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Letters

Not ready for combat

I want to respond to the letter in the Aug. 13 Air Force Times “Airmen combat-ready.” The writer said we are trained at the same levels as soldiers before the Air Force sends anyone outside the wire.

We go to combat skills training for four weeks. Is that adequate training to go outside the wire to fill an Army position? The writer also stated that we are provided with the same equipment and M4 carbines as the Army. That is not true. It depends on what your unit has. I will be going outside the wire with an M16 with the chance to provide security and convoy duty for my team. Since I have to do what a real soldier has to do, give me the training and the right weapon. Then I will be considered a combat-ready airman.

Tech. Sgt. Robert A. Sheipline

Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.

Brass bashing is pointless

Robert F. Dorr takes a gratuitous slap at military officers in his review of the book “15 Stars” [“Five-star stories,” Lifelines, Aug. 20]. Dorr writes, “In a lesson the Pentagon brass needs today, Marshall identified with no political party, spurned invitations to run for office and, upon retirement, turned down offers to serve on corporate boards.” Name an active-duty “Pentagon brass” who publicly identifies with a political party or has accepted an invitation to run for office. As for serving on corporate boards, what do you deem to be appropriate post-military employment? Or after military retirement should we all just crawl into a hole, as has been suggested to many of us retirees? In my own two subsequent careers, I have sometimes been told that it is “unfair” that I am “permitted” to hold any job after the military.

Lt. Col. David Skilling (ret.)

Marietta, Ga.

Hernandez case

I’m writing in response to the story that was published on Airman 1st Class Cassandra Hernandez’s alleged rape and subsequent Article 15 [“Rape or party?” Aug. 20].

I’m appalled as a fellow female active-duty airman, a surviving sexual assault victim and a victim advocate for my squadron that Airman 1st Class Hernandez’s case was handled so shoddily. It just goes to show that all the programs the Air Force is implementing to improve sexual-assault reporting mean absolutely nothing. Again and again the Air Force fails women who are raped. It is disgusting that this is allowed, but then the Air Force is still very much a man’s world.

The whole point of the Sexual Assault Program was to educate and to reassure women and men who were victims of sexual assault that the Air Force would do everything in its power to advocate for them and see that they received counseling services and justice without persecution, so that the assaults wouldn’t go unreported. What a joke. When they can’t prosecute the assailant they turn on the victim. All the steps that were taken with the implementation of the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator program are now gone, thanks to the fact that the Air Force just sent a clear message to all rape victims: “You report your rape, and we will prosecute you for it.”

The Air Force’s “system” fails another woman — surprise, surprise. How many mistakes does it take before they get it? Please explain to me why a victim should report a sexual assault if this is what she has to look forward to?

Airman 1st Class Hernandez, if you read this, I’m pulling for you. Your story brought me to tears, because your statement, with a few changes, could have been mine a few years ago. You deserved so much better from the system. I apologize that you didn’t get it, and I am appalled and disgusted for you.

Senior Airman April Sowell

Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.

Worrying mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and dependent children were standing in checkout lines at the base exchange, commissary and shoppette, gazing at the magazine stands, desperately searching for headlines of good news about the war and deployments. Always cheerful kids and fearless teenagers were looking at covers to maybe recognize the face of their parent, who makes them so proud. Over 36,000 Air Force members were anticipating life-changing news about the newest promotions.

What did they get? A “gang rape” title on the front cover of Air Force Times. What an age we live in. Honor, courage, valor, integrity, pride and customs seem to have no place in time of war in the military newspaper. Instead, we are fed a demoralizing, pointless, inconclusive, ugly, three-page article which leads to nothing but gossip and a waste of one’s intellect.

I simply wonder, why? Why are there no stories about people who deserve to be called leaders, examples, heroes? Why do we allow civilian-type scandals, drama and lapses of discipline and principles to infiltrate and dominate our military life? It seems Air Force Times has lost touch with the perspective of its demographic and potential consumers.

This country was built by the best individuals and best teamwork the world has ever seen — so why promote alienation and lack of morals?

There were times when writers took responsibility for affecting new generations and promoting the best qualities in people. Why, then, are the editors allowing sex scandals to regularly appear on the front pages of the paper that affects millions of people, 98 percent of whom lead a faithful, professional, ethical and highly sacrificial lifestyle? Are the advertisement sales so low that scandals are the only way to make a profit?

Reporting and informing are responsibilities that affect peoples’ lives, and they should be respected and cherished as a gift. There are not many institutions left that still have values attached to their name. The Air Force is still based on the best people and the best examples of behavior, so let’s acknowledge those who are worth the praise and not make an epic story of everyone who fails.

Senior Airman Yevgeniy Maksimov

Bolling Air Force Base,

Washington, D.C.

I read the article “Rape or party?” and am absolutely appalled. While I can’t speak to the veracity of anyone’s claims regarding the alleged rape, I can speak to the potentially devastating damage being done to all women in uniform because of the prosecution of Airman 1st Class Hernandez. We should have learned already that sexual assaults occur more often than we would like to admit among people who profess the highest regard for personal integrity, wingmanship and professionalism.

We also should have learned that countless victims have not stepped forward to admit to sexual assault because of fear of collateral misconduct. This realization is clearly evidenced in the Defense Department’s sexual assault policy, which states that a victim’s fear of punishment is one of the most significant barriers to reporting sexual assault, and that commanders should carefully weigh the value of charging a victim with collateral misconduct against the need to have victims come forward to get help they so desperately need. In fact, in sexual assault awareness lessons, we tell assault victims to come forward and to not fear reprisal.

If investigators could not substantiate Hernandez’s allegations of rape due to her unwillingness to testify, that is one thing. It is quite another to prosecute her and lay blame on her for what happened, especially when they thought she was a credible enough victim to have pursued prosecution of her alleged rapist in the first place. Not only is it idiotic to blame the victim, it sets the stage for countless other victims to think that the system will betray them as it did Hernandez. How many women and men will not seek help because the system offered up such a powerful example of how it can punish someone who comes forward with a plea for help?

Capt. Jennifer L. Henderson

Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

The truth is always worth fighting for and that’s exactly what Airman 1st Class Cassandra Hernandez seems to be doing in the story “Rape or party?” While no one except Hernandez and her three alleged assailants were in the room that night, I know one thing for certain: It takes a lot of courage to voice an accusation like this and then tell your story to a professional journal read by thousands of your peers. It’s not because of her courage alone that I tend to believe Airman Hernandez. I believe that date and peer rape are far more prevalent than we know, and I offer one example.

More than 20 years ago, a female colleague of mine told me of an incident that happened to her at an overseas base where we were both previously stationed. My friend related how she attended a dorm party and had too much to drink. My friend went on to add that she remembered having sex with someone while intoxicated but couldn’t remember whom or, worse yet, if there had been more than one person. My friend recalled waking up in her dorm room physically injured and too ashamed to say anything. To make matters worse, she felt that it was partially her fault for losing control. It took a long time for my friend to come to terms with the shame and loss of self-respect she suffered from this unreported rape. This is why I tend to believe Hernandez: This is not an easy crime to report.

Surely our military justice system and Hernandez’s chain of command are intelligent enough to know that a legally drunk woman cannot consent to sexual intercourse. Charging this young woman with anything other than underage drinking is simply wrong and sets a bad precedent for future victims of this type of crime.

Master Sgt. Richard D. Harris (ret.)

Grand Forks, N.D.

As a female member of the Air Force, I am appalled at the Air Force’s decision to court-martial Airman 1st Class Hernandez. The Air Force is out of touch with the emotional trauma a woman goes through when she is raped. To have to experience the rape all over again during a court-martial is more than some women can bear. For those of you who are not familiar with Air Force rape trials, I recommend you attend one. It might change the way you see the Air Force you serve.

You will get to watch as the defense attorney asks the alleged victim if she wears underwear or how often she has sex. Most of the questions they ask the victim can’t be put into a decent publication. You will find out that the defendant has the right to review the victim’s medical and mental health records. Imagine someone in your family being raped and then having to sit in court and watch as her assailant reviews your loved one’s most private information. You will also see your loved one’s character attacked through innuendo and rumor, while the defendant gets to sit silently with his character unquestioned by the prosecuting attorney. You might even find out that just as in Hernandez’s case, your family member was denied her right to have her victim advocate present when she was being questioned by the defense prior to the Article 32 hearing. Is it any wonder that most women in the military don’t come forward when they are raped? They become the person on trial, and, in addition to the above-listed abuses, they have to recount the sordid story over and over for the prosecution and defense.

The military has a huge problem with sexual assault, and instead of dealing with it head-on, it creates programs that only serve to make the victim feel better. That feeling is short-lived, because the second assault begins when the court-martial starts. The Air Force will continue to hide its problem with rape because to do otherwise would hurt recruiting, retention and our image. Sadly, until the Uniform Code of Military Justice changes the way it deals with rape, women will continue to be terrified of coming forward because they know they will be assaulted all over again, by the very system they are serving.

Tech. Sgt. Althea Robinson

Buffalo, N.Y.