Source: USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Edward Snowden’s Army career lasted only five months, from May to September of 2004, according to the Army.

He had enlisted as a Special Forces recruit in the Army Reserve, but had not completed any training, nor had he received any awards, said George Wright, an Army spokesman.

Special Forces recruits are all men and have passed an aptitude test before entering the program. They then take a 14-week course that includes basic training and advanced individual training, according to the Army.

The next step: airborne training followed by four weeks training and assessment. If the recruit passes, the rigorous qualification course follows. This phase includes about three months of intense individual and group training.

The Guardian newspaper reported that Snowden’s Army career ended when he broke both legs in a training accident. It’s unclear when that accident occurred, and the Army has not released further details of his service.

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Source: USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Army on Friday suspended its top commander in Japan for failing to properly investigate a sexual assault allegation, an action that follows a month of increasing calls in Congress for accountability for a crisis that has affected all the services.

Maj. Gen. Michael Harrison, the commanding general of U.S. Army Japan, was relieved of his duties by Gen. Raymond Odierno, the Army chief of staff. Harrison himself is not accused of sexual misconduct, said Army spokesman George Wright.

The sexual abuse case took place sometime in the last year, Wright said.

The Army also announced that Maj. Gen. James C. Boozer, the former deputy commanding general of United States Army Europe, will serve as the interim commander until the investigation is complete and the issue resolved.

Harrison is one of the highest-ranking officers to be ensnared in the sexual abuse crisis gripping the military. He is a decorated soldier who has served in Afghanistan.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Missouri Democrat and member of the Armed Services Committee, has blocked the nomination of Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan Helms to serve as vice commander of the U.S. Space Command because of Helms’ decision to overturn a jury conviction in a sexual assault case.

Last month the Army suspended Brig. Gen. Bryan Roberts, the top officer at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, over allegations of assault and adultery.

The military’s sexual assault crisis came to the fore last week after a report showed that the estimated incidents of unwanted sexual contact among the ranks had spiked 35% between 2010 and 2012 to 26,000 incidents. A number of salacious scandals cropped up, too: the Air Force officer in charge of sexual abuse prevention at the Pentagon was arrested in Arlington for allegedly groping a woman while he was drunk; a sergeant in charge of similar programs at Fort Hood in Texas is being investigated for running a possible prostitution ring; and the Navy is looking into allegations that three football players at the Naval Academy assaulted a fellow, woman student.

Senate hearings this week produced a torrent of criticism from senators, including McCaskill and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., of the military’s treatment of the sexual assault issue. The Armed Services Committee is considering seven bills, while the House Armed Services Committee approved an annual defense authorization bill Thursday that included amendments aimed at tightening regulations concerning sexual harassment and assault.

“Sen. Gillibrand believes holding commanders accountable for failing in their duties on sexual assault crimes is an important and welcome step in the right direction,” her spokesman Glen Caplin said Friday night. “But to reverse this crisis, that’s not enough. We need systemic reforms that will increase accountability, objectivity and trust in the military justice system by having trained legal professionals handle these cases from the beginning.”

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Source: USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The military’s top uniformed officers acknowledged before a Senate panel Tuesday that they had lost focus on sexual assaults in their services while they also opposed proposals that would remove commanders’ discretion to overturn decisions to prosecute troops and throw out their convictions.

“I took my eye off the ball in the commands I had,” said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in response to a statement by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., that little had changed despite 20 years of negative publicity.

A decade of war, Dempsey said, had pushed aside the issue in favor of improving “command climate.”

Some members of the Senate Armed Services Committee supported the service chiefs’ opposition to legislation that would strip commanders of their ability to overturn jury decisions in sexual assault and harassment cases. Others, however, hammered the military for its consistent failure to stem the growing number of such cases.

Calls for overhaul of the military justice system have grown louder since the Pentagon released a report last month showing a 35% jump in the estimated number of sexual abuse incidents in 2012 compared with 2010.

“You have lost the trust of the men and women who rely on you that you will actually bring justice,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told the leaders of the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Navy. She has introduced one of seven bills the committee is considering to deal with sexual assault in the military.

The bill from Gillibrand, who chairs the subcommittee on personnel matters, would put decisions to handle sexual assault cases in the hands of military judges and juries. Currently, decisions on charges, the jury’s makeup and whether a conviction or punishment can stand are handled by a defendant’s superior. That commander receives advice from a military lawyer.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., vowed to make changes.

“The situation of sexual exploitation in the armed services is beyond the pale. Something has to be done about it. It cannot continue,” Reid said Tuesday. “And I’m looking at every one of these bills that have been suggested, and we’re going to have to do something. And I’m not picking and choosing which bill, but I hope that the Armed Services Committee will report quickly to the floor with the direction they think we should take.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the crisis had grown so dire that he could no longer recommend to a young woman to join the armed services.

Gillibrand told the chiefs that not all commanders are committed to dealing with sexual harassment and assault. Some, she said, do not welcome women in the military. Others don’t “differentiate between a slap on the ass and rape because they merge all these crimes together.”

She told them that they had lost the trust of the men and women that they will bring justice because, in part, they fear retaliation.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., appeared exasperated that Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of Naval Operations, wasn’t aware of how U.S. allies had dealt with sexual assault. How could that be the case, Blunt asked, since the problem has been known for years?

Greenert acknowledged that was “something I should have done.”

.

Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and the committee chairman, said it was up to commanders, not just laws, to ensure that sexual assault is not tolerated. “The problem of sexual assault is of such scope and magnitude that it has become a stain on our military,” he said.

“As important as some of these additional protections and procedural changes may be, however, we cannot successfully address this problem without a culture change throughout the military,” Levin said. “Discipline is the heart of the military culture, and trust is its soul. The plague of sexual assault erodes both the heart and the soul.”

Odierno told the committee that “we cannot legislate our way out of this problem.”

He acknowledged the service had “failed in our efforts to date to protect” soldiers and civilians from sexual assault and harassment.

Commanders, however, need to keep their authority in handling sexual assault cases, Odierno said. Removing that authority will make commanders less accountable, affect unit discipline and delay punishment, he said.

The other chiefs on the panel agreed.

Greenert said commanders’ discretion in criminal matters is critical to the Navy, where ships may be deployed far from military courts.

Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, also agreed. “Commanding officers never delegate responsibility and accountability, and they should never be forced to delegate their authority,” he said.

Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the panel’s ranking Republican, sided with the chiefs on the issue, saying he opposed measures that would strip commanders of authority.

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Source: USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Military service chiefs who will testify Tuesday about their plans to deal with the burgeoning crisis of sexual assault in the ranks will face a group of female senators determined to change a culture they call demeaning to women.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has proposed one of the most sweeping overhauls to the military justice system to deal with sex assault, made clear that only action, not pronouncements, will be acceptable.

“Enough is enough,” Gillibrand, the New York Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee’s personnel subcommittee, told USA TODAY in a statement. “Words are not enough. It is time to act.”

Tuesday’s Senate Armed Services hearing will include testimony from the four service chiefs, all of whom responded to questions from USA TODAY about sexual assault. The urgency to act on the issue intensified last month after the Pentagon released a report showing a 35% jump in the estimated number of sexual abuse incidents in 2012 compared with 2010.

A series of incidents in May has underlined the problem: the investigation of an alleged prostitution ring at Fort Hood; the secret videotaping of female cadets in showers at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; the investigation of three Naval Academy football players on charges of sexual assault; the arrest of an Air Force officer in charge of preventing sexual abuse for drunkenly groping a woman; and the Marine Corps and Secret Service investigating current and former Marines for lewd and threatening posts on social media sites.

The chiefs of the armed services vowed to act, in statements and a recent interview with USA TODAY.

• Army chief of staff Gen. Raymond Odierno: “Incidents of sexual assault and harassment violate the trust of our soldiers, which is the foundation of our Army. These acts violate everything our Army stands for and are contrary to our Army values. Last week, in a message to our soldiers, I stated that combating sexual assault and harassment is our primary mission.”

• Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert: “Sexual assault is a crime; it is a defining challenge of our times. For me, this is a safety issue which degrades the readiness of our people, ships and squadrons. We need to instill trust and uphold our core values within our work environment and hold each other accountable. I expect our commanders to create a climate of dignity and respect in their commands.”

• Air Force chief of staff Gen. Mark Welsh said in a recent interview: “Anybody in this Air Force who suffers this crime, you can start by blaming me. I’ve let them down. I haven’t yet changed enough so that it never happens. We have got to figure out how to energize this effort. This is not for lack of effort. We’re not reversing this trend yet, we’re not getting to zero. That’s the goal.”

• Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos stands by this recent statement, said Capt. Eric Flanagan, a spokesman: “Sexual assault is an ugly mark on our proud reputation; it goes against everything we claim to be as United States Marines.”

Gillibrand’s bill, co-sponsored with 12 Democratic and Republican senators and a bipartisan quartet of House members, would remove cases of sexual assault from the defendant’s chain of command, putting decisions in the hands of military judges and juries. Currently, the decision on bringing charges, the jury’s composition and whether a conviction or punishment can stand is controlled by a high-ranking officer who is the defendant’s superior. That commander receives advice from a military lawyer.

Other lawmakers have announced proposals to trim commanders’ authority in such cases but not eliminate it. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said he agrees with removing commander’s ability to overturn convictions but wants them to retain some discretion.

The recent decisions of two Air Force three-star generals showed how the system works, or, as say some like Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has broken down.

Those lieutenant generals threw out two jury convictions for sexual assault, in one instance concluding that the defendant could not possibly be guilty because he was “a doting father and husband.”

Gillibrand called the current system “clearly broken” and said it prevents victims from coming forward.

“It is clear from talking with victims that we must take this crisis head-on and increase accountability within the system by removing the influence of the chain of command in the prosecution of intolerable crimes,” she said. “Only then can the climate change and reporting of these crimes increase.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

Federal law enforcement officials are investigating a former Marine and several active-duty Marines after they allegedly posted threatening and lewd messages on social media sites that targeted President Obama and a California congresswoman, according to a government official informed of the investigations.

The former Marine was interviewed last week by the Secret Service for the threatening post against President Obama, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing.

The Secret Service does not discuss its protective actions, said spokesman George Ogilvie.

Investigators from the U.S. Capitol Police have been investigating several threatening posts against Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., the Capitol Hill source said. Capitol Police do not comment on their investigations.

Several Marines also have been referred to their commanders for non-judicial punishment in recent months, said Marine Capt. Eric Flanagan, a spokesman. That punishment can range from raking leaves to loss of rank to dismissal from the service, he said.

The Marines have received complaints about a number of social media sites, Flanagan said, including the Facebook page F’N Wook, which prompted Speier, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, to write letters of complaint to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos. Facebook took down the page, but similar postings have been made elsewhere.

Some of the posts suggest female Marines achieved their rank by performing sex, another shows a female Marine on her knees with a snake being put in her mouth. A recent post about Speier refers to her in vulgar terms and accuses her of trampling First Amendment rights.

Speier was targeted after her letter called attention to the posts, and she spoke out about what top military officers have described as a crisis with sexual harassment and abuse in its ranks. The Pentagon estimates that there were 26,000 instances of sexual abuse in the military last year, an increase of 35% compared with 2010.

A series of military sex scandals in recent weeks has underscored the problem: an Air Force officer in charge of sex abuse prevention programs awaits trial for his alleged drunken groping of a woman in Arlington, Va., not far from his Pentagon office; an Army sergeant first class is being investigated for running an alleged prostitution operation at Fort Hood; and an Army non-commissioned officer has been charged for allegedly videotaping nude cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

On Friday, Obama told graduating midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy commencement in Annapolis, Md., that sexual assault and harassment had no part in today’s military. Hagel expressed similar sentiments Saturday during the graduation ceremony at West Point.

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Source: USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Army announced Tuesday that it has suspended the top general at Fort Jackson in South Carolina over allegations of assault and adultery, the latest in a string of sex scandals to rock the military.

It was not clear whom Brig. Gen. Bryan Roberts struck or with whom he was involved. Fort Jackson conducts basic training for 60% of the Army’s incoming women recruits.

This is not a case of sexual assault or harassment among soldiers, according to Army spokesman George Wright.

According to his Army biography, Roberts is a 29-year veteran. Before assuming command in April 2012, he served in Iraq as head of a unit training Iraqi soldiers. Adultery is a crime under military law.

While the investigation is ongoing, Brig. Gen. Peggy C. Combs, Commandant of the U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., will serve as the interim commander until the investigation is complete and the issue resolved.

Adultery is punishable under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Army documents show, if three legal criteria are met. An Army member must have had sexual intercourse with someone and either the soldier or sexual partner had to be married to another person at the time. Finally, under the circumstances the conduct had to be determined to be counter to good order and discipline in the military or to bring discredit to the armed forces.

Earlier this month, an Air Force officer in charge of sexual-abuse prevention, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, was arrested near the Pentagon, accused of drunkenly groping a woman. His trial is slated for July. Two weeks ago, the Pentagon announced that incidents of sexual assault had jumped 35% from 2010 to 2012, hitting 26,000.

A soldier responsible for sexual assault prevention at Fort Hood in Texas, Sgt. 1st Class Gregory McQueen, is under investigation for sexual assault and running a prostitution ring, while Lt. Col. Darin Haas, who led Fort Campbell’s sexual harassment prevention office, was removed from his job last week after threatening his ex-wife.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said the sexual abuse crisis in the military threatens its ability to conduct its mission. He has ordered re-screening of sexual abuse prevention trainers and recruiters and directed an inspection of military facilities for degrading and offensive material.

President Obama said the problem of sexual harassment and assault poses a threat to national security.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.