From armytimes.com
There are a handful of reasons that Sen. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, joined the Air Force. A debt-free college education, to make her late father proud, to channel her “feistiness,” she said – but also, to put the sexual advances by a high school track coach behind her.
Now, since she publicly shared it in a March Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, we know that America’s first female fighter pilot and squadron commander also faced sexual misconduct while serving.
“For me, little did I know as I went off to the military that I would have similar experiences there,” she said Thursday at the Naval Academy, in a speech at the inaugural National Discussion on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at America’s College, Universities and Services Academies.
“I didn’t plan to do this, but I certainly didn’t plan to be raped, either,” she added.
McSally addressed superintendents from the three service academies, as well as service chiefs and their top enlisted advisers, representatives from more than 100 colleges and universities and more from research, academia and the non-profit world.
“While I’m excited to be here … I’m not happy to be here,” Navy Secretary Richard Spencer told the audience. “I’m frustrated to be here. And I’m concerned about the ongoing scourge of sexual assault and sexual harassment.”
A recent study of service academies found that cadets and midshipmen are overall trusting in their leadership to address and hold accountable instances of sexual harassment, Army Secretary Mark Esper said in his remarks.
“While leadership is necessary, it is not sufficient,” he added. “That same study found that cadets lack confidence that their peers are doing enough to prevent this problem.”
Lord of the Flies
Sexual harassment and assault are not only pervasive in the military and on college campuses, experts said in panels throughout the day, but in American communities at large.
“But we expect the military to be better, right?” McSally said. “What can we do to not have an environment that becomes a petri dish for things like this to happen?”
An alumna of the Air Force Academy, McSally offered that the power dynamic of early military training can pose a problem, where young people are taught to unquestioningly follow the commands of the men and women in charge of them – a ripe opportunity for abuse.
Student leadership at service academies is a prime example, she said.
“But then we put 19-year-olds in charge of 18-year-olds, and then the adults leave for the weekend,” she said. “It’s like the Lord of the Flies!”
Her suggestion would be to leave the power with officers and noncommissioned officers, she said.
Read more at armytimes.com
