Ending sexual assault takes commitment

By David W. Kuhns, Northwest Guardian

The role of women in the Army has changed over the last few decades. Men in the Army need to do a better job of catching up with the change.

When a Spc. Kuhns arrived at his first assignment at Fort Wainwright, Alaska in 1977 female Soldiers were few and far between. Of the 3,500 Soldiers on the post only a dozen or so were women. Other installations around the Army might not have been as extreme, but the fact was that soldiering and femininity were concepts that just didn’t go together in many people’s minds.

The picture couldn’t be much different today. Women are a critical part of virtually every command in the Army. While not part of the traditional combat units, women are definitely serving in harm’s way, and doing so with distinction. Last week’s Northwest Guardian ran an account of a female helicopter pilot leaning out the door of her Kiowa to engage an enemy on the ground with her M4 carbine. This week we have a story about a woman being awarded a Silver Star for her heroic service as a combat medic.

Given the important place women have taken in the Army, it is especially troubling that they continue to be victimized by other Soldiers. I’m talking about sexual assault and rape.

Now, I don’t know that this is a crisis for the Army. And it is completely inappropriate to discuss or draw conclusions from individual cases. The numbers reported through official channels and those appearing in the news media are often at odds. But it is horrible that this happens at all.

There are some who, for their own reasons, try to paint a negative picture of Soldiers and the military. They say the Army doesn’t care, that it is a male-dominated culture that refuses to acknowledge that women are being victimized. I don’t believe that.

A great many changes have taken place just in the last few years. The Army cares; commanders care; Soldiers care.

Despite all that, surveys still show that a distressing proportion of women in uniform report being harrassed or assaulted. I have to think that there is more that people can do to prevent this from happening.

The essence of Soldiering is being part of a team. Being a team member has nothing to do with gender. It is a matter of common goals, of trust and interdependence. Teams look out for one another.

It isn’t enough to say that sexual assaults are bad — any moron can grasp that concept. More than that, members of Army teams need to take an active role in preventing harrassment, assaults and rapes from happening.

Women Soldiers need to know that the men they work with are a source of support, not potential threats. Men need to make it clear to their peers that they have zero tolerance for any sort of harrassment or threat towards their female teammates. That is true while deployed just as much as it is at home station — off duty as much as on.

That sexual assaults ever take place is unpleasant to think about, but ignoring them won’t make the problem go away. Every member of the Fort Lewis team — Soldiers, civilians, retirees and family members — needs to be committed to never letting this tragedy happen to another member of the team.