They should be given
that chance, with respect. You know, it’s part of really our American way.
KORI COICA:
Do you think we deserve a purple heart because we were wounded in a time of war?
REGINA VASQUEZ:
They’re never going to give us one.
KORI COICA:
I know, but I’m just saying maybe there should be a ribbon for women who have
survived it.
[01:31:17]
DENNIS LAICH:
We have a good army, a good military but not a great one and this is the kind of
issue that keeps our military from being great.
BRIGADIER GENERAL LORRE SUTTON:
We can view this as a shared challenge. It’s not just a woman’s issue, it’s not just
something the military has to deal with. But it’s society. We’re all in this together.
It’s our national duty.
[01:32:09]
CARD:
Five, years after her attack, Kori is still trying to get coverage for her jaw surgery
from the Veterans Administration. Her assailant is still in the Coast Guard and lives
in Charleston, South Carolina.
CARD:
Ariana is pursuing her Masters Degree in Social Work to help survivors or military
sexual assault. Her assault was court‐martialed and found guilty of adultery and
indecent language.

CARD:
Elle is working for a corporation and lives in South Carolina. Her assailant has
recently been promoted to lieutenant colonel.
[01:32:50]
CARD:
Michael and his wife are helping promote awareness of male military sexual assault.
He does not know the identity of his assailants or where they are today.
CARD:
Jessica and her husband had a baby boy and are raising him in Virginia. Her
assailant is still in the Air Force and was awarded ‘Airman of the Year’ during her
rape investigation.
CARD:
Hannah’s father, Jerry, is retuning from Iraq after a one‐year deployment. Her
assailant is still in the Navy and stationed three hours from her home in Kentucky.
[01:33:29]
CARD:
Myla’s assailant became a supervisor at a major U.S. corporation and sexually
assaulted a female employee. He was never charged and now lives in Queens, New
York.
CARD:
Sign the petition to take the decision to prosecute and investigate rape out of the
hands of commanders. Go to invisiblewarmovie.com.
CARD:
Seek ways to help MST survivors. Volunteer at your local VA Center. Host a
screening of this film. If everyone knows…it can’t be a secret.
CARD:
Listen to a veteran and ask them to share their story. Let them know they are not
invisible.
[1:34:43]
MUSIC AND CREDITS