DEOMI News Highlights
DEOMI News Highlights is a weekly compilation of published items and commentary with a focus on equal
opportunity, equal employment opportunity, diversity, culture, and human relations issues. DEOMI News Highlights
is also a management tool intended to serve the informational needs of equity professionals and senior DOD officials
in the continuing assessment of defense policies, programs, and actions. Further reproduction or redistribution for
private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions.
Army outlines path to transition for transgender soldiers [Meghann Myers, Army Times, 20 October 2016]
 The Defense Department lifted its ban on transgender service members in July, and, with that announcement,
required each service to put together new policies and procedures for troops who want to transition and stay in
uniform by October.
 A new directive dated Oct. 7 lays out the path for soldiers to obtain a transgender diagnosis from an Army
medical provider, put together a transition plan and timeline with their doctor and their command, and
eventually change their gender in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System to begin living and
serving as their preferred gender. [The Army directive comes in the wake of the Air Force’s guidance on
transgender airmen, released in an October 6 memo.—DEOMI Library]
 The Army has a Nov. 1 deadline to put out training and guidance for commanders to pass down to soldiers on
how to navigate a unit with a transitioning soldier. By July 2017, that training will be integrated into the
service’s existing training rotation.
Army outlines path to transition for transgender soldiers
DOD Recognizes Innovative Initiatives to Prevent Sexual Assault [DOD Sexual Assault Prevention and
Response Office, Defense.gov, 17 October 2016]
 Sexual assault prevention goes beyond an hour of training, an awareness campaign, or an inspiring poster.
Preventing sexual assault requires sustained progress, innovative methodologies, and a commitment from
every service member, not just the military sexual assault response professionals.
 Each year, the Department of Defense presents the Sexual Assault Prevention Innovation Award to
acknowledge personnel or units from each military component who have developed and delivered targeted
initiatives that positively affect military readiness. The award is an excellent opportunity for leaders across the
DOD to recognize those who have demonstrated a personal commitment to prevent the crime of sexual assault
and to underscore the importance of creating unique prevention programs that resonate with unit members,
officials said.
 “This year’s award recipients embody the innovation, excellence, and professionalism that we want to see
from all who serve,” said Army Maj. Gen. Camille M. Nichols, director of the DOD Sexual Assault Prevention
and Response Office. “Preventing sexual assault requires a personal commitment to upholding the core values
that are associated with military service—and each of these recipients is an example to us all.”
DOD Recognizes Innovative Initiatives to Prevent Sexual Assault
Navy launches far-reaching ratings overhaul despite sailor backlash [Mark D. Faram, Navy Times, 17
October 2016]
 The red-hot controversy over the Navy’s stripping every sailor of his or her rating titles isn’t dying down and
officialdom is ratcheting up its response. The chief of naval personnel public affairs office published its second
blog in as many weeks on Sunday, which defends the action as a first step to creating more flexible enlisted
careers. That’s summarized by its new graphic, Navy Occupational Specialty: “One sailor, many paths.”
 The official blog post garnered over 600 comments, the great majority of which blasted the Navy for taking
away sailors’ ratings, job titles like gunner’s mate or master-at-arms that sailors have identified with for
generations. Now, all of the roughly 90 ratings will be replaced by NOS codes.
 The timeline says that within the next year, the current occupations will be regrouped and cross-community
occupation opportunities will be identified and piloted. Also, links will be developed to align all Navy
communities with related civilian career fields.
Navy launches far-reaching ratings overhaul despite sailor backlash
21 OCTOBER 2016
Page 1
DEOMI News Highlights
Discrimination
Judge tells Corps to prove it didn’t retaliate against embattled Marine
A new federal court ruling has huge significance for military reservists
Diversity
Air Force releases guidance on transgender airmen
Army outlines path to transition for transgender soldiers
Federal judge blocks transgender guidance nationwide
Marines’ requirements for infantry officers are unrealistic, Army colonel says [OPINION]
Puerto Ricans Represented Throughout U.S. Military History
SBA Joins with LinkedIn to Boost Private Board Diversity
She fled Iraq with her family. Now she’s a U.S. Marine.
Miscellaneous
Army and Tufts study how people think, respond under stress
Behind closed doors, the U.S. military scrutinizes modern cases of valor for new Medals of Honor
Dr. Yutaka Yoshida, a U.S. War Hero of Japanese Descent, Dies at 104
Flesh-eating bacteria claimed vet’s limbs, but not her drive
Get out and vote but obey your oath, general tells officers [OPINION]
I Fight for Your Right to Vote. But I Won’t Do It Myself. [OPINION]
Jack Greenberg, a Courthouse Pillar of the Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 91
James named honorary Tuskegee airman at Air Force Memorial’s 10th anniversary
Mabus responds to sailor concerns over radical career shake-up
Navy launches far-reaching ratings overhaul despite sailor backlash
A new Army pilot could change the way you get your next assignment
Thank a veteran. Get out and vote
Top military doctor says trend toward overweight troops is troubling
Misconduct
Corrupt NCIS agent who was besotted with ‘Fat Leonard’ gets 12 years in federal prison
Navy officer pleads guilty in growing bribery case
Racism
Justice Dept. asks to join civil rights suit by fired police officials in Pocomoke, Md.
Prominent TV reporter confronts man who called him the N-word
Religion
Corps to Add ‘Spiritual Fitness’ to Professional Education
Feds drop Muslim outreach program whose counseling teams were said to have sown mistrust
Muslim woman settles in at Vermont military college
New details emerge in case of 3 men accused in Kansas plot
Sexual Assault/Harassment
Campus sex assaults stir debate on when to alert students
DOD Recognizes Innovative Initiatives to Prevent Sexual Assault
Gillibrand proposes sexual assault reforms for Merchant Marine Academy
Survey: One-third of U.S. women worry about being sexually assaulted
21 OCTOBER 2016
Page 2
Discrimination
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/articles/judge-tells-corps-to-prove-it-didnt-retaliate-against-embattledmarine
Judge tells Corps to prove it didn't retaliate against
embattled Marine
By Jeff Schogol
Marine Corps Times, October 14, 2016
Maj. Jason Brezler (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kevin Carroll)
Maj. Jason Brezler's discharge is temporarily on hold after a federal
court judge on Friday ordered the Marine Corps to prove it did not
try to kick the officer out of the service for seeking help from a
congressman over charges that he mishandled classified
information, his attorney said.
Brezler has gained national attention for challenging a board of
inquiry’s recommendation that he be discharged after he tried to
warn Marines in Afghanistan about Afghan police chief Sarwar Jan, whom Brezler claimed was corrupt.
On Aug. 10, 2012, just days after Brezler sent a classified briefing about Sarwar from his personal
unsecured email account to the operations officer at Forward Operating Base Dehli in Afghanistan, a boy
described as one of Sarwar’s servants killed three Marines: Staff Sgt. Scott Dickinson, 29, Cpl. Richard
Rivera, 20, and Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley.
Marine's attorney: If Hillary Clinton wasn't prosecuted, this officer shouldn't be discharged
A board of inquiry recommended in December 2013 that Brezler be discharged for sending the classified
information from his personal account and for taking classified documents home from Afghanistan so he
could write a book.
The Marine Corps agreed not to discharge Brezler until a federal judge ruled on his lawsuit challenging the
board’s decision.
On Friday, Judge Joseph Bianco gave the Marine Corps 10 days to submit an affidavit showing that it
intended to send Brezler to a board of inquiry before the service learned that Brezler had asked for help
from Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., according to Brezler’s attorney, Michael Bowe.
Brezler met King in March 2013 after he received an unfavorable fitness report, according to his lawsuit.
That July, King sent then-Commandant Gen. James Amos a letter raising concerns that the Marines had not
followed proper procedures when issuing the fitness report.
Officer who warned of insider threat now faces end of career
But the letter went to Amos’ legislative staff, so he “expressed shock” when he read an Aug. 25, 2013,
Marine Corps Times story that Brezler had sought help from King, the lawsuit says.
“This is the first I heard of this,” Amos wrote in an email to senior commanders, the lawsuit says. “I
certainly have not seen a letter from Rep. King … need to get past news article and come back to me with
what ground truth is please.”
The commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve ordered Brezler to appear before the board of
inquiry five days after the Marine Corps Times story was posted online.
Bowe said Bianco on Friday asked the staff judge advocate for MARFORRES to show that Brezler’s board
of inquiry package had been prepared before the Marine Corps received King’s letter and before the Marine
Corps Times story was published.
Marine 3-star cleared in reprisal investigation
In June, the attorney representing the Marine Corps filed court papers denying that Brezler’s board of
inquiry was in retaliation for him talking to King.
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/articles/judge-tells-corps-to-prove-it-didnt-retaliate-against-embattledmarine
Although the district court decided it has jurisdiction in this matter, it is extremely rare for federal courts to
reverse the results of courts-martial, let alone administrative proceedings, said retired Marine Lt. Col. Gary
Solis, a former military lawyer and judge.
One notable exception was when a federal judge overturned the court-martial of Army Lt. Willam Calley
Jr., who had been convicted for murder in connection with the My Lai massacre in March 1968, Solis told
Marine Corps Times on Friday.
However, there are instances when federal courts have jurisdiction in military matters, and those
circumstances arise when a service member has lost pay and other benefits, said Solis, who spent 26 years
in the Marine Corps.
Federal courts can also overturn military administrative discharge boards when their findings are not
supported by evidence, said retired Marine Lt. Col. Guy Womack, a military defense attorney in Houston.
In one case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that a military officer was improperly
discharged after his daughter accused him sexually assaulting her, Womack told Marine Corps Times.
"They said that although there is strong deference made to the service's decision, they looked at it and said:
There's no evidence that he did this," Womack said. "The only evidence of sexual molestation was that the
daughter had said that, but the daughter -- before and throughout the incident -- was a mental patient in a
psychiatric ward."
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/uniformed-services-employment-reemployment-rights-act-zioberninth-circuit
A new federal court ruling has huge significance for military
reservists
By Andrew Tilghman
Military Times, October 15, 2016
Kevin Ziober (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kevin Ziober)
A high-level federal court on Friday delivered a blow to the rights
of military reservists.
The case involved a Navy reservist who claimed that his civilian
employer fired him because he was mobilized and deployed to
Afghanistan, a violation of federal laws designed to protect
reservists from discrimination based on their military service.
But Kevin Ziober lost his case before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court
of Appeals, one step below the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled
that his pre-employment arbitration agreement prohibited him from suing his former employer.
And although the court ruled against Ziober, the judge appeared to urge Congress to consider changing or
strengthening the 1994 law, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or
USERRA.
“If we have erred by construing [USERRA] too narrowly, Congress will surely let us know,” Circuit Judge
Paul J. Watford wrote in a concurring opinion released Friday.
Legal loophole allows companies to fire military reservists who go to war
The USERRA law requires employers to allow reservists to return to their civilian jobs after periods of
active-duty service. Ziober testified before Congress in June, describing his experience and the need to
strengthen the law.
Ziober was a Navy lieutenant in 2012 when he was working for a California real estate management
company, BLB Resources. He was fired on his last day of work before deploying to Afghanistan. The
company said he was fired for reasons unrelated to his military service.
However, when Ziober started working for BLB Resources, he signed a contract agreeing to resolve outside
of court any future legal disputes with his employer. Such arbitration agreements typically bar employees
from filing lawsuits.
Navy Reserve Lt. Kevin Ziober’s coworkers threw him a farewell party with a cake just before his 2012
deployment to Afghanistan. Ziober said the company fired him later that afternoon, prompting the reservist
to sue his ex-employer for discrimination based on his military service. Ziober tried to file a lawsuit in
federal court after he was fired. It alleged discrimination in violation of USERRA.
But that lawsuit failed when a district-level federal court said the arbitration agreement stripped Ziober of
his right to sue under USERRA.
Ziober’s attorney suggested the ruling could harm military recruiting and retention, and ultimately impact
military readiness.
“USERRA is there to protect the rights of service members and veterans, and without USERRA rights, and
enforcement of those rights, [National] Guard and reserve members can’t do their duty with the confidence
they need that they can get back to their jobs and put food on the table for their families,” said Peter
Romer-Friedman, a Washington attorney who has represented numerous reservists with USERRA claims.
“When court decisions take away USERRA rights, they weaken our armed forces, they make us less safe
and less secure.”
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/uniformed-services-employment-reemployment-rights-act-zioberninth-circuit
The appellate judge acknowledged that Ziober made a strong case. But the USERRA law does not
specifically include language stating a power to legally supersede arbitration agreements.
“With reasonable arguments to be made on both sides, I don’t think it’s prudent for us to [reverse] the
district court’s ruling, particularly given the ease with which Congress can fix this problem,” Wagner
wrote.
“If we and other circuits have misinterpreted the scope of [USERRA] Congress can amend the statute to
make clear that it does render pre-dispute agreements to arbitrate USERRA claims – unenforceable.”
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, has proposed a law that would eliminate any ambiguity
in the USERRA law and state explicitly that service members cannot be blocked from the court system by
arbitration agreements.
Ziober remains in the Navy reserve and is now has a federal civilian job in California.
Diversity
https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/air-force-releases-guidance-on-transgender-airmen
Air Force releases guidance on transgender airmen
By Stephen Losey
Air Force Times, October 16, 2016
(Photo Credit: Courtesy of Jesse Ehrenfeld)
The Air Force this week publicly released its guidance for how the
service will incorporate transgender airmen into its ranks.
"Transgender airmen serve alongside us with integrity, service and
excellence," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said in a news
release announcing the guidance. "This is another step in allowing
transgender airmen to serve openly, receive medical care relating to
gender transition and allow transgender individuals to join the Air
Force. Our strengths as a military are the quality and character of
our people, and those things that make us unique are the same
things that make us strong."
The guidance, which was included in a memo dated Oct. 6, spells
out how the Air Force will handle questions of which lodging, bathroom and shower facilities transgender
airmen will use while they are transitioning. It also outlines plans for handling their fitness assessments and
uniforms during the transition process.
And while it warns airmen and commanders that discrimination and bias against transgender airmen will
not be tolerated, the guidance also said that handling such transitions could be tricky.
"Gender transition while serving in the military presents unique challenges associated with addressing the
needs of the airman in a manner consistent with military mission and readiness," the guidance said. "A
commander may employ reasonable accommodations to respect the privacy interests of airmen."
Transgender airman buoyed by new Air Force policy
The Air Force stopped involuntarily separating, discharging, or denying reenlistment or continuation of
service to airmen solely due to their gender identity as of June 30. But even before that, some trans airmen
were openly serving. For example, Staff Sergeant Logan Ireland, a security forces airman who deployed to
Kandahar, Afghanistan, shared his story in 2015, three years after he began his transition to a man. Ireland
told Air Force Times last year that his unit leadership was supportive and assigned him to the male
barracks.
In an interview Friday, Ireland -- who consulted with the Air Force as it drafted the new policy -- said he
was very happy with how it turned out.
"This will bring a lot of relief to a lot of airmen," Ireland said. "It's just a matter of time before each troop
across the board will get the help that they need in their transition process."
For the most part, the guidance said, transgender airmen typically will have to use the lodging, bathroom
and shower facilities of their current gender while they are transitioning, as well as wearing the uniform
and maintaining appearance standards of their pre-transition gender. After the airmen's transition process is
officially deemed to be complete, their gender marker will be changed in the Military Personnel Data
System (MilPDS) and the military will allow them to use their preferred gender's facilities. Airmen will
then be required to meet all uniform, grooming, medical and physical fitness, deployability, Military Drug
Demand Reduction Program participation, retention, and other standards for their preferred gender.
A Medical Multidisciplinary Team -- made up of a case manager, a mental health provider, an
endocrinologist, and/or a surgeon that handles transgender medical care -- or an approved civilian provider
must tell an airman's commander when that airman's gender transition is complete, and the airman must
show either a certified copy of a birth certificate, a court order, or a U.S. passport that reflects their posttransition gender.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/air-force-releases-guidance-on-transgender-airmen
Ireland said that he was happiest to see that there won't be a "gray area" for airmen who have finished
transitioning, and that the Air Force will fully consider them members of their preferred gender.
"There won't be any exceptions to certain policies once that gender marker is changed," Ireland said. "We
don't want this gray area. We don't want a third gender."
However, the new guidance says airmen may request an exception to policy that allows them to use the
facilities or wear the uniform of their preferred gender before they have finished the transition process.
Carter: Military can work out 'practical issues' to lift transgender ban
When an airman decides to request gender transition, he or she first must receive a diagnosis by a military
medical provider, or a civilian provider validated by the military, which is then confirmed by the Medical
Multidisciplinary Team. That airman's unit commander will then be notified and a gender transition plan
will then be drawn up, including a plan for the timing of medical treatment and exceptions-to-policy that
may be required.
For example, transgender airmen who are receiving cross-sex hormone treatment may request an
exemption from taking their fitness assessments during the transition period. To get that exemption,
transitioning airmen must show they failed a documented fitness assessment, and their commanders must
certify they made a full and clear effort to meet their original gender's standards. Those commanders must
then decide whether they think the request should be approved or not, and then send it up through their
chain of command for their input. The request will finally be sent to a Service Central Coordination Cell at
Air Force headquarters, which was created to provide medical, legal and other advice and assistance to
commanders on transgender issues, and the Air Force's personnel office will make the final decision.
But even if a transitioning airman receives a fitness exemption, he or she will have to stay healthy, take part
in unit physical fitness activities, and work with his or her unit commander to make sure they are keeping
up an active fitness regimen.
The guidance also says that when commanders are completing the required assessment for an exception to
the uniform rule, they should include information about the transitioning airman's "professional military
image in current and preferred gender's dress and appearance standards, fit and/or function of the uniforms,
and potential impact on unit cohesion, good order and discipline (if any)."
And transitioning airmen who receive permission to wear the uniform of their preferred gender before their
official gender marker is changed must carry a copy of their approval memorandum until their transition is
complete and their gender marker is changed.
Ireland said having transgender airmen in the process of transitioning carry a uniform approval memo won't
be a big deal. Airmen already carry their Common Access Cards everywhere, he said, and due to an acne
condition, he carries a shaving waiver.
Pentagon to cover sex-reassignment surgery for transgender active-duty troops
The official change in a transgender airman's gender marker does not necessarily mean the end of his or her
care or treatment, the guidance said. For example, the airman could continue to receive cross-sex hormone
therapy even after the transition is deemed to be complete.
And when a unit commander is trying to accommodate a transitioning airman's request to use alternate
facilities, the guidance said the commander should take into account the privacy of the other airmen using
those facilities. And units should explore "no-cost facility options," such as allowing transgender airmen to
use family-style restrooms or shower areas, or providing additional time for transgender airmen to change
or shower in the privacy of their own residences.
"The unit commander should consider and balance the needs of the transgender individual and the needs of
the command," the guidance said.
And transgender airmen who are selected for deployment will still be able to deploy, as long as they are
medically qualified.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/air-force-releases-guidance-on-transgender-airmen
Pentagon to lift military ban on transgender service
The guidance also spells out the conditions under which transgender people can join the Air Force. A
history of gender dysphoria, medical treatment associated with gender transition, or sex reassignment or
genital reconstruction surgery is disqualifying, the guidance said -- except if 18 months have passed since
gender transition or the surgery, or if the applicant who experienced gender dysphoria has been stable and
without social, occupational or other important impairment for 18 months. The guidance also allows the Air
Force secretary to waive that 18-month requirement if necessary.
Ireland said one of the biggest challenges going forward for the Air Force will be educating other airmen
on what it means to be transgender, and he feels the release of this guidance is a good first step toward
beginning that conversation.
The need for education is even greater than when the ban on gay people in the military was repealed, he
said -- and it's going to take some time.
"When DADT [Don't Ask Don't Tell] was repealed, people got what gay and lesbian meant, but as far as
being transgender, I think there is some more education that needs to be facilitated," Ireland said.
"Especially when that troop does come out as being transgender, there is going to be that [lengthy] time
period before they get their gender marker changed. This troop might look like, for all intents and purposes,
a female, but they are transitioning to be a male, and we need to give those troops the same dignity and
respect that we would anybody else in the unit or squadron."
SEE ALSO:
Transgender Airmen Can Now Seek Temporary Exemptions [Military.com, 2016-10-17]
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/army-outlines-path-to-transition-for-transgender-soldiers
Army outlines path to transition for transgender soldiers
By Meghann Myers
Army Times, October 20, 2016
(Photo Credit: Gregory Bull/AP)
Now that transgender soldiers are allowed to serve openly in the
Army, the service is rolling out its transition policy for those who
hope to serve as their preferred gender.
The Defense Department lifted its ban on transgender service
members in July, and, with that announcement, required each
service to put together new policies and procedures for troops who want to transition and stay in uniform
by October.
A new directive dated Oct. 7 lays out the path for soldiers to obtain a transgender diagnosis from an Army
medical provider, put together a transition plan and timeline with their doctor and their command, and
eventually change their gender in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System to begin living and
serving as their preferred gender.
The Army does not track the number of transgender soldiers currently serving, according to Paul Prince, an
Army spokesman, but a 2016 Rand Corp. report commissioned by the Defense Department estimated that
there are about 2,400 transgender men and women currently serving in the military as a whole.
There are no physical requirements to begin a gender change, other than confirmation from a doctor that a
transition is medically necessary, according to the directive.
Transition plans will be completely individual as far as surgeries, hormones or other medical interventions.
Costs associated vary widely, as each person has to determine the mix of physical transformations they
want to undertake. Hormone therapy, for instance, costs about $100 a month, according to the Transgender
Law Center.
Sex reassignment surgery can costs tens of thousands of dollars, but is not required for an individual to
transition. Other surgeries can include breast implants, breast reductions, tracheal shaving and numerous
facial tweaks, but the Army won't necessarily cover all of those.
"The Army is committed to the appropriate levels of medical care and resources that best support our
leaders, soldiers and families, which ultimately enhances total force readiness and capability," Prince said.
"To this end, Army offices responsible for its transgender policy are currently collaborating with officials
in DoD Health Affairs to develop further guidance concerning approved medical operations and
procedures."
To complete a transition, as soldier must provide written confirmation from their doctor that they are
"stable" -- according to the doctor -- in their new gender to their brigade-level commander.
Then they must submit legal evidence of their gender change, including a reissued birth certificate, a court
order or a passport with their preferred marker.
Once that is cleared, the commander will send a written letter to Human Resources Command, which has
30 days for active duty and 60 days for reserve component soldiers to make the change in DEERS.
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/army-outlines-path-to-transition-for-transgender-soldiers
Reservists and Guardsmen go through the same plan, though if they are not eligible for Army medical care
at the time of the transition, they must get a diagnosis from a civilian provider and have it approved by the
Army Reserve Command's command surgeon, or the chief surgeon at the Army National Guard.
Capt. Jennifer Peace poses near her home in Spanaway, Wash.
Peace is one of an estimated 2,400 transgender people who serve in
the active-duty military. (Photo Credit: Drew Perine/The News
Tribune via AP)
Readiness
It's up to commanders, according to the directive, to manage their
soldiers and their units to make transitions go as smoothly as
possible.
"Commanders should approach a soldier undergoing gender transition in the same way they would
approach a soldier undergoing any medically necessary treatment," according to the directive.
"Commanders will continue to minimize effects to the mission and ensure continued unit readiness."
In order to keep things running smoothly, commanders will have the power to adjust a soldier's transition
date, offer extended leave or put the soldier on temporary disability status.
"In cases where soldiers require medically necessary but non-urgent procedures, the commander by
regulation may adjust the date on which a soldier’s procedure will take place," Prince said.
As long as a soldier is reporting for duty every day during a transition, policy dictates that they will be
treated according to their gender marker in DEERS, following uniform and grooming regulations as well as
physical fitness standards.
"The Army is a standards-based institution, and for policies and standards that apply differently to soldiers
according to gender, the Army recognizes a soldier’s gender by the soldier’s gender marker," Prince said.
However, according to the directive, commanders are allowed to change a soldier's billet or local bathroom
and shower rules to protect privacy or modesty interests, but commanders cannot require that -- for
example -- a male-to-female transitioning to use women's facilities.
Units also aren't allowed to modify or redesignate facilities to make them "transgender-only."
The Army has a Nov. 1 deadline to put out training and guidance for commanders to pass down to soldiers
on how to navigate a unit with a transitioning soldier. By July 2017, that training will be integrated into the
service's existing training rotation.
By Oct. 2018, the inspector general will have completed a report on the Army's compliance with the
transgender integration policy.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/10/19/texas-transgender-bathroom-guidanceruling/92408740/
Federal judge blocks transgender guidance nationwide
By Christopher Collins, (Wichita Falls, Texas) Times Record News
USA TODAY NETWORK, October 19, 2016
An April 16, 2016, file photo shows an "All Gender" bathroom sign
at the San Diego International Airport. (Photo: Jason Szenes,
European Pressphoto Agency)
WICHITA FALLS, Texas — A federal judge has affirmed that an
injunction against the Obama administration in Texas v. United
States can be applied nationwide, blocking the Departments of
Justice and Education from enforcing guidance on bathroom access
for transgender students across the country.
Wednesday's ruling in a Wichita Falls federal court also could
affect several other lawsuits in which U.S. attorneys are involved, including United States v. North
Carolina, the case that kicked off a national debate over transgender rights earlier this year.
The injunction also makes clear that the Obama administration may not withhold federal funds from
districts that do not comply with its guidance on transgender access to "intimate areas" inside schools.
Texas is joined in the litigation by 14 co-plaintiffs, including conservative states, school districts and
individuals. The lawsuit was filed in May.
However, the ruling gives U.S. attorneys the go-ahead to proceed with other lawsuits previously held in
limbo by the court order.
5 states file another suit over Obama transgender rules
The injunction, ordered by Judge Reed O'Connor in August, forbade the Obama administration from
enforcing guidance it issued to school districts in May, but U.S. attorneys later argued the ruling's
parameters were too vague. They asked for additional direction from the court before proceeding with
almost 20 other related lawsuits.
O'Connor now has specified that U.S. attorneys may go ahead with some of their cases regarding
transgender rights, but only those that don't center on bathroom access. Thus, Wednesday's ruling
represents a partial victory for both Texas and the Obama administration.
"The court's reaffirmation of a nationwide injunction should send a clear message to the president that
Texas won't sit idly by as he continues to ignore the Constitution," Texas Attorney General Ken
Paxton wrote in a news release. "The president cannot rewrite the laws enacted by the elected
representatives of the people and then threaten to take away funding from schools to force them to fall in
line."
Representatives of the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education could not be immediately reached.
Follow Christopher Collins on Twitter: @ChrisCollinsTRN
SEE ALSO:
Federal appeal seeks to halt North Carolina restroom law [AP, 2016-10-19]
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/articles/marines-requirements-for-infantry-officers-are-unrealisticarmy-colonel-says
Marines' requirements for infantry officers are unrealistic,
Army colonel says
By Ellen Haring
Marine Corps Times, October 15, 2016
Editor's note: The following is an opinion piece. The writer is not employed by Military
Times and the views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Military Times or
its editorial staff.
(Photo Credit: Cpl. Aaron Henson/Marine Corps)
Eight women have now successfully completed the Combat
Endurance Test (CET) at the Marine Corps Infantry Officer
Course (IOC), the Basic School commander told the
Defense Advisory Council on Women in the Services, Sept.
13. Colonel Mark Clingan said the CET is a screening tool
used to weed out officers who are not likely to pass the
course. However, none of the eight women who passed the
CET graduated IOC.
Interestingly, Clingan further reported that six of the eight women had passed the CET in the top 50 percent
of their class and two of the women had passed in the top 10 percent of their class. All eight who passed the
CET were later eliminated during hikes when loads began to exceed 100 pounds. When committee
members asked how it was that enlisted Marine women had been so much more successful in infantry
training, they were told that infantry officers must be able to carry a “sustainment load” of up to 152
pounds for 9.3 miles at a 3-mile-per-hour pace in order to graduate from their course, while loads are much
lighter (62 pounds) for enlisted Marines. According to Clingan, basic enlisted infantry training trains
Marines to a much lower bar with the expectation that once they reach their units they will be trained up to
meet the 152 pound, 9.3 miles at the 3-mile-per-hour standard.
Later in the briefing the Marines showed a slide that quoted the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act
which requires that occupational standards “accurately predict performance of actual, regular and
recurring duties of a military occupation.”
During the break, I asked one of the Marine representatives how often Marinesactually carry 152 pounds
that distance and he said “infrequently .” I was still curious, so I polled a few Marine infantry officers to
find out how often they had carried loads of 95 to 152 pounds during their deployments. I was a bit
surprised by the responses because I thought the requirement might at least come close to some operational
example. However, one infantry officer with two combat deployments, one as a weapons company
commander said, “I'm trying to imagine the type of fighting and tactical task that requires you to move
around administratively in an AO with 150-plus pounds on your back… Nothing is impossible, but trying
to come up with a situation, mission and METT-T where this would be required is… a unicorn in my
opinion.”
Female Marine can't complete Infantry Officer Course; no more women now enrolled
I also received this response: “I won't lie, I can't get my mental digits around 152 pounds. At an actual unit,
that is just a non-starter to me (but) I can totally see the staff at IOC running wild just to see what the
lieutenants can handle and endure as part of the rite of passage that is IOC.”
And then there was this response; “On the regular infantry battalion side, I would challenge anyone to go to
Camp Pendleton and find a platoon or company in the fleet that can meet that standard (152 pound load/9
miles/3+ mph) or that is spending the time to work up to that standard.”
So my question to the Marine Corps is -- where did they get these standards, who validated them and who
can actually meet them? They don’t appear to be operationally based and it sounds like no Marine infantry
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/articles/marines-requirements-for-infantry-officers-are-unrealisticarmy-colonel-says
unit can meet them. They certainly aren’t regular or recurring requirements to be a Marine infantryman -which means they don’t meet legal standards.
Retired Army Col. Ellen Haring is a fellow at Women in International Security, where she directs the
Combat Integration Initiative project. Haring is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and
earned her doctorate from the George Mason University School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
What do you think of the physical requirements for IOC? Send your experience and perspective to Marine
Corps Times.
http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/974518/puerto-ricans-represented-throughout-us-militaryhistory
Puerto Ricans Represented Throughout U.S. Military
History
By Shannon Collins
Defense.gov, October 14, 2016
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2016 — As citizens of the United States, Puerto Ricans have participated in
every major United States military engagement from World War I onward, with the soldiers of Puerto
Rico’s 65th Infantry Regiment distinguishing themselves in combat during the Korean War.
While under Spanish rule, Puerto Rico fought alongside the American colonists in the Revolutionary War.
Bernardo de Galvez, the governor of Louisiana in 1779, was named general of the Spanish colonial army
and led his troop -- consisting primarily of Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics -- to capture the cities of
Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; Pensacola, Florida; and St. Louis, Missouri, from the British.
Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the U.S. under the 1898 Treaty of Paris, and Puerto Rico became a U.S.
territory. The Army National Guard formed the Porto Rico Regiment on the island, and on March 2, 1917,
thanks to the Jones-Shafroth Act, Puerto Ricans were given U.S. citizenship by birth, though they aren’t
allowed to vote for the U.S. president and they receive only 70 percent of Social Security pensions.
World War I
In July 1917, about 236,000 Puerto Ricans registered for the draft for World War I, and close to 20,000
served, said retired Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Ildelfonso “Pancho” Colon Jr. “Those that had to serve in combat
had to leave Puerto Rico and enlist in New York,” he added.
Korean War veteran Army Pfc. Pedro Jackson-Morales holds a
Congressional Gold Medal in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, Aug. 10,
2016. (DoD photo by EJ Hersom)
The first U.S. shot of World War I was fired in Puerto Rico by
Army Lt. Teofilo Marxuach. He was the officer of the day at El
Morro Castle, at the entrance to San Juan Bay, when war was
declared. An armed supply ship for German submarines in the
Atlantic, the Odenwald, tried to force its way out of the bay.
Marxuach opened fire from the walls of the fortress and forced the ship to return to port and be interned.
On May 17, 1917, the Porto Rico Regiment was sent to Panama in defense of the Panama Canal Zone.
One notable Puerto Rican veteran of World War I was Montserrat Padilla, one of the first members of the
city of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, to enlist in the Army. Padilla was a member of Kilo Company, 307h
Infantry Regiment, with whom he went to the battlefront in Europe in April 1918. After fighting in the
battles of Lorraine and Chateau Thierry in France, he was poisoned with mustard gas Aug. 26, 1918, and
returned to Puerto Rico.
World War II
During World War II, Navy Lt. Maria Rodriguez Denton, born in Guanica, Puerto Rico, became the first
known woman of Puerto Rican decent to become a female Navy officer.
The Army’s 65th Infantry Regiment, a segregated Hispanic unit made up primarily of Puerto Ricans, was
sent to Panama to protect the Pacific in 1943, and by 1944, was sent to France. They participated in the
http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/974518/puerto-ricans-represented-throughout-us-militaryhistory
battles of Naples-Fogis, Rome-Arno, central Europe and Rhineland. The regiment had 23 soldiers killed in
action.
Puerto Ricans played key roles during the war. Navy Adm. Horacio Rivero became the first person of
Hispanic descent to achieve the rank of admiral. Ships under his command provided artillery cover for the
Marines landing on Guadalcanal, the Marshall Islands and Okinawa. Lt. Gen. Pedro del Valle, the first
Hispanic U.S. Marine Corps general, played a key role in the Guadalcanal campaign and the Battle of
Guam and became the commanding general of the First Marine Division.
Colon said about 60,000 Puerto Ricans were providing security among the Caribbean Islands or serving in
Europe during World War II.
Korea
About 61,000 Puerto Ricans served in the Korean War, including about 18,000 who enlisted in the
continental United States, Colon said. Puerto Ricans distinguished themselves as part of the 65th Infantry
Division, the “Borinqueneers,” receiving many awards and recognition, though they were involved in the
largest court-martial of the Korean War.
The term “Borinqueneers” is a combination from “Borinquen,” the Taino name for Puerto Rico, and
“Buccaneers.” According to history reports, the 65th’s soldiers fought off many attacks by the Chinese in
Korea, even though they lacked warm clothing during harsh winters. In December 1950, the Marines found
themselves at the Chosin Reservoir area, and in June 1951, the 65th was able to help the Marines withdraw
from the Hauack-on Reservoir. When the Marines were encircled by the Chinese troops close to the
Manchurian border, the 65th rushed to their defense, Colon said.
The 65th soldiers fought in many battles, such as Operation “Killer,” and became the first regiment to cross
the Han River. They also were instrumental in breaking the “Iron Triangle.” They look part in the last
recorded battalion-sized bayonet attack by the U.S. Army on Jan. 31, 1951. The assault took three days.
Colon, who has been the post and department commander of the American Legion in Cabo Rojo, Puerto
Rico, off and on for 40 years, has spoken with many Puerto Rican veterans from various wars, some of
them being 65th soldiers.
“All of the officers were in a bunker in a meeting when they took a direct hit from Chinese artillery. That
ended that,” he said. “There was no artillery, no air support. They couldn’t dig in, because the ground was
all rock. The Chinese had the higher ground. These guys all grew up with each other and trusted each other,
and the Army brought in replacements they didn’t know, who ordered them to take the hill that another unit
had already lost.”
The 65th’s soldiers refused the order, and were told they had to shave their mustaches off and told they
could no longer eat their normal diet of rice and beans. They also had to wear signs that said, “I am a
coward.”
In December 1954, 162 Puerto Ricans of the 65th Infantry Regiment were arrested, 95 were courtmartialed, and 91 were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to 18 years of hard
labor. It was the largest mass court-martial of the Korean War. Army Secretary Robert Stevens quickly
remitted the sentences and granted clemency and pardons to all involved.
The 65th is credited with participation in nine campaigns, and its members have at least 10 Distinguished
Service Cross awards, 256 Silver Stars and 596 Bronze Stars. More than 750 Puerto Ricans lost their lives
in Korea.
http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/974518/puerto-ricans-represented-throughout-us-militaryhistory
Army Pfc. Pedro Morales said that after seven days of fighting at Jackson Heights, when his officers, team
leaders and half of his team were dead, he didn’t want to go back and continue to fight.
Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran retired Marine Corps 1st Sgt.
Ildefonso “Pancho” Colon Jr. speaks about his military experience
during an interview in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, Aug. 12, 2016. (DoD
photo by EJ Hersom)
“They arrested me, sent me to California and put me in jail for six
months,” he said. “They divided us into groups and sentenced us. We
had been waiting on backup, and the support just never came. That’s
why we didn’t want to fight. It was like signing a death sentence.”
The soldiers were given an honorable discharge, and in April 2016, President Barack Obama awarded them
the Congressional Gold Medal.
“We waited all these years for this moment, Morales said. “It was so hard to really believe it was true. I
couldn’t sleep. It was such an honor to receive it. I’m so proud to have served my country. I would go back
in the service and serve again and do it proudly.”
During the Korean War, Pfc. Fernando Luis Garcia also became the first Puerto Rican recipient of the
Medal of Honor when he covered a grenade with his body, saving the lives of his fellow Marines.
Vietnam
During Vietnam, an estimated 48,000 Puerto Ricans served in the four service branches of the armed
forces. Of the More than 340 Puerto Ricans died in combat, and 17 were listed as missing in action.
Army Sgt. Jorge Zambrana has post-traumatic stress disorder from his two tours in Vietnam. He remembers
picking up service members killed or wounded in action and taking them and their belongings to the South
Vietnamese capital of Saigon. He also had to work at a cemetery.
He said he did face some racism during his time in Vietnam, but he would just work harder to prove
himself. “I would tell my friends to follow the rules,” he said. “We couldn’t shine our boots because we
were in the mud. We didn’t have time for inspections.”
He said he didn’t care what race someone was, and that in Vietnam, soldiers learned whatever job was
needed. “If the guy got killed, who else was going to do it? Wherever they needed you, forget about your
[specialty]. Your job was whatever,” he said.
Zambrana said he’s proud of his service and would do it all over again. “Even though I’m 65, I’m pretty
healthy,” he said. “I could still man an M50 or M60. I’m still willing to fight for my freedom. Those of us
who served in Vietnam served with honor.”
Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan
In 1990, about 1,700 Puerto Rican National Guardsmen were among the 20,000 Hispanics deployed to the
Persian Gulf in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as part of the Gulf War.
In the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, three Puerto Rican women -- Army Spc. Frances M.
Vega, Army Spc. Lizbeth Robles and Army Spc. Ramirez Gonzalez -- were among U.S. service members
killed. On Nov. 2, 2003, Vega became the first female Puerto Rican soldier born in the United States to die
in a war zone when a ground-to-air missile fired by insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, hit the Chinook transport
helicopter Vega was in. She was one of 16 soldiers who lost their lives in the crash that followed.
http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/974518/puerto-ricans-represented-throughout-us-militaryhistory
Marine Corps Sgt. Alexander Munoz, who was in the second push in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, was part of the
team that assisted wounded Marine 1st Bradley Kasal out of Fallujah’s famous “House of Hell.”
“It was pretty rough,” he said. “The Marines were trapped inside the house. We were trying to figure out
how we were going to get them out.” He said his squad was tight-knit, which made it harder when he saw
his fellow Marines get hit. His PTSD stems from that and from having the enemy combatants constantly
trying to kill him, he said.
“At Hell House, the house crumbled and the guy still threw a grenade to kill us,” he said. “They just wanted
to destroy us.”
Munoz said he’s proud to have served, and to be Puerto Rican.
“A lot of my friends stay in the states and come to visit me,” he said. “They don’t even know where Puerto
Rico is. Come on man; we’ve been with you guys since 1898. We’re proud, but we know how to serve. We
know how to say thanks. We’re part of the nation. You’re my brothers. We’re here to fight with each
other.”
Colon, who also served in Iraq and as a Marine drill instructor, said he is also proud to have served.
“Even though I was born and raised in New York, I came to Puerto Rico every summer and spoke Spanish
at home,” Colon said. “I’m super-proud of my heritage. Like any soldier from Texas who loves his Texas
flag and loves his state, Puerto Ricans, we love our flag, we love our state -- we call it a state. I’ve wanted
to be a soldier all my life. It’s so motivational being around all of these veterans. We’re proud Americans.
We love our country, but we love Puerto Rico, too.”
As of 2010, the Veterans Affairs Department listed Puerto Rico’s veterans at 116,029.More than 1,225
Puerto Ricans have died while serving for the United States. The names of those who perished in combat
are inscribed in "El Monumento de la Recordacion" -- the Monument of Remembrance -- which was
unveiled May 19, 1996, and is in front of the capital Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
http://www.govexec.com/management/2016/10/sba-joins-linkedin-boost-private-board-diversity/132369/
SBA Joins with LinkedIn to Boost Private Board Diversity
By Charles S. Clark
Government Executive, October 14, 2016
Continuing to push the advantages of diversity in the final months
of the Obama era, the chief of the Small Business
Administration on Thursday unveiled a new study of gender and
racial makeup of private company boards while also announcing a
recruiting partnership with LinkedIn.
they need to grow and prosper.”
SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet told a gathering at the
Library of Congress that “start-ups owned by women and minorities
often face an even more daunting challenge accessing the capital
The new study—written by business professors based on customized research for SBA from scholars at the
library—“confirms that challenge but it also shows that we can expand opportunity and increase our overall
economic strength by ensuring more women and underrepresented groups are in a position to make major
investment decisions.”
Researchers in a year-old Library of Congress outreach division conducted a survey of board membership
by gender, race and ethnicity in firms eligible for loans under the SBA’s six-decades-old Small Business
Investment Company Program, an alternative source of capital for high-risk small businesses.
They found evidence that the program “is generally more diverse with respect to gender, ethnicity and race
than the broader private equity universe,” and that “diverse populations are better served by and through a
diverse team of fund managers.”
The study was among the first from a fee-for-service customized research unit formalized last year “to
make our research and our people better serve the American people and those abroad,” said Jane
McAuliffe, Library of Congress director of national and international outreach.
The SBA chief also announced the new partnership with the LinkedIn—which claims 450 million online
members in its resume bank—called Open Network for Board Diversity or ONBOARD. It seeks to use
online networking to increase the presence of women, African Americans and Hispanics on boards of small
businesses, especially those supported by the SBA’s lending program.
“Everyone has embedded biases,” Contreras-Sweet told Government Executive, but “when a first
impression is online, you don’t always know if the person is male or female, and you’re more apt to fund
them if you’re focused on their skill set and value system.”
Asked whether the two new diversity initiatives would likely be continued by the next administration, she
referred to diversity principles going back to the Labor Department’s 1990s Glass Ceiling Commission, on
which she served. “The enduring focus on workplace diversity,” she said, “will endure in the future
regardless of who is at SBA or in the White House.”
SEE ALSO:
Obama Orders New Diversity Push in National Security Agencies, October 5, 2016
In a First, Intel Community Publishes Its Diversity Numbers, June 13, 2016
Top Intelligence Officers Convene LGBT Pride Summit, June 8, 2016
The Air Force Academy Is Talking More About Diversity Than Most Universities, May 17, 2016
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/articles/mosul-iraq-refugee-fulfills-dream-to-become-marine
She fled Iraq with her family. Now she's a U.S. Marine.
By Matthew L. Schehl
Marine Corps Times, October 18, 2016
Lance Cpl. Amanda Issa.(Photo Credit: Lance Cpl. Carlin
Warren/Marine Corps)
The offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group
officially kicked off Monday, but one new Marine has waged the
battle for years.
Lance Cpl. Amanda Issa — who as a teenager fled the violence of
her native Mosul ahead of the arrival of the Islamic State — now
proudly wears the Eagle, Globe and Anchor of her childhood heroes, a coveted distinction earned a day
after becoming a U.S. citizen.
“I was one of those kids that always ran after the Humvees,” the 21-year-old laughed about growing up in
Iraq’s second-largest city after the ousting of Saddam Hussein. “There were a lot of [American] military
there — Army, Navy — but the Marines were different.”
The Marines, she recalled, always acted more polite, friendly and professional than others — and they were
more fit.
Issa took these differences to heart, and knew that one day she wanted to become a United States Marine
herself. Issa achieved that life-long goal on Sept. 30, and in an interview recalled her remarkable journey
from Iraq and Turkey to Detroit and Parris Island.
“I always wanted to do something different than the other females in my country,” she said in a Friday
phone interview. “We were not allowed to do what males can do there, and I never accepted that.”
With the hand-over of responsibilities to the Iraqi Security Forces, the fault lines of ethnically diverse
Mosul soon became painfully apparent. Beginning in 2008, waves of murders and death threats against the
city’s Assyrian Christians led to a mass exodus.
Issa hugs her mother Sept. 29 after a naturalization ceremony on
Parris Island, S.C. (Photo credit: Lance Cpl. Carlin Warren)
Issa fled with her family to neighboring Turkey in July 2010, where
they lived as refugees for one year in “complete peace,” but soon
found themselves strangers in a strange land.
“It was hard for us to get anything, even simple things, because you
couldn’t speak with the locals,” she said. “[The Turks] knew we
were refugees and any time you would go and try to buy something, they would charge you more, but you
couldn’t do anything about it.”
Working for it
Issa has a knack for languages: she speaks fluent Arabic, Chaldean and now, English. But her lack of
Turkish barred her from school, which meant long periods spent biding her time while her family applied
for refugee status in the U.S.
When refugee status was bestowed in May 2011, Issa boarded a flight with her parents and two sisters to
begin her new life in Detroit. She quickly made up for lost time.
“I was so happy, but it was completely different than what I imagined,” she said. “We came here and it was
still hard; coming to a new country and learning how to adapt to the new culture and new way of life,
everything.”
Her high school offered English as a Second Language classes, but Issa was impatient and took learning the
language into her own hands: after only a month, she dropped out of the ESL class and dove into regular
courses where she knew she’d be forced to speak English.
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/articles/mosul-iraq-refugee-fulfills-dream-to-become-marine
2,300 California-based Marines just deployed to the Middle East
“If you want to do something, you work for it really hard,” she said matter-of-factly. “I really wanted to
communicate, I didn’t want to just sit in the corner, so I tried my best to talk to everyone in English.”
Her tenacity paid off: within two years, Issa went from near-zero language proficiency to graduating in the
top 10 of her Madison Heights, Michigan, high school.
She didn’t stop there, though: she went on to pick up an associate degree in global studies from nearby
Oakland Community College before marching into the local Marine Corps recruiting office in March 2015.
“I told myself that it is the time to do it now, because I’d always wanted to,” she said. “I think I had more
knowledge, more experience at that time, and I just did it.”
She stepped onto the yellow footprints at Parris Island on Jan. 19, 2016 and quickly embraced the adversity
of boot camp.
“It’s really tough and everything, but everything the drill instructors do, they do it for a reason; you learn a
lot if you accept that and it gets really easy,” she said. “So for me, I really liked it.”
One month in, however, she was badly injured during a conditioning hike and faced a potential medical
discharge.
She wasn’t deterred, however, and directed her laser-sharp focus on her recovery.
Marines in Iraq technically not in combat but still getting some
“A lot of people told me ‘Ah, you’re not going to be able to do it and you’re just going home and you
won’t make it’,” she recalled. “At some point some people told me ‘Oh, you’re probably staying here
because you just want to get your citizenship,' but the only reason I stayed and continued training was I
wanted to be a Marine,” she said.
And she made it.
Issa graduated with Platoon 4034, Papa Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion on Sept. 30, 2016. The
day before, she was naturalized as a U.S. citizen; the day after, she was promoted to lance corporal.
She then returned to Detroit to briefly serve as a recruiters’ assistant before heading to Marine Combat
Training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina.
Issa is on track to become a 3112 Traffic Management Specialist, according to Marine Corps officials.
Regarding the possibility that she could eventually deploy to her native city, Issa says she’ll go wherever
the Marine Corps sends her and she'll do what she was trained to do.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I always do my best and work hard,” she said. “After boot camp,
it’s not about you, it’s about the Marine Corps.”
“I’m excited for what’s next," she added.
SEE ALSO:
As the offensive in Iraq begins, a Mosul refugee enlists with the Marines [Stars and Stripes, 2016-10-18]
Miscellaneous
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/18bc1c4cbe6e43ebb092631f806113a4/army-and-tufts-study-how-peoplethink-respond-under-stress
Army and Tufts study how people think, respond under
stress
By Jennifer McDermott
The Associated Press, October 18, 2016
A soldier stands in a virtual reality lab wearing a headset to
measure his cognitive responses under stress, Tuesday, Oct. 18,
2016, at the Center for Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences in
Medford, Mass. (Elise Amendola/AP)
BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. Army and Tufts University are
working together to learn more about how people think and respond
under stress.
Their new cognitive sciences center officially opened Tuesday in
Medford, Massachusetts. The research aims to help soldiers and
civilian first responders, such as firefighters.
Scientists and engineers are figuring out how to measure, predict and enhance people's cognitive
capabilities, so they can better solve problems and remember information in high-stakes environments.
The Center for Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences was jointly founded by the Army's Natick Soldier
Research, Development and Engineering Center and Tufts. It's part of the Tufts School of Engineering.
The center features an immersive virtual reality lab where an individual's or a team's neurological,
psychological and behavioral responses can be monitored.
A team of soldiers can be placed in a large city environment and told to navigate their way to a meeting
point while researchers track how they communicate with one another and distinguish between friends and
foes, for example, said Caroline Mahoney, a cognitive science expert for the Army and co-director of the
center. Firefighters and SWAT teams will use the lab too.
Mahoney said the center is an innovative collaboration because it brings together military and academic
researchers from many different disciplines, from engineering and neuroscience to psychology and
robotics.
"People are coming to the table with different backgrounds and expertise to drive innovation," she said.
Researchers are working with paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to improve their memory and
learning under stress. Holly Taylor, of Tufts, is looking at developing wearable devices that help people
learn how they're oriented in the world, so they'll navigate better when they take the device off. Taylor, also
a co-director of the center, said some people are over-reliant on GPS devices, which can fail or send them
into a lake.
Both Taylor and Mahoney said the center's research could influence the design of equipment and
technologies for soldiers and first responders.
Taylor sees broad applications since the work could potentially be useful for anyone in a stressful situation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/10/14/navy-and-marine-corp-board-reviewswhether-heroes-deserve-higher-honors/
Behind closed doors, the U.S. military scrutinizes modern
cases of valor for new Medals of Honor
By Dan Lamothe
The Washington Post, October 14, 2016
President Obama awards medically retired Army Capt. Florent Groberg
the Medal of Honor during a White House ceremony in Washington last
November. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The Pentagon’s search to make sure that modern war heroes
are appropriately recognized has reached a new phase, with senior
service officials meeting behind closed doors to review the cases of
hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
The process, directed by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter,
started early this year and could lead to numerous cases in which veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars
are retroactively awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for combat valor, or service cross
medals that are considered one step lower. The effort follows a review called for by then-Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel in 2014 after years of criticism among rank-and-file service members that acts of bravery
after the Sept, 11, 2001, attacks were not getting the attention they were due.
Doug Sterner, a Vietnam War veteran and historian who has testified before Congress on valor award
issues, said the review is unprecedented in U.S. military history. The Army carried out a review beginning
in the late 1980s to determine whether there were racial barriers to black soldiers receiving the Medal of
Honor in World War I and black and Japanese soldiers in World War II, but the entire Defense Department
has never done a comprehensive review like this one, he said.
“I’m optimistic that we’ll see some positive things out of the Army, and it looks like we may have a couple
out of the Air Force,” Sterner said. “I’m less optimistic about the Marine Corps and Navy having any
upgrades, because they’ve typically done really well tracking and handling their awards. But, it would be
nice to see a couple of them come out of there.”
The Navy and the Marine Corps became the latest of the services to review past valor cases by convening
an 11-member joint board Oct. 12 at Quantico, Va. It is led by a Marine general and includes three Marine
colonels, three senior Navy officers and two enlisted service members from each service, according to
documents obtained by The Washington Post. The board is expected to review dozens of cases in which the
Navy Cross and Silver Star — the nation’s second- and third-highest awards recognizing combat valor —
were awarded for potential upgrade.
The services are reviewing their awards together because they are both part of the Navy Department. The
board must be ethnically diverse, filled entirely with members who have combat experience, and include at
least one member who has served in Naval Special Warfare Command, a Navy Department memo said.
“At the conclusion of its review, the panel will provide the Secretary of the Navy with an advisory report
identifying all cases reviewed, and which of those, if any, are recommended for upgrade,” the memo said.
“The Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps will be afforded an opportunity
to endorse the panel’s report prior to its presentation to the SECNAV.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/10/14/navy-and-marine-corp-board-reviewswhether-heroes-deserve-higher-honors/
The other services have launched similar efforts. The Army, the largest service, established a three-phase
process in which acts of heroism that could receive higher recognition are forwarded to boards with
progressively higher-ranking soldiers reviewing the cases, said Wayne Hall, an Army spokesman.
The first meeting in the second phase will begin in November, and includes a three-star general, a two-star
general and a command sergeant major reviewing all recommendations they received from the lower board.
In the first phase, 412 of the Army’s 785 Silver Stars and Distinguished Service Cross cases have been
reviewed so far, and eight service crosses and 50 Silver Stars have been recommended for a review by the
higher board, Hall said.
The Air Force, which has smaller numbers of ground troops and, consequently, fewer combat valor awards,
reviewed all of its cases in May. Air Force staff officers are now reviewing the board’s findings, with
recommendations eventually going to Gen. David L. Goldfein, the service’s top officer, and Air Force
Secretary Deborah Lee James, said Ann Stefanek, a service spokeswoman.
The process of reviewing valor awards is typically secretive, with little acknowledgment for what a service
member may receive until a decision is reached. The Medal of Honor requires a positive recommendation
from the service involved and the defense secretary and approval from the president. Service crosses
require approval by the service secretary.
Navy officials declined to discuss their process beyond releasing a short statement: “In accordance with the
Secretary of Defense’s directive, the Department of the Navy’s review is in progress.” The Marine Corps
acknowledged a board has been convened this month.
The cases of several service members who were denied the Medal of Honor have proven controversial. In
one of the best known, Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe received a Silver Star for repeatedly scrambling
Oct. 17, 2005, into a burning Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Samarra, Iraq, to pull fellow soldiers to safety.
He suffered devastating burns and died a few weeks later. Cashe’s battalion commander at the time, nowBrig. Gen. Gary M. Brito, later said he did not realize the extent of the danger Cashe was in when he
nominated him for the Silver Star, and has pressed to have the award upgraded.
In another case, Marine Lance Cpl. Brady Gustafson was awarded the Navy Cross after manning the gun
turret of a Humvee in Shewan, Afghanistan, after it was hit in a July 21, 2008, ambush with a rocketpropelled grenade that caused catastrophic damage to his right leg. Gustafson continued to return fire at
enemy fighters even as a Navy corpsman cranked a tourniquet on his leg inside the vehicle. His battalion
commander, now-Marine Col. Richard Hall, later said that he regretted not putting him up for the Medal of
Honor.
More recently, Army Sgt. 1st Class Earl Plumlee was nominated by his commanding officer for the Medal
of Honor for heroism in eastern Afghanistan on Aug. 28, 2013, and received a positive recommendation for
the award from numerous generals, including Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, then the top U.S.
commander in Afghanistan. The award was denied, and Plumlee ultimately received the Silver Star,
eventually prompting a Defense Department Inspector General investigation. It found that despite
approvals from numerous battlefield commanders, the Senior Army Decorations Board decided the lower
award was more appropriate.
Dan Lamothe covers national security for The Washington Post and anchors its military blog, Checkpoint. Follow
@danlamothe
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/us/yutaka-yoshida-dead.html
Dr. Yutaka Yoshida, a U.S. War Hero of Japanese Descent,
Dies at 104
By Richard Goldstein
The New York Times, October 13, 2016
Dr. Yutaka Yoshida was a police officer in Hawaii when World War II erupted.
After serving in the United States Army during the war, Dr. Yoshida attended
medical school and became a surgeon.
Dr. Yutaka Yoshida, a native Hawaiian and a son of Japanese immigrants, was
working as a police officer in Honolulu when Japan bombed the United States
naval base at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, plunging America into World War
II.
The Territory of Hawaii was placed under martial law that day, and
constitutional rights were suspended out of fear of a possible Japanese invasion,
sabotage or espionage. (The edict remained in effect until October 1944.)
Dr. Yoshida, a retired surgeon who died on Sept. 13 at age 104 in Honolulu, was
29 then and a veteran of nine years with the police, and he faced a wrenching
task on the Sunday of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to
accompany F.B.I. agents as they rounded up prominent members of the
Japanese community in Honolulu, among them a Buddhist priest, whom he
helped take into custody.
“Even though it was his job, he still cannot forget how sad it was to point his
gun at the tiny old Issei priest,” wrote Masayo Duus, who interviewed Dr. Yoshida for “Unlikely
Liberators”, a history of Japanese-American soldiers in World War II originally published in 1983.
“It was a story he always told us,” his daughter, Ann Yoshida, said in an interview on Tuesday. “It was a
moment of tremendous conflict for him.”
Japanese aliens, known as Issei, as well as Japanese-Americans born in the United States, referred to as
Nisei, were removed from the West Coast of the United States as supposed security threats in the war’s
early stages and sent to remote internment camps, most of them inland, where they were placed under
guard. Dr. Yoshida had cousins in California who were interned at a camp in the state.
But he volunteered for Army service and in March 1943 joined the newly formed 442nd Regimental
Combat Team, a Japanese-American unit remembered today for extraordinary bravery in fighting the
Germans in Italy and France. He was wounded during the Italian campaign and, in separate engagements,
received a Silver Star and a Bronze Star for bravery under fire.
Through the course of a long life, Dr. Yoshida became a surgeon and practiced in Hawaii for 35 years.
Although he joined the Army when he was nearly 31, he outlived all seven Japanese-American veterans
who were still alive in 2000 when they were among a group of 22 Asian-Americans awarded the Medal of
Honor by President Bill Clinton for valor during World War II. They had previously been denied it,
presumably because of prejudice.
“He was very pleased — even though it was a long time in coming — that things had changed enough so
the wrong was righted,” Ann Yoshida said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/us/yutaka-yoshida-dead.html
Yutaka Kochi Yoshida was born in the town of Waipahu on May 10, 1912. His father died when he was 3.
His mother remarried, and his stepfather was a laborer for a sugar company, for which Dr. Yoshida worked
after graduating from high school.
Dr. Yutaka Yoshida, who died last month at age 104, was a member of the
United States Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team that had earned
recognition for valor while serving during World War II.
He attended part-time classes at the University of Hawaii while serving on
the police force, hoping to become a physician someday.
A sergeant in a heavy machine-gun platoon, he went into combat with the
442nd in June 1944 and was wounded a month later in the Rome-Arno
sector. With his fellow soldiers pinned down, he exposed himself to enemy
fire, enabling him to locate enemy positions, and then continued to lay
down fire until he was wounded by an exploding German tank shell. He
was awarded a Silver Star for his valor and hospitalized until late 1944.
After rejoining his unit, Dr. Yoshida took part in attacks on German forces
in the battle for control of the Po Valley in April 1945. In one instance, his
unit came under mortar attack.
“I was knocked down flat on my face because I was talking to the captain and my helmet went rolling
down the hill,” Dr. Yoshida told Michael Okihiro, who interviewed him in 2015 for The Hawaii Herald, a
newspaper focusing on the state’s Japanese-Americans. “But I was the only guy not injured by the blast,
and so I took care of the captain. And, lo and behold, they gave me a medal for that.”
He received a Bronze Star, was commissioned a second lieutenant and returned to Hawaii in October 1945.
Dr. Yoshida graduated from the University of Cincinnati medical school after the war and embarked on a
surgical practice in Hawaii in 1955.
In addition to his daughter, who confirmed his death, he is survived by a son, Ken; a brother, Tokuo; and
two grandchildren. His wife, Marge, a medical technician, died in 2007.
Dr. Yoshida attended gatherings of veterans from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team through the years,
Ann Yoshida said.
Long after the war, he told of the day he became an officer.
“A two-star general gave me my second lieutenant bar and gave me those other medals,” he said in an
interview for the Hawaii Memory Project of the University of Hawaii. “He says, ‘That’s why we are
American.’ Big deal. I guess he thought he was making a big speech. It’s kind of patronizing, right? Telling
me I’m an American, just like him. Of course I’m an American.”
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3c29d1062dfe45c1af6391d4f2a5c618/flesh-eating-bacteria-claimed-vetslimbs-not-her-drive
Flesh-eating bacteria claimed vet's limbs, but not her drive
By Lisa Marie Pane
The Associated Press, October 19, 2016
In a Sept. 26, 2016 photo, Marine veteran Cindy Martinez stretches
ahead of a weightlifting workout at the Crossfit Goat gym in
Dacula, Georgia. Martinez lost three limbs and part of the fingers
on her remaining arm after getting a flesh-eating bacteria in 2015
and nearly dying. (AP Photo/Lisa Marie Pane)
DACULA, Ga. (AP) — A year ago, Cindy Martinez was struggling
to walk even just a few feet and lift just five pounds.
A flesh-eating bacteria had ravaged the 35-year-old Marine veteran's body. She had a grim choice:
Amputate both legs, an arm below the elbow, and parts of the fingers on her remaining arm — or face
almost-certain death.
The amputations saved her life. And after months of hospitalizations and rehabilitation, she finally found
herself back home but alone during the day while her young children were in school and her husband was
off at work.
"It kind of takes a toll on you mentally, just sitting there after all that I had gone through," she said.
In the stillness of her home, she fired off an email to a local gym and asked about joining. When they called
back later that night, "I told the lady on the phone, well, there's a twist to my story."
She soon found herself sitting in a circle surrounded by trainers at Crossfit Goat — with the motto Be Your
Greatest of All Time — in Dacula, about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. She told them her story and began
in February to embark on an unusual quest: becoming a Crossfit athlete. Crossfit gyms are known for highintensity strength and cardio workout, and their members often consider their "box" to be like a family as
they bond over workouts-of-the-day that test their strength and resolve.
Her coach, gym owner Amanda Greaver, pledged to work with her and to find whatever way they could for
her to do exercises that challenge even people with all of their limbs. She's come away in awe of how
Martinez tackles each workout.
"She will not be stopped no matter what," Greaver said. "If something doesn't work, there's no getting
frustrated. We adapt and move on to something else. She is always, always positive."
Martinez has worked up to deadlifting 95 pounds — nearly her weight — and squatting 65 pounds.
She needs to use her abdominal muscles to ensure she remains balanced. The fingers on her remaining full
arm have varying degrees of amputation, which makes it difficult to grip a barbell or dumbbell. Part of the
latissimi dorsi muscles on the left side of her back, the area where the infection first sprouted, were
removed.
But she and Greaver constantly find ways to adapt. When she's performing squats with the barbell behind
her, she uses a strap to connect the arm that was amputated just below the elbow to the bar. When using
dumbbells to do chest presses, she uses a strap to attach the weight to her hand and arm to allow her to lift
it without needing a tight grip. When she's performing body rows, she attaches a strap with a hook on the
end so she can grab the rings, dip back then pull herself back up.
Martinez is often surprised by the attention she gets and how others see her as inspirational.
"I'm just doing it. I want it — not that other people don't want it," she said. "I don't know how to explain
the speed that I've done it with."
The gym and its members have rallied around her. At one point, Greaver created a workout for members so
they would have a greater understanding of the challenges Martinez faces and help raise money to pay for a
recumbent bike.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3c29d1062dfe45c1af6391d4f2a5c618/flesh-eating-bacteria-claimed-vetslimbs-not-her-drive
During the workout, athletes were allowed to use only one arm. One-armed push-ups, one-armed kettlebell
swings, one-armed farmer carries.
"Literally everybody who came in from doing that came straight up to me and said 'Look at my arm. Wow,
that was so difficult. You really see how hard her workouts are,'" Greaver recalled.
Martinez worked her way up to walking farther and recently got a new pair of prosthetic legs that will
allow her to run. She's getting used to the new legs, which she says feel like she's wearing high heels on a
trampoline, but one day they will allow her to run around with her young children or perhaps enter a road
race.
For now, she's setting her sights on this month's Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., which she
will race on her recumbent bike.
"The mental aspect, it can be tough. It's not that I don't have a bad day," she said. "But for the most part, I
try to stay positive and I think staying active is a good way to, I don't want to say get your mind off of it
because it's not like I can get my mind off of it but I've got to work with what I've got. I'm here for my kids,
my husband and I want them to see I can still do things with them."
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/get-out-and-vote-but-obey-your-oath-general-tells-officers
Get out and vote but obey your oath, general tells officers
[OPINION]
By Army Gen. Carter F. Ham (ret.)
Army Times, October 19, 2016
Retired Gen. Carter Ham, president and CEO of the Association of
the U.S. Army, calls on officers to exercise their right to vote. Photo
Credit: Jennifer Milbrett/Staff
Wednesday’s New York Times includes an opinion column
suggesting military officers shouldn’t vote. It is good for the Army
and for the nation to hear from its officers and enlisted service
members. However, I could not disagree more strongly with the
author.
While supporting officers’ constitutional right to vote, the column argues they shouldn’t exercise that right.
It cites some notable senior officers who expressed that they chose not to vote while in uniform —Gens.
Ulysses Grant, George Marshall, George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower among them. The column
suggests that by voting for the winner, an officer is somehow beholden to that person. In contrast, those
who vote for the loser will be against the new commander in chief.
The more important question, no matter who wins or how you voted, is whether you can fulfill your oath as
an officer in which you pledged “without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion” to “support and
defend” the Constitution. If the answer is yes, then vote your conscience and do your duty. If the answer to
that question is no, then resign your commission and find another career path.
We expect this of military officers in their daily duties: State your recommendations and views to those
senior to you. But when those who with proper authority and responsibility make decisions contrary to your
personal recommendations, your oath of office requires you to embrace those decisions as your own and to
fulfill those orders and directives to your fullest ability. To do otherwise is to fail in your obligations as an
officer.
I wholeheartedly agree with the author that serving military officers must refrain from publicly expressing
their political views. But the remedy is to educate officers as to their requirement to be apolitical in their
words and in their actions and, when necessary, to take corrective action for those who violate the special
trust and confidence that has been placed in them. The remedy is not to suggest officers recuse themselves
from one of the most fundamental rights and obligations of citizenry. As then-General George Washington
said in 1775, "When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen.”
Retired Gen. Carter F. Ham, is president and CEO of the Association of the U.S. Army. The opinions
expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military Times or its editorial staff.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/19/opinion/i-fight-for-your-right-to-vote-but-i-wont-do-it-myself.html
I Fight for Your Right to Vote. But I Won’t Do It Myself.
[OPINION]
By M. L. Cavanaugh
The New York Times, October 19, 2016
Credit: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
Tonight, like millions of Americans, I will be glued to my
television, watching the third and last presidential debate. But
unlike them, and millions of others, whatever I hear tonight, I won’t
be taking it with me into the ballot booth. I am a major in the
United States Army, and I believe it is my professional duty — and
that of my fellow officers, in all branches — not to vote.
To be clear, I strongly believe that officers, like all citizens, should
have the right to vote. But because military officers have a special responsibility to prevent politics from
dividing our troops and separating us from society, it is all the more important for us to choose not to
exercise that right (this is my belief, of course, and not necessarily that of the Department of Defense or the
American government).
Especially when our elected officials routinely make fateful decisions about where and how we are
deployed, it is vital that we maintain the constitutional division between the civilians in charge and the men
and women who execute their orders. Anything that erodes that division is a threat, however small, to our
democracy.
The military’s guidelines on voting are fuzzy. Officers, we’re instructed, are encouraged to “carry out the
obligations of citizenship,” yet we are also strongly cautioned not to “engage in partisan political activity.”
This ambiguity recognizes that we have two identities: I am a citizen. But I have also sworn an oath as a
commissioned military officer. One came by birth and coincidence, the other by belief and commitment. In
certain circumstances, my identity as a military officer should take precedence. Voting is one of them.
Friends and family often tell me I’m not fulfilling my “patriotic duty,” that I’m “robbing the electorate of
an educated voter.” They ask why I can’t just quietly walk into a voting booth, pull the lever, and silently
slip back out. What’s the harm in that?
The trouble is I will have exercised a personal, partisan choice, committing myself to a candidate, party and
set of beliefs and policies. I would like to believe that I can separate my political and professional views,
but I worry that, years from now, my decision could undermine my military judgment.
This is principled abstention, a silent form of speech as serious to me as the actions of those athletes who
choose not to stand for the national anthem. By not voting, I am saying as loudly as I can, as quietly as I am
able, that I will never make my political preference an obstacle to the best military decisions for the defense
of our nation.
“I am in the pay of the United States government,” Gen. George S. Patton once put it. “If I vote against the
administration, I am voting against my commander in chief. If I vote for the administration in office I am
being bought.”
And it’s not just about me, or officers individually. Militaries require rigid cohesion to function amid
terrifyingly violent circumstances, and they require society’s trust to fill and fund critical needs. But people
are inherently prone to social tribalism and political factionalism, and so the military has adopted a
deliberate nonpartisan stance to support soldier solidarity and maintain the public’s trust.
Unfortunately, an unacceptable number of military officers who vote in this election will publicly express
their political preferences and pressure others to follow. One 2010 study found that over a quarter of
military officers reported that another officer tried to influence their vote; my experience suggests this
figure would be even higher today — like everyone else, officers are inundated and politicized by 24-hour
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/19/opinion/i-fight-for-your-right-to-vote-but-i-wont-do-it-myself.html
news and social media. To vote, and then rely upon a culture of secrecy to prevail, is not a successful
strategy in the Facebook age.
Political abstention is the simple solution: With no vote, there’s no need to convey partisan ideas. There’s
no quicker way to extinguish inflammatory political small talk than to say, “I’m a military officer; I don’t
vote.”
By not voting, I am countering the alarming number of retired officers who damage the traditional political
neutrality of the Profession of Arms by vociferously endorsing presidential candidates and being used as
campaign props. I am recording my vote of confidence in America — after all, trust must flow two ways,
and purposeful restraint affirms the faith I place in my fellow citizens with the selection of our commander
in chief.
By not voting, I am walking in the boot prints of our greatest officers: George C. Marshall, Dwight D.
Eisenhower and Patton, to name a few who didn’t vote while in uniform, and those of the modern era that
tread the same path — David H. Petraeus, Martin Dempsey and, by all appearances, Mark A. Milley, the
current Army chief of staff. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant is an especially instructive case, because he faced the
grimmest temptation to tamper with the election of 1864 during the Civil War. And yet, crucially, Grant
chose not to vote.
These giants lived in different times, but they all agreed: Military officers shouldn’t vote in national
elections. As a profession, we’d do well to follow their lead. I know I will.
M. L. Cavanaugh is a major and Army strategist.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTOpinion), and sign up for
the Opinion Today newsletter.
A version of this op-ed appears in print on October 19, 2016, on page A23 of the New York edition with the
headline: Why Officers Shouldn’t Vote.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/jack-greenberg-dead.html
Jack Greenberg, a Courthouse Pillar of the Civil Rights
Movement, Dies at 91
By Richard Severo and William McDonald
The New York Times, October 12, 2016
Mr. Greenberg, second from left, in 1952 during the second trial of
Walter Lee Irvin, third from left, who had been sentenced to death in a
rape case. Thurgood Marshall is at the far right. (Credit: Bettmann)
Jack Greenberg, a lawyer who became one of the nation’s most
effective champions of the civil rights struggle, leading the NAACP
Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. for 23 years and using the
law as a weapon in its fight for racial justice before the United
States Supreme Court, died on Wednesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 91.
His wife, Deborah Cole Greenberg, confirmed his death. She said he had been treated for Parkinson’s
disease for decades.
Mr. Greenberg was part of a legendary civil rights legal team assembled by Thurgood Marshall, the
founding director-counsel of the legal defense fund and later the first African-American Supreme Court
justice.
When Mr. Marshall hired him as an assistant counsel in 1949, Mr. Greenberg was just 24 and the civil
rights movement, too, was taking wing. A son of Jewish immigrants and a product of New York City, he
had developed an abiding intolerance of injustice — some of it witnessed in the Navy — that propelled him
into law and into Mr. Marshall’s sights.
Mr. Greenberg joined a team that, like him, was idealistic yet pragmatic, deliberate yet unafraid. Besides
Mr. Marshall there were Robert L. Carter, Constance Baker Motley, Spottswood W. Robinson III and
others.
Mr. Greenberg was neither the first white nor the first Jew to work for the civil rights of blacks. But he was
one of the most powerful white figures in the movement in the 1960s and ’70s, a distinction that led to
friction with both blacks and Jews.
Still, Mr. Greenberg helped achieve through the courts what the political system had denied Southern
blacks: voting rights, equal pay for equal work, impartial juries, equal access to medical care, equal access
to schools and other benefits of citizenship broadly enjoyed by whites.
The genius of his legal team, Mr. Greenberg told The New York Times in 2014, was “the ability to be
creative in matters of legal and social justice.”
At 27, he helped argue two of the five cases that led to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in
Brown v. Board of Education, which declared an end to the “separate but equal” system of racial
segregation in the public schools.
“I was a kid,” Mr. Greenberg said in the interview. “Seven lawyers argued the cases. I was one of them.
Now I’m the only one still alive.”
In all, he was involved in more than 40 civil rights cases before the Supreme Court. One was Alexander v.
Holmes County Board of Education, in which the court, ruling in 1969, hastened the integration of schools
by declaring that a standard of “all deliberate speed,” established in a second Brown case, had become an
excuse for delays in Mississippi and should no longer apply anywhere.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/jack-greenberg-dead.html
Another case was Griggs v. Duke Power Company, which led to a 1971 decision offering protections
against job discrimination on the basis of race.
And in Furman v. Georgia, in 1972, the court effectively placed a moratorium on executions nationwide
that would last four years.
Jack Greenberg in 1969 at a news conference in New York. (Credit: Allen
Green/Associated Press)
Mr. Greenberg helped represent the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963
when Dr. King was jailed in Birmingham, Ala., after leading a march there
against segregationist laws. The episode led Dr. King to write his influential
“Letter From Birmingham Jail.”
In the 1960s, Mr. Greenberg established a law project to help the poor fight
for their rights under federal programs. He campaigned against the death
penalty as racially discriminatory. Under his leadership, the fund supported
civil rights efforts on behalf of women, Hispanic- and Asian-Americans and
gay men and lesbians. And he helped found the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
When Mr. Marshall joined the federal bench in 1961, he named Mr. Greenberg to succeed him as directorcounsel of the defense fund, passing over Mr. Carter and other blacks on the staff and incurring their
resentment.
Tensions with blacks surfaced soon after Mr. Greenberg took over the fund. The New York Amsterdam
News said the appointment could just as well have gone to a black lawyer. Some thought that the day had
passed in which a black civil rights organization needed the leadership of whites, no matter how well
intended.
Mr. Greenberg played down the friction, telling the journalist Louis Lomax that “civil rights is not a Negro
cause; it is a human cause.” Speaking in 2014, he insisted that the transition was smooth.
“There was no controversy,” he said. “Thurgood was no dummy. He spoke to everyone on the board. They
all agreed that it was the right decision to make. I would run the place but carry out what I thought were his
wishes.”
But in 1974, Mr. Carter, by then a Federal District Court judge, wrote a letter to Mr. Greenberg in which he
asserted that the legal defense fund under Mr. Greenberg had tried to limit the participation of black
lawyers in an observance of the 20th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.
Publicity about the event, Judge Carter wrote, had tended “to give the impression that the strategy, planning
and preparation that went into Brown” had been “culled from the brains of white lawyers.” Mr. Greenberg,
he wrote, had played “at best a secondary role” in Brown.
In response, Mr. Greenberg called the letter “an unfortunate mischaracterization.” Judge Carter died in
2012.
Roy Wilkins, who led the N.A.A.C.P. in 1974 and who was regarded as a voice of moderation, also
complained that Mr. Greenberg and the Legal Defense Fund had tried to take all the credit for the 1954
case. The fund was founded in 1939 as the legal arm of the N.A.A.C.P. but separated from its parent group
in 1957.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/jack-greenberg-dead.html
The groups’ uneasy relationship was further strained later in the ’70s when delegates to an N.A.A.C.P.
convention in Louisville resolved to withdraw permission to the defense fund to use the initials in its name.
Mr. Greenberg refused to alter the name.
A painful episode for Mr. Greenberg came in 1982, at Harvard Law School, when the Harvard Black Law
Students Association and others objected to his teaching a civil rights course jointly, on a visiting basis,
with Julius L. Chambers, a black lawyer and educator. The group called on students to boycott the course,
which had previously been taught by Derrick Bell. Mr. Chambers and Mr. Greenberg taught the course
anyway, and many prominent blacks came to Mr. Greenberg’s defense.
“The objection that Mr. Greenberg is white is nothing more than blatant racism,” Bayard Rustin, chairman
of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a civil rights group, wrote in a letter to The Times. But Mr. Bell, who
supported the boycott, later wrote that “black students boycotted the course not because Greenberg was
white, as some media pundits charged, but because students felt the visiting post should go to someone who
could be considered for a permanent position.”
Mr. Greenberg received a standing ovation in 2014 during an NAACP
Legal Defense Fund luncheon at the National Press Club in
Washington to commemorate the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of
Education decision of 1954. (Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Mr. Greenberg’s friction with Jewish groups centered on his
support for affirmative action. Leaders of the Anti-Defamation
League thought he had gone too far in embracing the policy as a
remedy for racial discrimination in the job market. They saw it as
discrimination against whites and believed it would lead to a system of racial quotas.
When Mr. Greenberg left the legal defense fund in 1984, its staff had grown to 25 lawyers from its original
handful, and its annual budget had more than tripled, to $1.9 million ($4.4 million in today’s dollars).
That same year he drafted a landmark New York City law (Local Law 63) that denies tax exemptions to
men’s clubs and other private clubs that discriminate on the basis of gender or race. The Supreme Court
upheld its constitutionality in 1988.
Mr. Greenberg left the legal defense fund in 1984 to become a professor of law at Columbia University,
where he had been an adjunct professor since 1970. In 1989 he was named dean of Columbia College. He
stepped down as dean in 1993 in a university shake-up but remained a professor at the law school until
retiring last year.
At Columbia he became particularly engaged with the plight of the Roma, a traditionally nomadic ethnic
group often reviled in Europe, concluding in a 2010 report that they continued to be segregated from other
students in the schools.
“No European or national judicial or administrative organ has ordered the cessation of segregation in any
school,” he wrote, “nor have they addressed the principal means of evasion, white flight.”
Jack Greenberg was born on Dec. 22, 1924, the son of Max Greenberg, who was born in Poland and
became a certified public accountant without finishing college, and the former Bertha Rosenberg, who was
born in Romania. The family lived in Brooklyn and the Bronx while Jack was growing up and, he wrote,
instilled in him “an abiding concern for those who are disadvantaged.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/jack-greenberg-dead.html
In his 1994 book, “Crusaders in the Courts: How a Dedicated Band of Lawyers Fought for the Civil Rights
Revolution,” Mr. Greenberg recounted joining other children in throwing rocks at a Chinese man and
forever feeling shame for what he had done.
Mr. Greenberg served in the Pacific with the Navy during World War II and went ashore in a landing ship
tank in the invasion of Iwo Jima. In the Navy, he wrote, it upset him that all the officers were white and all
the stewards who served them were black.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia and a law degree from Columbia Law School, where a
professor, Walter Gellhorn, encouraged him to pursue his interest in civil liberties and recommended him to
Mr. Marshall.
Mr. Greenberg’s marriage to Sema Ann Tanzer ended in divorce in 1970. She died in 2013. He married
Deborah Cole in 1970.
Besides his wife, who is the founding director of the Columbia Law School’s AIDS Law Clinic, he is
survived by three children from his first marriage, David, Sarah and Ezra Greenberg (a fourth child, Josiah,
died in 2011); his wife’s two children, Suzanne Greenberg and William Cole, whom Mr. Greenberg
adopted; a brother, Daniel; and five grandchildren.
Mr. Greenberg was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001 by President Bill Clinton.
He remained committed to the idea of an integrated society while acknowledging that full equality had not
yet been achieved — “that in many ways the lives of blacks are not as good as that of whites,” as he wrote
in a 2005 memoir of the Brown case. But that case, he said, should always give Americans reason to take
heart.
“Brown continues to stand for Americans’ determination to live up to the ideals of their Constitution,” he
wrote, “and for the proposition that our Supreme Court can be a catalyst for fundamental change.”
Adam Liptak and Anita Gates contributed reporting.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/james-named-honorary-tuskegee-airman-at-air-force-memorials10th-anniversary
James named honorary Tuskegee airman at Air Force
Memorial's 10th anniversary
By Charlsy Panzino
Air Force Times, October 14, 2016
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James received the iconic red
jacket. (Photo Credit: Christian Garzone/Staff)
The Air Force Memorial celebrated its 10th anniversary on Friday
with a star-studded ceremony.
The celebration kicked off with the Air Force Band and a flyover
from the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation’s F-22 and F-35
demo team, as well as the P-51 and P-38.
The service’s national memorial, which includes three 270-foot-tall spires, was dedicated on Oct. 14, 2006,
and aims to honor the commitment and sacrifice of all airmen who have served.
Speakers included Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, retired Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer
and current Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein.
The importance of Tuskegee Airmen was highlighted at the event, where James was named an honorary
member. She received the iconic Tuskegee red jacket, which represents the red-painted tails on the P-47
Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs flown in World War II.
“My heart is palpitating, and it’s difficult to find words,” James said after receiving the jacket.
The Tuskegee Airmen were role models and contributed greatly to the efforts during World War II, she
said.
The group was the first African American airmen to serve in the U.S. military.
“It’s crucial to tell these stories and continue that legacy forward,” James said.
Retired Gen. Larry Spencer, former Air Force vice chief of staff, said the history of the Tuskegee Airmen
provided him motivation, strength and self-worth as he was growing up.
“When I heard [James] was going to be made an honorary Tuskegee airman, I was happy, but I was not
surprised,” said Spencer, who is now president of the Air Force Association.
The ceremony also featured a performance by American Idol singer Melinda Doolittle, who placed third
during the show’s sixth season in 2007. Former Air Force radio personality Adrian Cronauer, who inspired
the film “Good Morning, Vietnam,” narrated a performance with the Air Force Band.
Charlsy Panzino covers the Guard and Reserve, training, technology, operations and features for Army
Times and Air Force Times. Email her at [email protected].
https://www.navytimes.com/articles/mabus-responds-to-sailor-concerns-over-radical-career-shake-up
Mabus responds to sailor concerns over radical career
shake-up
By Mark D. Faram
Navy Times, October 14, 2016
(Photo Credit: Mark D. Faram/Staff)
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va.—To all the sailors angry or
dejected by the stripping of their historic rating titles, the leader
who ordered the unpopular change urged patience and highlighted
the heightened career flexibility the service is promising in coming
years.
“I know that some people are complaining about it, a lot of them are retired — and I understand that,”
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told the roughly 600 sailors here. “I think there’s a lot of goodness there. It’s
reasonable to have a lot of questions now, but as the information gets out they will understand and like
what’s going on.”
Mabus' move overnight stripped sailors of time-honored titles that defined their jobs and even their Navy
lives. Boatswain's mate. Fire control technician. Engineman. Hospital corpsman. And more than 80 more.
Sailors have launched a White House petition to restore these titles.
Mabus says the move -- which also removed the word "man" from all job titles except "seaman" -- will
prevent the use of force-out panels like enlisted retention boards and any return to tough re-enlistment
approval policies. The ERB forced out 2,947 sailors in 2012.
“ERB, Perform-to-Serve were terrible. We only did those because we had ratings that were way
overstaffed, some were way understaffed and we’ve got that back into balance — there are absolutely no
plans to ever do that again,” Mabus said in answer to a sailor’s question about those programs, asking what
was being done to make sure they aren’t used again.
“One of the way we’re going to keep from doing that is by making ratings more flexible so you can move
between them and get qualified in more than one specialty.”
Mabus has served as the leader of the Navy and Marine Corps for over seven years, the longest tenure in
nearly a century. His two-day visit to Norfolk is expected to be one of several visits he'll make around the
fleet on his unofficial “farewell tour.” Mabus' influence extends far beyond rating titles. He has directed the
services to adopt similar styled uniforms for men and women. He's instituted more breath tests to screen for
alcohol abuse. And he's been a champion of renewable energy and more career flexibility for enlisted and
officers.
He stayed on message when he discussed the controversial dumping of ratings, and outlined in detail what
the Navy was promising sailors — and why modernizing ratings was necessary, but offered no discussion
of why it was necessary to eliminate rating titles up front.
“Right now, some ratings are so narrow that it’s really hard to promote — we get a bottleneck and you stay
a first class for a long time, or the rating was so narrow that you don’t have the opportunity to get the duty
station you want,” he said.
“You are still going to be in the rating you qualified in — you will still have that Navy Occupational
Specialty — but while you are doing that you can qualify two or three or four more in the larger rating
https://www.navytimes.com/articles/mabus-responds-to-sailor-concerns-over-radical-career-shake-up
group so if you can’t promote in your rating, you can promote in one of the others or you can’t get to the
next duty station you want, you might make it in another.”
The sailor who asked Mabus about ERB called him a "former operations specialist" and 17-year veteran
who's nonetheless willing to see how the changes play out.
“Sure, it sucks to see what you have previously upheld as your Navy identity go away,” Petty Officer 1st
Class (SW) Rod Thompson said afterwards. “But at the end of the day, change is constant in the Navy and
this doesn’t change the missions and what we do, it’s just words.
“I’m not saying that I like it, I don’t have to like it, but on the other hand I am looking forward to seeing
these changes come and how this all plays out — I’m willing to give it a chance.”
Other than Thompson’s ERB question, only one other sailor asked a question about the move, wondering if
these new career fields would make sailors “jacks of all trades and masters of none.”
“The short answer is no," Mabus replied. “You’re still going to have to qualify, there will be exactly the
same standards.”
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Mabus again acknowledged rating removal isn’t easy, but that he
expected the pushback — and is showing no signs of backing away from the policy.
“Anytime you change and particularly something like this, you are going to have a big reaction,” Mabus
said. “But if you are doing it for the right reasons and you explain it well enough and if you give people a
chance for input — because this is going to take a couple of years to do. We’re not there, yet, there’s still a
ways to go.”
https://www.navytimes.com/articles/navy-launches-far-reaching-ratings-overhaul-despite-sailor-backlash
Navy launches far-reaching ratings overhaul despite sailor
backlash
By Mark D. Faram
Navy Times, October 17, 2016
(Photo Credit: Navy)
Sailors are demanding their job titles back, but Navy officials are
trying to persuade them their future is brighter without them.
The red-hot controversy over the Navy's stripping every sailor of
his or her rating titles isn't dying down and officialdom is ratcheting
up its response. The chief of naval personnel published their second
blog in as many weeks on Sunday, which defends the action as a first-step to creating more flexible enlisted
careers. That's summarized by their new graphic, Navy Occupational Specialty: "One sailor, many paths."
“Sailors have had a lot of questions about this,” said Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the
chief of naval personnel. “There’s a lot in this for sailors to take in and we’re working to help them
understand how this effects them today and ultimately how it will be helpful to their careers in the future.”
The official blog post garnered over 600 comments, the great majority of which blasted the Navy for taking
away sailors' ratings, job titles like gunner's mate or master-at-arms that sailors have identified with for
generations. Now, all of the roughly 90 ratings will be replaced by NOS codes.
"I cannot begin to explain how frustrating this is," commented Colton Morris on the Navy's post. "There
are so many other ways this change could have been executed to better honor our long standing traditions.
The leadership of this Navy is so far detached that they are willing to gamble the morale of the entire
enlisted Navy on a hopeful whim that this new system will work better?"
Mabus responds to sailor concerns over radical career shake-up
The end of ratings: What's next in the Navy's radical enlisted shake-up
CPOs or just chiefs? Navy guidance leaves sailors confused
'Give us our traditions back'
The Navy says the "ratings modernization" will take place in six phases over the next three years,
beginning with a review.
“A working group, comprised of members throughout the Fleet including senior enlisted sailors… has been
formed to identify and propose modifications to personnel policies, management programs and information
technology systems that will require changes,” the blog said.
The group will include sailors from both fleets and DC area commands. They’ll review and make
recommendations on how to to boost career flexibility.
The scope of their review includes "recruiting, detailing, advancements, training, and personnel and pay
processes" the post said, adding that the working group will be expanded over time and is seeking sailor
input.
The inside story of how the Navy's top brass eliminated ratings
Meanwhile, community managers are preparing to redraw the Navy’s community lines to create broader
career fields.
The timeline says that within the next year, the current occupations will be regrouped and cross-community
occupation opportunities will be identified and piloted. Also, links will be developed to align all Navy
communities with related civilian career fields.
Even with all these proposals, sailors are taking every opportunity to voice their discontent. As of Monday
afternoon, 632 sailors and veterans commented on the blog post, the vast majority of which were unhappy.
https://www.navytimes.com/articles/navy-launches-far-reaching-ratings-overhaul-despite-sailor-backlash
“Hopefully when the SecNav is replaced we can repeal this and get some of our traditions back,” said Ryan
Leland. “Ratings have been in our Navy since before we were America — I’m talking continental Navy —
so please give us our traditions back. Not to mention at my reserve center there are three Jones, two of the
same rank. How do I tell them apart?”
Others railed at what they saw as political correctness, citing variations of the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”
argument.
Then there’s the cost. Many felt the money spent to make the change is more needed in the fleet, such as
with the troubled littoral combat ships.
“Anyone figure out how much this is gonna cost?," another wrote. "Seems like the money would be better
spent on fixing the LCS’s.”
SEE ALSO:
Navy Personnel Chief to Sailors: You Have a Voice in Ratings Overhaul [Defense.gov, 2016-10-16]
[OPINION]
Navy responds to criticism of changes to enlisted ratings system [Stars and Stripes, 2016-10-17]
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/a-new-army-pilot-could-change-the-way-you-get-your-nextassignment
A new Army pilot could change the way you get your next
assignment
By Michelle Tan
Army Times, October 17, 2016
Second Lt. Rachel Parker, Field Artillery Basic Officer Leader
Course Class 7-13, leads a formation during the Red Leg War.
Officers in that class were among the first women able to officially
hold positions within direct support field artillery battalions,
brigade combat teams and cannon battalions in fires brigades. The
Army is launching a sweeping talent management effort to better
match the right soldiers with the right jobs. (Photo Credit: Marie
Berberea/Army)
The Army is preparing to launch a pilot program that could fundamentally change the way the service
manages its soldiers and matches people to their next assignments.
The Assignment Interactive Module pilot is scheduled to begin in December, said Maj. Gen. Wilson
Shoffner, director of the Army talent management task force.
AIM is designed to collect in one database information on soldiers’ job preferences, background, skills and
expertise, everything from foreign language proficiency to civilian-acquired skills, Shoffner said. The pilot
is a precursor to the Integrated Pay and Personnel System-Army, or IPPSA, which will for the first time
allow the Army to look at soldiers and their talents and abilities across all three Army components.
This gives the Army “total visibility and automated ability,” as it manages almost 1 million people,
Shoffner said.
“The big idea is that we can enhance readiness if we can figure out how to maximize everyone’s potential
to contribute,” Shoffner said. “Some might say it’s about taking care of your best, but it is much more than
that. We want to find those talents that may not be readily apparent. We want to find out what people can
do, abilities they have that may not be obvious and then are more difficult to manage.”
IPPSA will allow the Army to track a soldier’s abilities in multiple areas and better match them with
assignments or jobs as they progress in their careers, said Lt. Gen. James McConville, the deputy chief of
staff for personnel (G-1).
“It will fundamentally change the way we do business,” he said. “People in the Army are the most
important thing we have, so we’re trying to move from an industrial age personnel management system to a
21st Century talent management system.”
Today, the Army manages soldiers primarily based on rank and military occupational specialty,
McConville said.
In the future, “we’re going to be able to manage soldiers by their knowledge, skills, abilities and behavior,”
he said. “What we want to be able to do in the future is know if you have regional expertise, if you speak
certain languages, are you a master in cyber, if you fly an aircraft.”
For example, when the 101st Airborne Division was called to deploy to Liberia to help stop the spread of
the Ebola virus, the Army could have used a system such as IPPSA to determine how many soldiers were
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/a-new-army-pilot-could-change-the-way-you-get-your-nextassignment
from Liberia, how many spoke the language, or how many had experience dealing with health epidemics,
he said.
(Photo Credit: Sgt. Daniel Cole/Army)
When McConville was a deputy commanding general with the
101st Airborne deployed to Afghanistan, he created a spreadsheet
for the Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers deployed
with them to fill out with their civilian-acquired skills and
professions, he said.
“One of the officers was the head of the Texas Highway Department, another one owned a construction
company, another one had an engineering firm, another had a design firm, so we were able to identify these
knowledge, skills and abilities and then use them outside their MOS,” McConville said. “This is what the
talent management system IPPSA will do for the Army.”
A system such as IPPSA also will better enable the Army to identify its most talented soldiers, McConville
said.
“Only 1 percent [of enlisted soldiers] will make sergeant major out of a year group. That’s the same for
officers, about 1 percent make general officer,” he said. “What we want to do is identify those outstanding
noncommissioned officers as they come to the end of their first tour and then start investing in them as they
come up.”
IPPSA won’t be in place until 2018 for the Army Guard and 2019 for the active Army and Army Reserve,
McConville said. The system won’t be fully operational until 2020.
Until then, the Army is implementing the Assignment Interactive Module pilot, Shoffner said.
In December, the Army will test AIM on officers attending the Command and General Staff College. These
officers will be asked to provide information about themselves, such as preferences, background, skills and
expertise, that otherwise would not be known by assignment officers or their units, Shoffner said.
In January, the Army will test AIM again. This time, Army Human Resources Command will begin
working with the CGSC students using the data provided by the students.
In the spring, the Army will work with units to identify their future requirements using AIM so that the
Army can match the CGSC officers with the assignments for which they’re best suited, Shoffner said.
The eventual goal is to roll over the information collected through the AIM pilots into IPPSA, he said.
“We want to find those leaders that have the ability to lead the Army in the future,” Shoffner said.
By investing in its people and leveraging their skills and talents, “you will become more efficient and more
effective, and that really makes us a more ready Army,” Shoffner said.
In addition to IPPSA and AIM, the Army’s personnel experts also are looking at lateral-entry options for
cyber specialists, McConville said. Just like it does for doctors, the Army will explore whether it can bring
in cyber specialists at a higher rank.
The Army also is looking at programs that would allow certain soldiers to stay in uniform if they’re
performing well, McConville said.
The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment is a prime example, he said. The unit has a large number
of personnel in the ranks of chief warrant officer 3 and 4, he said.
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/a-new-army-pilot-could-change-the-way-you-get-your-nextassignment
“What we want to do is we want to allow them to keep that expertise and talent without hurting the rest of
the force,” McConville said. “Because if we’re limited to only so many W4s and W5s in the force, it puts
us in a quandary where they’re either all in the 160th or in the 160th we’re bleeding talent.”
A separate initiative also could allow leaders to temporarily opt out of promotion boards, Shoffner said.
“Say you’ve got somebody who’s a Rhodes Scholar, and they just need more time as a lieutenant, then they
could opt out of a promotion for one year or possibly two years,” he said.
All of those initiatives require congressional approval.
The ability to put the right people in the right jobs is critical for an organization as large as the Army,
Shoffner said.
“What we’re trying to do is win in an unpredictable, complex world, and to do that, you have got to have
the very best talent that you can, so we want to be able to identify those leaders,” he said. “Some of our
leaders in the Army do a very good job at this right now, and we don’t want to change that, but we want to
also give those leaders better tools to be able to help manage the people that they’ve got.”
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/gotyou6-psa-vote-veterans
Thank a veteran. Get out and vote
By Leo Shane III
Military Times, October 17, 2016
Want to thank a veteran? Then remember to vote in November.
That’s the message of a new campaign this week from the veterans’ advocacy organization Got Your 6,
designed to encourage more civic involvement in national and local politics.
“We don’t care who people vote for, we just want them more engaged,” said Bill Rausch, an Iraq War
veteran and executive director for the group. “When more people engage, it helps us better tackle issues for
all Americans, like income inequality, health care and racial problems.”
The new campaign features a public service announcement starring actors Rob Riggle, David Eigenberg
and J.W. Cortes, all of whom served in the military.
“One of the reasons I served was so that people had the freedom to go vote,” Riggle, a retired Marine Corps
Reserve lieutenant colonel says in the message. “You got the freedom. Go vote.”
A Pew Research Center report earlier this year ranked the United States 27th among 35 developed
democracies in voter participation rates, with little more than half of Americans casting ballots in the most
recent presidential election. Israel, Sweden and South Korea all boasted rates of more than 75 percent
participation in their most recent equivalent elections.
Rausch said he has seen an outpouring of interest in helping troops and veterans in the wake of the recent
wars, beyond the gratitude civilians often give on holidays and at homecomings.
Got Your 6 has pushed local leaders to look to veterans as enthusiastic resources and encouraged all
Americans to learn more about their experiences. But Rausch said smaller steps -- like exercising the right
to vote -- also play a role in better integrating veterans into their communities.
Earlier this year, the group launched a new voter registration effort which also sends reminders to users
about upcoming election deadlines and locations.
The video was produced with the media company ATTN. The presidential election is scheduled for Nov. 8,
three days before the national Veterans Day remembrance.
Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be
reached at [email protected].
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/top-military-doctor-says-trend-toward-overweight-troops-istroubling
Top military doctor says trend toward overweight troops is
troubling
By Andrew Tilghman
Military Times, October 20, 2016
The growing ranks of
overweight troops is a
worrisome trend and the
Defense Department should
look for ways to help today’s
force live a healthier lifestyle,
the Pentagon’s top health
official said Thursday.
“I am concerned,” Vice Adm.
Raquel Bono, director of the
Defense Health Agency, told
reporters on Thursday.
“Anything that attenuates or
poses a challenge to our
readiness or our health is
something that I’m interested
in,” she said.
But, Bono added, “We don’t
have any kind of indication
that this is impacting
readiness.”
Recent military health data shows that about 7.8 percent of the force -- or about one in every 13 troops -- is
clinically overweight, defined by a body mass index greater than 25.
That figure has roughly doubled during the past five years and is up fourfold since 2001, when about 1.6
percent of troops were diagnosed as clinically overweight.
Top Pentagon officials are rewriting the forcewide guidelines for body composition standards and the
methods for officially evaluating it. For individual troops, a diagnosis of obesity can stall a career or lead to
involuntary separation, making these policies are central to military life.
Some Pentagon officials worry that overweight troops pose a threat to combat readiness because they may
not be able to move as quickly in ground combat and if they are wounded, it is more difficult for their
buddies to pull them to safety.
“I’m glad that we're looking at it,” Bono said. “It gives us a chance to collectively, across the department,
take a look and see what we can do to support our military members in their efforts to be more healthy, to
maintain good body weight, to choose more nutritional options.”
The reasons for more overweight troops are similar to those in the civilian world, she said.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/top-military-doctor-says-trend-toward-overweight-troops-istroubling
"We're kind of a microcosm. I think our level of activity has changed. I think our eating habits have
changed. I think there are any number of reasons why that might be,” she said.
But the military community is unique because lifestyles are more easily controlled or influenced by the
institution.
“The encouraging thing about this is, in the military we have opportunities to impact most of the things that
we think are contributing to this -- in our dining facilities, in our chow halls, bringing in healthier food
choices through [morale, welfare and recreation programs] and being able to provide more activities that
engage people and get them off the couches," she said.
Military commanders can influence troops' eating and lifestyle habits. But, she said, they cannot force
troops to become healthier.
“People still persist in certain behaviors," she said, despite aggressive education efforts.
“I don’t know what the right answer is, but I agree it’s a challenge and I don’t necessarily have a forcing
function. I’m interested in finding out what might work in other areas,” she said.
The problem's scope shifts significantly depending on the service.
The Army, for instance, reports that 10.5 percent of soldiers are overweight, up from 6.4 percent five years
ago.
In the Air Force, 9 percent are overweight, more than double the 4.3 percent reported in 2011.
Navy doctors diagnosed 5.9 percent of the fleet with elevated body mass indices last year, up from 3.3
percent over the same five years.
Among Marines, the rate was 2.3 percent, up from 1.7 percent five years prior.
Compared to the U.S. civilian population, the rate of overweight troops is far smaller. About 70 percent of
the adult American population has a BMI above 25, meaning they are clinically overweight or obese,
according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Many health experts inside and outside the military criticize the body mass index as a flawed measurement
tool because it does not evaluate body fat levels. Instead, BMI measures an individual’s height and weight
to flag those who might have unhealthy levels of body fat.
It is often criticized as a blunt tool that wrongly identifies bodybuilders with heavy muscle mass as being
fat while missing flabby and unfit people with lanky body types.
Misconduct
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/10/14/corrupt-ncis-agent-who-was-besottedwith-fat-leonard-begs-judge-for-mercy/
Corrupt NCIS agent who was besotted with ‘Fat Leonard’
gets 12 years in federal prison
By Craig Whitlock
The Washington Post, October 14, 2016
John Beliveau Jr., center, and his attorneys, Gretchen von Helms,
left, and Jessica Carmichael, arrive at the federal courthouse in
San Diego on Dec. 17, 2013. (Lenny Ignelzi/AP)
A federal judge sentenced a former Naval Criminal Investigative
Service agent to 12 years in prison Friday for leaking confidential
law-enforcement files to an Asian defense contractor who seduced
him with cash bribes, booze and prostitutes.
John Beliveau, Jr., a one-time NCIS agent of the year, received the most severe punishment imposed so far
in a corruption scandal that has ensnared 16 other criminal defendants and rocked the Navy.
Beliveau, 47, who pleaded guilty shortly after the scandal became public in 2013, has admitted to leaking
hundreds of sensitive NCIS files to Leonard Glenn Francis, a Singapore-based contractor who supplied
Navy ships throughout Asia. Francis, a rotund and charismatic man known as “Fat Leonard,” exploited the
leaked information to thwart NCIS investigations into his company for years.
Beliveau’s attorneys said he betrayed his country because he had a fragile psyche and became “clinically
obsessed” with a crooked Asian defense contractor who easily reeled him in with bribes. They asked that
he be spared any prison time, while prosecutors had sought a 15-year sentence. The punishment was
handed down late Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino in San Diego.
NCIS officials have described Beliveau as one of the worst traitors in the agency’s history. He met Francis
after he was assigned to Singapore as a counterterrorism agent in 2008 and quickly fell under the defense
contractor’s spell, according to his attorneys.
Francis was a legendary figure in Navy circles who treated officers to lavish meals and parties — featuring
Cuban cigars, expensive champagne and strippers — when their ships made visits to Asian ports. In court
papers, Beliveau’s lawyers described him as particularly susceptible to Francis’s charms because of his
fondness for alcohol, a history of mental illness and a lifelong lack of sexual experience with women other
than prostitutes.
According to his lawyers, Beliveau had struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder since he was a child
and was debilitated from cancer treatments when he arrived in Singapore. Soon, he contracted dengue fever
during a visit to the country of East Timor and also developed post-traumatic stress disorder after a bizarre
incident during which he witnessed, up close, the beheading of a gang member.
Given his physical and emotional weaknesses, Beliveau became a “prime target” for Francis, who supplied
him with sex workers, $30,000 in cash and travel, alcohol and a “perceived friendship,” the agent’s
attorneys said in court papers. Eventually, they added, Beliveau became “symptomatically obsessed with
Francis, and overwhelmingly attached to the relief Francis could provide through the parties and
prostitutes.”
“I have betrayed the badge I wore, the oath I took, my comrades,” Beliveau said in a letter to the judge. “I
deserve and understand the feelings of anger, vengeance and disgust from others in my former field.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/10/14/corrupt-ncis-agent-who-was-besottedwith-fat-leonard-begs-judge-for-mercy/
In asking for a 15-year prison term, prosecutors noted that Beliveau “caused incalculable injury” to the
reputation of NCIS and its long-standing efforts to prove that Francis was fleecing the Navy for supplies,
fuel and port services. In handing over so many confidential files over a two-year period, they said,
Beliveau tipped off Francis to the identities of several cooperating witnesses, including some who had
agreed to wear wires for NCIS, and also advised the contractor on how to erase incriminating evidence.
Prosecutors also said Beliveau was under no illusions about the nature of his transactional relationship with
Francis, regularly demanding money and prostitutes in exchange for leaked material.
“I will always be your friend, but you will get nothing else … until I get what you promise,” he said in an
email to Francis in April 2012. “You give whores more money than you give me. … I can be your best
friend or your worst enemy. I am not an amateur.”
Francis has also pleaded guilty to bribery charges and has admitted that his firm overcharged the Navy by
at least $35 million. He has been in federal custody since he was arrested in a sting operation in San Diego
in September 2013. His sentencing is scheduled for next summer.
Eleven current or former Navy officials — including a one-star admiral — have been charged in the case.
Many other Navy officers remain under investigation.
Craig Whitlock is an investigative reporter who joined The Washington Post as a staff writer in 1998.
Among other things, he has specialized in reporting on national security and foreign affairs. He has
reported from more than 60 countries. Follow @craigmwhitlock
SEE ALSO:
Ex-federal investigator sentenced to 12 years for bribery [The Associated Press, 2016-10-14]
The Navy's 'Fat Leonard' bribery scandal: The widening fallout [Navy Times, 2016-10-17]
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/729524b81ae74acea6975c6590b6361e/navy-officer-pleads-guilty-growingbribery-case
Navy officer pleads guilty in growing bribery case
By Julie Watson
The New York Times, October 13, 2016
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Navy lieutenant commander on Thursday admitted to providing inside information
to a Malaysian defense contractor nicknamed "Fat Leonard" whose ship supply company overbilled the
maritime branch by at least $35 million in a mushrooming case involving nearly a dozen Navy officers so
far, many of whom were bought off with prostitutes.
Supply and logistic officer Lt. Cmdr. Gentry Debord pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to
commit bribery Thursday in federal court in San Diego.
His attorney Robert Schlein said his client has accepted responsibility for his actions and Schlein found him
to be a "very open, honest and professional guy" in the seven months they worked together. He added that
most of the offenses were committed when Debord was a junior officer.
"It's a complex set of facts in this case," Schlein said. "It involves a variety of people and he would be
someone on the lesser end of that involvement."
Prosecutors say Debord regularly requested Glenn Defense Marine Asia executives to arrange prostitutes
for him during port visits in Asia in exchange for helping the company.
GDMA officials described Debord in emails as "sex crazed" and said he swallowed the bribes, "hook, line
and sinker," according to instant messages quoted in the plea agreement.
"This conduct is a disgrace to the U.S. Navy and an affront to U.S. taxpayers who were left to foot the bill
for parties and prostitutes," said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy.
The company's CEO, Leonard Francis, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to bribing Navy officials
with more than $500,000 in cash, prostitutes, luxury hotel stays and a staggering amount of others gifts in
exchange for classified information.
Among the 16 defendants are 11 current or former U.S. Navy officials.
From November 2007 to January 2013, Debord provided Francis and others with inside Navy information
and directed Francis and GDMA to inflate invoices to cover the bribes he was receiving. He also pushed
the Navy to buy items from GDMA, including in 2008 when he convinced the Navy to not use the food and
provisions it owned.
The judge agreed to allow Debord to live with his family in Ohio until his sentencing hearing, which is set
for January.
A former agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, John Beliveau II, is scheduled to be
sentenced on Friday. Prosecutors say he tipped off Francis to the investigation.
SEE ALSO:
The Navy's 'Fat Leonard' bribery scandal: The widening fallout [Navy Times, 2016-10-17]
Racism
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/justice-dept-asks-to-joins-civil-rights-lawsuit-byfired-police-officials-in-pocomoke-md/2016/10/19/63bc24ac-9645-11e6-9b7c-57290af48a49_story.html
Justice Dept. asks to join civil rights suit by fired police
officials in Pocomoke, Md.
By Spencer S. Hsu
The Washington Post, October 19, 2016
Then-Pocomoke City police officers Lynell Green, left, and
Franklin L. Savage, right, with their former police chief, Kelvin
Sewell, in July 2015. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
The Justice Department on Wednesday waded into a racially
charged legal battle that has torn apart a small town on Maryland’s
Eastern Shore, announcing it seeks to join a lawsuit brought by
three former Pocomoke City police officials who allege they were
the victims of racial bias and retaliation.
Pocomoke’s first black police chief, Kelvin Sewell, former lieutenant Lynell Green and former detective
Franklin Savage filed suit in federal court in January alleging an “unchecked pattern and practice of
virulent” discrimination by city, county and state officials after each was fired for supporting claims first
raised by Savage.
[Racial turmoil in Md.’s ‘Friendliest Town’ after black police chief is fired]
Sewell and Green were indicted in July by a Worcester County grand jury on charges of misconduct by
Maryland prosecutors for allegedly interfering with the investigation of a 2014 car accident. The officers
denied the charges and contend the indictment was retaliation after their lawsuit.
“Federal law protects against discrimination and retaliation in the workplace,” Vanita Gupta, the head of
the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said in a statement Wednesday asking to intervene in the
trio’s private lawsuit. “In police departments, that protection is vital not only for individual officials, but
also for the communities they serve.”
The federal complaint asks for a court order that would require the defendants — Pocomoke City, a county
sheriff and the state of Maryland — to implement policies and procedures to eliminate discrimination and
retaliatory conduct. The federal complaint also seeks monetary compensation to the three officers for
“damages caused by the alleged discrimination.”
The Justice Department announced its court action late Wednesday after Pocomoke City offices were
closed.
[Fired Pocomoke City police chief, lieutenant indicted for alleged misconduct]
The city’s lead defense attorney, Daniel Karp of the Baltimore law firm Karpinski Colaresi and Karp, and
Genevieve Goodrow Marshall of Maryland’s attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to
requests for comment. City, county and state officials have previously denied the allegations of racial
discrimination.
In a statement, Andrew G. McBride of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban
Affairs and co-lead counsel for the officers, said, “We are gratified that the Justice Department has
recognized that this is far more than a run of the mill case, rather it demonstrates a pattern of racial
discrimination across law enforcement on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.”
The federal decision to step into the dispute elevates a controversy that has split the town of 4,000, whose
racial demographics are evenly divided but whose city council is majority white. It continues a campaign
by the Obama administration in which the Justice Department has thrown its weight behind private lawsuits
to extend civil rights protections.
[Justice Dept. scrutinizes firing of black police chief in Pocomoke City]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/justice-dept-asks-to-joins-civil-rights-lawsuit-byfired-police-officials-in-pocomoke-md/2016/10/19/63bc24ac-9645-11e6-9b7c-57290af48a49_story.html
Hundreds of demonstrators protested outside Pocomoke City Hall last year demanding Sewell be reinstated
after his June 2015 firing. Instead, the city council hired William “Bill” Harden Sr., an African American,
to run its 14-officer police department.
But the fired officers said Harden’s hiring did not make up for a history of department discrimination that
was joined by law enforcement officials at multiple levels.
In a 26-page filing, the Justice Department charged that the Worcester County sheriff and the state of
Maryland subjected Savage to a hostile work environment while he was assigned to a joint task force
operated by the sheriff’s office.
The complaint joined the officers’ lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Maryland, in which McBride
said Sewell was fired as chief because he stood up for two black officers who filed a discrimination
complaint. The three charged that they “were mocked, threatened, demeaned, demoted, punished, falsely
accused of misconduct, ostracized and humiliated because of their race.”
The officers’ suit also alleged that Savage was pushed out after objecting to the repeated use of the “nword” and references to the Ku Klux Klan.
[Black officer in Pocomoke City, Md., says ‘n-word’ complaint led to firing]
The three officers’ complaints were investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
which made reasonable-cause findings, U.S. officials said.
After unsuccessful talks aimed at conciliation, the EEOC referred the charges to the Justice Department,
officials said.
Spencer S. Hsu is an investigative reporter, two-time Pulitzer finalist and national Emmy award nominee.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/tv/media-scene-blog/article109052182.html
Prominent TV reporter confronts man who called him the
N-word
By Mark Washburn
Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, October 18, 2016
Brian Eybers (Charleston County Detention Center)
A Virginia man was arrested after a street confrontation in Charleston in
which racial slurs were directed at Steve Crump, a veteran WBTV
(Channel 3) reporter and maker of award-winning civil rights
documentaries.
Brian Eybers, 21, is in the Charleston County Detention Center with a
Friday court date on charges of disorderly conduct and possession of drug
paraphernalia, a glass pipe like that used to smoke crack, police said.
Crump said Tuesday that he was in Charleston Oct. 8 to cover Hurricane
Matthew. He had completed an interview and was returning to his news
van when a man on the street began making an iPad video of him.
“He was doing commentary of the neighborhood,” said Crump. “Then he starts off saying, ‘There’s a black
guy walking around here, no he’s a slave, no he’s the n-word.’ ”
Crump, 59, the great-great grandson of Kentucky slaves who has produced hours of specials for public TV
about civil rights in addition to his reporting work for Channel 3, walked up to Eybers and asked him what
he’d just said.
“I went from zero to 60 like that,” Crump said.
“Steve isn’t going to let something like that lie,” said Dennis Milligan, WBTV’s news director.
In the video, Crump is heard asking the man to spell the word he was just called.
“N as in Nancy, I as in indigo, G as in grant,” he began.
After Crump turned to leave, Eybers stood in front of the news van, blocking it from leaving. Crump called
police.
WBTV photographer Devin Futrelle filmed the confrontation. Police arrived and arrested Eybers. A report
by Charleston officer A. Bricker said Eybers admitted calling Crump the racial slur.
Eybers, who listed a home address in Arlington, Va., is a guitarist in a band called Face Control. It was not
immediately clear what he was doing in Charleston.
Mayor apologizes for city
John Tecklenburg, the mayor of Charleston, contacted Crump later the day of the incident to apologize on
behalf of the city. Tecklenburg was already familiar with what happened – it occurred in front of his
mother’s house in the 100 block of Broad Street.
Crump said the site of the confrontation also was only about 10 blocks from Emanuel African Methodist
Episcopal Church, better known as Mother Emanuel, where nine people were shot to death in a racial
killing in 2015. Crump covered that attack and was sent back by WBTV in June to cover the one-year
anniversary.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/tv/media-scene-blog/article109052182.html
“Yet you still have this kind of mentality being carried out where the wounds are very fresh and very real,”
said Crump.
In 2013, Crump was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Medallion, which honors a Charlottean who has
worked to promote racial equality and social justice. This year, Crump was honored in Washington as
journalist of the year by the National Association of Black Journalists.
“You could safely call Steve the leading civil rights reporter in town with his documentaries and daily
stories,” Milligan said.
Worse than Klan
Crump’s documentaries – which have won three regional Emmys – have covered topics ranging from
King’s last days to lunch counter sit-ins to the story of Dorothy Counts, who integrated Charlotte schools.
Throughout his career, Crump has covered the Ku Klux Klan and interviewed many of its leaders, both
wearing hoods and without.
“None of them have ever called me the n-word,” he said.
“We may not see eye-to-eye on racial issues, but not a single Klansman I’ve interviewed in 35 years of
doing this stuff has stooped to this level of vulgarity.”
Mark Washburn: @WashburnChObs, [email protected]
Religion
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/10/18/corps-to-add-spiritual-fitness-to-professionaleducation.html
Corps to Add 'Spiritual Fitness' to Professional Education
By Hope Hodge Seck
Military.com, October 18, 2016
Lt. Cmdr. Robert Burns, Marine and Family Programs Division
chaplain, leads a prayer based on the opening lines of the “Our
Father” at the National Prayer Breakfast Feb. 12 at Bruce Hall,
Quantico. (Marine Photo)
The Marine Corps is quietly rolling out a new initiative aimed at
building Marines who are fit spiritually as well as physically.
In coming months, discussions about spiritual fitness and making
moral choices will be part of the curriculum at the Corps' Officer
Candidates School in Quantico, Virginia, and at corporals' and sergeants' courses around the service, Rear
Adm. Brent Scott, chaplain of the Marine Corps, told Military.com in an interview.
The service hasn't ruled out making spiritual fitness a part of boot camp as well, he said.
Scott said he began planning this initiative when he arrived at his post two years ago, after reflection on the
qualities that make a Marine resilient on the battlefield.
"We're now at the tail end of what was a long war in Iraq and Afghanistan. We found that much of the
resilience we saw was not necessarily attributed to something that somebody could do in the gym," he said.
"A lot had to do with the heart and soul of the individual."
Spiritual does not necessarily mean religious, Scott clarified. He breaks spiritual fitness into three parts:
personal faith, personal values, and moral living and decision-making.
"A moral compass doesn't just come from a faith foundation; it's not enough to make a decision based on
what is legally right or wrong," Scott said. "Chaplains will help Marines discover that compass for
themselves -- that center of gravity that comes from their own upbringing, personal experiences, and
religious teaching."
As a first line of effort, Scott said, his office is creating discussion guides around a book on the
commandant's professional reading list: "What It Is Like to Go to War," by Navy Cross recipient Karl
Marlantes, a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War.
In the 2011 book, Marlantes describes in moving detail his journey to find spiritual absolution and peace,
and his struggle with moral injury sustained in war, decades after returning home from Vietnam. He
describes various ceremonies and rituals ancient cultures observed as they welcomed warriors back into
society, acknowledging the transition from war to peace that must take place.
"We should allow people to curse the dead for murdering their friends, and then, if the younger ones can't,
the older ones, officers and NCOs, should be trained in conducting the rituals of forgiveness and healing,"
Marlantes writes. "Something like: 'Bless these dead our former enemies who have played out their part. …
Bless us who [live], whose parts are not yet done. … Forgive us if we killed in anger or hatred. Forgive
them if they did the same. Judgment is Yours, not ours. We are only human."
Scott said two sets of discussion prompts are being designed with this book in mind: one for conversations
between chaplains and Marines, and one for Marine leaders working directly with subordinate troops.
Spiritual fitness elements of the OCS and NCO professional military education curricula are still being
developed, Scott said, but they will emphasize "kneecap to kneecap" discussions, rather than classroom
instruction.
Close to the Marine Corps birthday on Nov. 10, the service will release a video featuring Scott,
Commandant Gen. Robert Neller and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Ronald Green talking about the
importance of spiritual fitness.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/10/18/corps-to-add-spiritual-fitness-to-professionaleducation.html
This initiative will be proved successful, Scott said, if Marines begin talking about spiritual fitness and
maintaining spiritual health as openly as they discuss physical fitness and physical training.
"If all you have to do is look within yourself, that runs kind of bankrupt over a period of time," Scott said.
"Marines face mortality, life and death, and that's when those faith issues start to come up."
-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
© Copyright 2016 Military.com . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/feds-drop-muslim-outreach-program-whose-counseling-teams-weresaid-to-have-sown-mistrust-1.1679143
Feds drop Muslim outreach program whose counseling
teams were said to have sown mistrust
By Hannan Adely
The Record (Bergen County, N.J.), October 18, 2016
In this Sept. 20, 2016 file photo, Mohammad Rahami is surrounded
by media outside his home in Elizabeth. RECORD FILE
PHOTO/TARIQ ZEHAWI
Federal law enforcement officials, under fire by civil rights groups,
have dropped an effort to create counseling teams to intervene with
young people who show signs of drifting toward radical Islamic
ideology and terrorism.
The FBI-led program would have tapped teams of mental health
workers, clergy and counselors — called “shared responsibility committees” — to meet with troubled
individuals, review behaviors, and get them help or get law enforcement involved where needed.
But the program, part of a wide-reaching federal effort known as “countering violent extremism,” was
criticized by civil rights groups that claimed it would erode trust in community leaders serving on those
teams and raise concerns about privacy and liability.
“We are happy they came to their senses,” said Samer Khalaf, a Paramus resident and president of the
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He said the program “would lead to further mistrust
between law enforcement and communities.”
Khalaf and other activists said they were skeptical about the announcement, claiming that federal law
enforcement continues to be involved in other programs across the U.S., giving grants and consulting on
outreach programs under the umbrella of countering violent extremism. Critics say such intervention would
single out Muslim Americans as a community to be watched or feared.
The U.S. Department of Justice last week said their agencies would remain involved with local intervention
programs, though they won’t spearhead them.
The FBI rolled out plans for the intervention teams in New Jersey and in a few major U.S. cities as it
sought new ways to deal with the changing nature of terrorism, which is marked increasingly by homegrown extremists inspired to commit violence by terrorist propaganda online, especially from ISIS.
Officials said the teams would get help for underlying issues that could lead a person down a path to
violence, including psychiatric care, or counseling to deal with family problems or anger issues.
The teams were to include clergy, mental health professionals and community leaders. They were to advise
the FBI about whether a person who had been subject to their intervention was rehabilitated or remained a
threat that required action by law enforcement.
Ahmad Rahimi, the 28-year-old Elizabeth man accused of planting bombs at the Jersey Shore and in
Chelsea in New York City, might have been helped by a program like that, said John Cohen, former
counterterrorism coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security. Rahimi’s father, Mohammad, said
he called the FBI two years ago after his son became fascinated with jihadist videos and exhibited violent
behavior.
“The key is you have to catch them early,” said Cohen, a senior adviser at the Rutgers University Institute
for Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security.
Civil rights groups said law enforcement should have no role in intervention, and as the FBI unveiled its
plans, they raised concerns that community leaders would become government informants and that notes
and private conversations could become part of criminal investigations.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/feds-drop-muslim-outreach-program-whose-counseling-teams-weresaid-to-have-sown-mistrust-1.1679143
They asked federal officials if team members would be held liable if a person committed a crime, and they
asked about medical privacy laws and free-speech violations.
“So many concerns were raised about how this would be structured and how would this play out and what
would this look like. The answers were not very good,” said Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab
American Institute, based in Washington, D.C.
Opposition also was coming from within the government, among people who were “uneasy” about a
federal agency taking a leadership role in community-based violence prevention, Cohen said.
Cohen defended the FBI’s role, saying the agency has been a leader in the field of interventions and had
expertise in preventing violence. Trust, he said, would come with open communication and clear goal
setting.
Marc Raimondi, national security spokesman for the Department of Justice, said officials got the message
from communities that they didn’t want law enforcement leading interventions and said that they asked for
other models to dissuade would-be terrorists before they commit crimes.
“The federal government is committed to fully supporting such community-led efforts by, for example,
convening interested parties, sharing best practices, and assisting communities in identifying resources and
other assistance to support interventions,” Raimondi said.
Some efforts are already in place, supported by the Justice Department, with grants going to build up
community services, interventions and outreach in Muslim communities under the umbrella of the federal
countering violent extremism program.
Activists still worry about whether information shared among social service groups and clergy will be kept
confidential, and they fear law enforcement could damage trust even if the government isn’t running the
programs.
Shannon Erwin, executive director of the Muslim Justice League in Boston, said the community didn’t ask
for the federal government to get involved and doesn’t want it to.
“They are targeting positive community-driven mental health initiatives that our Muslim communities have
worked very hard to build,” she said. “It won’t take long before credibility and effectiveness to be
destroyed.”
From her Manhattan office, Daisy Khan is reaching out to community and religious groups across the U.S.
to build support for an initiative called WISE UP that is set to launch early next year.
The organization’s members will hold up Islamic teachings as a way to counter propaganda aimed at
falsely justifying violent extremism in the name of Islam. It will help young Muslims understand the faith
and help non-Muslims break down prejudices about the religion and its adherents.
They plan to give parents advice on dealing with online recruitment by extremist groups and how to
intervene with children who embrace extremism through community guides, online information and a
hotline. And they’ll instruct community leaders on how to intervene at a local level.
It will be a national effort, said Khan, a North Bergen resident and executive director of the Women’s
Islamic Initiative for Spirituality and Equality, or WISE, an organization committed to building peace that
is led by women.
But law enforcement will not be among the 60 groups involved in the effort when it launches, she said.
“If recruiters are exploiting Islam, then the Muslim community has an obligation to wrestle that away from
the extremists,” she said. “Law enforcement does not have credibility in this area. They should just do what
they do best — secure the homeland and let us do their work.”
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1f07115792294606bbc1228a27a34fc1/muslim-woman-settles-vermontmilitary-college
Muslim woman settles in at Vermont military college
By Wilson Ring
The Associated Press, October 16, 2016
In this Oct. 12, 2016 photo, freshman student Sana Hamze speaks
in Northfield, Vt., about her time as a "rook," or first year student
in the military college's Corps of Cadets. Norwich University has
allowed Hamze to wear her Muslim headscarf as part of her
Norwich uniform. Hamze chose Norwich after another military
school refused to change its uniform code to accommodate her
request. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)
NORTHFIELD, Vt. (AP) — Despite being the first woman allowed
to wear a Muslim headscarf beneath her military uniform at the nation's oldest private military college,
Sana Hamze says she doesn't feel like a pioneer. Her focus is on learning details of life as a "rook" at
Vermont's Norwich University, in the school's Corps of Cadets and not running afoul of the many rules and
customs new students are required to master.
As do all aspiring members of the corps, she's learned to walk at the side of the pathways, make square
corners when turning, line up before eating and sleep when she is told. Like her freshman classmates, she
yearns for the time when her class is "recognized" and they become official members of the Corps of
Cadets and the rook restrictions end.
But the uniform for the 18-year-old student from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a little different. Unlike other
female members of the corps, Hamze wears her Muslim hijab, or head covering, beneath.
As part of her effort to fulfill her lifelong dream of continuing her family's legacy of military and public
service while staying true to her devout religious beliefs, she asked for a uniform accommodation to wear
the hijab when she was applying to colleges earlier this year. Norwich, one of the nation's six senior
military colleges, agreed to make the accommodation.
"I don't really see it as me changing the world or changing the U.S., even," she said during an interview on
the Norwich parade ground. "I just kind of see it as the school allowing an American student to practice her
faith while also training to be an officer in the Navy."
Hamze's great-grandmother was in the Air Force and two of her grandparents met while serving in the
Navy in Puerto Rico. Her father is a police officer in Florida.
Hamze said that she has been subject to hostile stares and comments while wearing her hijab in public, but
never at Norwich, where she is not the first Muslim to attend the school, or in Vermont. The hostility to her
faith hasn't made her bitter or curbed her dream of serving her country.
"It doesn't scare me because I know what I'm doing is not to harm anyone," she said. "I know what I'm
doing is to actually protect the country. I'm joining the task force that protects this country."
Hamze's college plans made headlines this spring when The Citadel — the Charleston, South Carolina,
military college she had hoped to attend — refused to change its uniform policy to accommodate her hijab.
Norwich was quick to agree to make the accommodation, which will also apply to Jewish men who wish to
wear a yarmulke along with their uniforms.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1f07115792294606bbc1228a27a34fc1/muslim-woman-settles-vermontmilitary-college
Norwich, located in the town of Northfield, about 10 miles south of the Vermont capital of Montpelier, is
the nation's oldest private military college. Last spring, it hosted a celebration of the 100th anniversary of
the Reserve Officers Training Program.
Of its total on-campus student body of about 2,250, about two-thirds of students are in the Corps of Cadets,
its military program, while the rest are civilians who don't participate in military training.
Ali Shahidy, a Muslim senior civilian student at Norwich from Afghanistan, said he had met Hamze and
attended a religious service with her at a nearby mosque, but did not know her well. Nevertheless, he thinks
she's a leader even if she doesn't see herself that way.
"I am definitely sure there will be students in the future like her (and) it will encourage other Muslim
students who have the ambition to serve their country in the military yet are concerned about their look and
their hijab," he said.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e3621383f2604062ac0180bb0b2d2ab6/new-details-emerge-case-3-menaccused-kansas-plot
New details emerge in case of 3 men accused in Kansas plot
By Roxana Hegeman
The Associated Press, October 21, 2016
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An anti-Muslim militia group in Kansas calling itself "The Crusaders" first came
to the government's attention when one of its members, alarmed by the heightening talk of violence,
contacted FBI agents and became a confidential source, prosecutors said.
The new details came Thursday in a government court filing in the case of three men accused of conspiring
to detonate truck bombs at an apartment complex where 120 Somali immigrants live in the western Kansas
meatpacking town of Garden City. The government wrote that the men, two of whom are due in court
Friday and the third Monday, should stay behind bars until trial because they pose a "substantial danger" to
the community.
Patrick Stein, 47; Gavin Wright, 51; and Curtis Allen, 49, are all charged with conspiring to use a weapon
of mass destruction. They were arrested Friday in what the government says was a foiled plot to attack the
apartment complex, where one unit is used as a mosque, on Nov. 9 — the day after the election.
Prosecutors also said the men were planning other actions, and that one man was willing to kill another's
girlfriend to protect the conspiracy.
Public defender Melody Brannon, who represents Allen, declined comment. Attorneys for the other two
men did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the government's latest filing.
The FBI monitored the group for months and as attack plans became more specific, the informant
introduced an undercover FBI agent to the group under the ruse that he could provide the requested
explosives and weapons.
When Allen was arrested Oct. 11 for allegedly beating his girlfriend, local authorities learned about his
involvement with the Crusaders and the group's attack plans. Stein and Wright were arrested three days
later.
The government's filing also documents an arsenal of firearms, ammunition, bomb-making materials and
other items that were found during searches of the men's homes, vehicles and a storage unit. Agents found
aerial photographs in Stein's vehicle depicting what appear to be apartment complexes marked with large
x's, as well as an aerial photo of a church and a Burmese mosque.
In support of the argument that the men pose a flight risk, prosecutors also noted Allen has failed twice to
appear for proceedings in misdemeanor cases for domestic battery and a traffic offense. Stein, who has
felony convictions for attempted burglary and attempted criminal damage, has failed to show up four times
for court proceedings. Wright has no criminal history.
SEE ALSO:
Three Kansas men calling themselves ‘Crusaders’ charged in terror plot targeting Muslim immigrants [The
Washington Post, 2016-10-15]
3 suspects in Kansas anti-Somali plot sought a 'bloodbath' [USA TODAY, 2016-10-15]
Sexual Assault /
Harassment
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c53485d65cf54b8da604884592045aea/campus-sex-assaults-stir-debate-whenalert-students
Campus sex assaults stir debate on when to alert students
By Jocelyn Gecker
The Associated Press, October 19, 2016
In this June 30, 2011 file photo is an exterior view of San Jose State
University in San Jose, Calif. When a water polo player at San Jose
State was accused of sexually assaulting two women over Labor
Day weekend, the university acted decisively. The athlete was
moved from his freshman dorm into a staff housing facility,
temporarily suspended and barred from campus. (AP Photo/Paul
Sakuma, File)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When a student athlete at San Jose
State University in California was accused of sexually assaulting
two women at an off-campus party over Labor Day weekend, school officials acted decisively.
The student was ordered to stay away from the women involved and was moved from his dorm into a staff
housing facility. He was also temporarily suspended from campus and team events pending the result of an
investigation.
University officials also acted quietly, prompting many students to ask why they were kept in the dark
about the alleged assaults. Fueling the criticism, the suspect — identified as an international student — left
the country as authorities investigated.
The case has renewed focus on the problem of sexual assaults involving college students and raises
questions about what obligations a university has to inform students and when it's time to go public about
an alleged assault.
University officials and legal experts say it's a delicate issue. On one hand, students have an interest in
knowing immediately if a perpetrator is on their campus. But schools also need to protect students' privacy
before an arrest is made or charges filed.
One proposed solution is for schools to notify students of suspected assaults in police-blotter style, without
divulging details that could identify suspects or victims.
San Jose campus president Mary Papazian addressed student concerns in an email sent Monday to the
university's 35,000 students and 5,000 faculty and staff.
"I am determined to do everything possible to ensure that SJSU is a safe, caring, inclusive community," she
said. "We will look comprehensively at how to improve communication."
The school has said the male student was immediately interviewed by police and school officials. Since no
arrests have been made and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office is still reviewing the case for
possible charges, the school felt there was no imminent safety threat to the campus community.
Still, given the student concerns, the university will review the way it responds in sexual assault cases.
"I believe it is time to re-examine and consider changes to notification policies," Papazian said.
The case follows the high-profile trial of former Stanford University athlete Brock Turner, who was
convicted of attacking a woman while she was passed out near a trash bin on campus in January 2015.
Turner's six-month prison sentence sparked national outrage and ignited a debate about campus rape and
the criminal justice system.
The California State University system, which includes San Jose State and 22 other campuses, has no
systemwide policy on notifying the campus community about alleged assaults.
But the schools adhere to the federal Clery Act, which requires universities to issue "timely warnings" of
situations seen as a threat to the campus, said Toni Molle, spokeswoman for the California State University
system. The decision of when to issue warnings is up to each campus.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c53485d65cf54b8da604884592045aea/campus-sex-assaults-stir-debate-whenalert-students
The Stanford case did not become public until Turner was charged, said Stanford law professor Michele
Dauber, who favors some public disclosure early on after assaults are reported.
"As long as student privacy is protected, schools should err on the side of greater transparency and issue the
timely warnings," said Dauber, a friend of the woman Turner assaulted who has been outspoken against the
judge's sentencing.
Families Advocating for Campus Equality, which works on behalf of students accused of assault, says it's
important not to name names prematurely.
"I think it's OK for a campus to notify in the abstract. Take more precautions, say there's been a report,"
said Cynthia Garrett, a co-president at the group. "But to put somebody's name and face out there, you need
to be pretty sure something has happened. Imagine if you're innocent. Just imagine, how that could ruin a
life."
Most universities will wait until there is a clear public safety issue to sound an alarm.
But publicizing an assault could lead more victims to step forward, says Fatima Goss Graves, an attorney at
the Washington D.C.-based national Women's Law Center.
In San Jose, one of the women came forward immediately, and the second woman waited two weeks.
http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/975474/dod-recognizes-innovative-initiatives-to-preventsexual-assault
DOD Recognizes Innovative Initiatives to Prevent Sexual
Assault
By: From a DOD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office News Release
Defense.gov, October 17, 2016
WASHINGTON— Sexual assault prevention goes beyond an hour of training, an awareness campaign, or
an inspiring poster. Preventing sexual assault requires sustained progress, innovative methodologies, and a
commitment from every service member, not just the military sexual assault response professionals.
Officials in the Defense Department's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office said service
members and Defense Department civilians around the world are finding creative ways to add their voices
to the call to prevent the crime of sexual assault in the military. DOD leaders encourage this “outside the
box” thinking, they added, and see it as an essential factor in the force-wide campaign to prevent and
respond to sexual assault.
Each year, the Department presents the Sexual Assault Prevention Innovation Award to acknowledge
personnel or units from each military component who have developed and delivered targeted initiatives that
positively affect military readiness. The award is an excellent opportunity for leaders across DoD to
recognize those who have demonstrated a personal commitment to prevent the crime of sexual assault and
to underscore the importance of creating unique prevention programs that resonate with unit members,
officials said.
Individuals, Organizations Deserving of Recognition
“This year’s award recipients embody the innovation, excellence, and professionalism that we want to see
from all who serve,” said Army Maj. Gen. Camille M. Nichols, director of the DoD Sexual Assault
Prevention and Response Office. “Preventing sexual assault requires a personal commitment to upholding
the core values that are associated with military service – and each of these recipients are an example to us
all.”
“The range of the types of projects put forward by all the awardees underscores the importance that we
look at prevention as a multi-faceted effort,” Nichols said.
The 2016 Sexual Assault Prevention Innovation Award awardees are:
-- Army: The Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention team at the Joint Readiness Training
Center, Fort Polk, Louisiana, for their approach of focusing on the bystander for intervention, squad leader
empowerment and development of dynamic tools that promote awareness and prevention at the soldier and
squad level.
-- Marine Corps: 1st Marine Logistics Group at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, for their
collaboration with Combat Camera and the sexual assault response coordinator to develop “Just Another
Night," an interactive skit aimed at bystander intervention.
-- Navy: Damon Pratt and Cmdr. Kim Donahue for their adapted approach for a “Take Back the Night” and
“The Labyrinth” event that was relevant to the unique environment on the USS George Washington to
prevent and ultimately end sexual, relationship and domestic violence in all forms.
-- Air Force: Capt. Amara Adams for her development of the Victim Care, Outreach, Team development,
and Evolution, or VOTE concept, a prevention model that ties into electoral promotions while simplifying
and rebranding “consent first” practices.
-- National Guard Bureau: Army Staff Sgt. Gary Brumley, Kentucky National Guard, for development of
improved training to address sexual assault prevention, healthy relationships, bystander intervention in
social settings and addressing other forms of sexual violence to build awareness that led to targeted training
for the most at-risk population.
http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/975474/dod-recognizes-innovative-initiatives-to-preventsexual-assault
-- Coast Guard: The Coast Guard’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program for Command Cadre
Team is recognized for their creation of a comprehensive, standardized, repeatable six-hour module
focused on providing best practices, tools and techniques to maintain a healthy command and unit climate
free of sexual assault and other toxic climate problems to address training gaps between the existing
material and new requirements from the Department of Homeland Security.
The awards are presented by their respective commands in conjunction with October’s Crime Prevention
Month. Nominees were submitted by each of the military services, the Coast Guard, and the National
Guard Bureau.
Contact Author
Related Stories
SAPRO Director: Everyone Has a Part in Preventing Sexual Assault
Related Links
Special Report: Sexual Assault – Awareness and Prevention
Tags
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/301541-gillibrand-proposes-sexual-assault-reforms-for-merchant-marineacademy
Gillibrand proposes sexual assault reforms for Merchant
Marine Academy
By Rebecca Kheel
The Hill, October 18, 2016
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). (Getty Images)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced Tuesday a number of
proposed reforms aimed at tackling sexual assault at the U.S.
Merchant Marine Academy. Her proposals follow a survey that
found 63 percent of women there said they had been sexually
harassed and 17 percent said they had been sexually assaulted.
“The price of an education and job training at sea cannot be sexual
assault and harassment,” Gillibrand said in a statement Tuesday. “The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is
the premier school for midshipmen to start careers supporting the military and on commercial carriers at
sea — to become the best mariners in the world — so to have more than six out of ten female midshipmen
and more than one out of ten male midshipmen say they were sexually harassed in a year is completely
unacceptable.”
The most recent survey of midshipmen at the federal service academy in New York covered the 2014–15
academic year. Though 17 percent of women said in the survey they were sexually assaulted, just one case
of sexual assault was reported to academy officials that year.
According to the survey, 78 percent said they didn’t report it because they didn’t feel comfortable doing so,
and 69 percent said they thought they would be blamed for the assault.
To address the issue, Gillibrand announced 13 proposals she said she intends to introduce as legislation in
the Senate.
“This scourge of sexual violence and harassment demands immediate action,” she said. “Working with
midshipmen, school officials, and sexual assault prevention experts, I’ve put together a plan that I will
introduce as legislation in the Senate to help end this crisis at the academy and protect our midshipmen on
campus and at sea.”
Unlike other service academies, midshipmen at the Merchant Marine Academy are not subject to the
Uniform Code of Military Justice. The school is also not subject to Title IX requirements prohibiting
discrimination based on gender. As such, Gillibrand’s proposal said, there’s no mechanism right now for
enforcing sexual assault policies.
Therefore, the proposal would first remove the school’s exemption from Title IX.
The proposal would also create an independent advocate for victims to make confidential reports to, create
a 24-hour helpline for sexual assault support, require sexual assault training for academy staff, provide
more resources for training, hire more staff specifically to prevent and respond to sexual assault, create a
full-time position to handle Equal Employment Opportunity complaints, create a plan to prevent retaliation
against those who report assault and provide training for investigators who handle sexual assault cases.
The proposal also includes changes specifically for the academy’s required year at sea, including giving
midshipmen satellite communications devices to report sexual assault, conducting spot checks on
commercial vessels hosting midshipmen and requiring sexual assault training for the crew aboard the
commercial vessels.
SEE ALSO:
Senator joins calls to stop sexual violence at U.S. Merchant Marine Academy [2016-10-19]
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2016/10/17/Survey-One-third-of-US-women-worry-about-beingsexually-assaulted/6411476712782/
Survey: One-third of U.S. women worry about being
sexually assaulted
By Allen Cone
UPI, October 17, 2016
Hundreds of women and men marched the streets of downtown
Vancouver, Canada, to protest against sexual assault. In a Gallup
poll study, 34 percent of American women say they worry
"frequently" or "occasionally" about being sexually assaulted. File
photo by Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock
PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 17 (UPI) -- More than one-third of U.S.
women say they are worried about being sexually assaulted, a poll
released by Gallup Monday indicates.
In Gallup's annual Crime Poll, 34 percent of women said they were "frequently" or "occasionally" worried
about a sexual assault. Among men, it was 5 percent.
Overall, 7 percent of Americans are frequently worried about a sexual attack.
The survey was conducted Oct. 5-9, including two days before and three days after the release of
audiotapes on Oct. 7 of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump making references to kissing and
touching women without their consent in 2005.
The percentage of those worried was up from 2013-15 levels (30 percent average) in Oct. 5-6 polling and
was no higher in Oct. 7-9 polling, after the tapes were unsurfaced.
After the study, several women came forward accusing Trump of making sexual advances on them without
their consent. Trump has denied those accusations.
According to Gallup, other top crime concerns rank higher than sexual assault, including theft of credit card
information, identity theft, burglary and car theft.
The survey also asked Americans whether they have been the victims of specific types of crimes, including
sexual assault. Among all adults, it was 0.6 percent compared with 0.9 for women and 0.3 for men.
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,017 adults, aged
18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. It had a margin of error of 4
percentage points.