Still The Same Army

(From a Facebook post on July 7, 2018) Yesterday was the celebration for the Buffalo Soldiers. It's one of the parades I don't want to miss. There are lots of horses and nice bikes. This year was a little different. This year the Buffalo Soldiers were honoring women in the military and women veterans. There was a group from Ft Huachuca marching. They looked so young, most of them low ranking recruits.

They have no idea what is about to happen to them.

They are young and innocent and for now, the military is an exciting new experience. These kids are getting to do things and see things that most people can't even imagine. They are getting to see and use the latest and greatest technology.

Eventually, these young soldiers will be assigned to field units.

I enlisted during that wonderful era, shortly after the old WAC was disbanded and the military started assigning women to traditionally all-male units. At my first duty station, there were four women in the company and maybe a dozen in the entire battalion. This was back in the bad old days. Days when a woman reporting for duty was asked if she could type. Bonus points for alphabetizing.

I developed an intense dislike for PT at this command. Our morning run took us through the 82nd's territory. It was as if every misogynist in the military lined the sidewalks to make obscene and uncalled for remarks about the women in the formation. Yeah, we complained, only to be told boys will be boys and that's what happens when we want to play soldier.

Sound familiar? It should. This is a quote from the Pussy Grabber in Chief himself: "26,000 unreported sexual assults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?" This is a copy from his twitter feed and I am not correcting his spelling.

None of us were told we would be the pathfinders for the women who would follow in our booted footsteps. The powers that be in DC had a meeting and said, "Make it so."

Grand idea, assigning women to basic training units with men. Too bad the training companies had no idea what to do with us. We were given ill-fitting equipment and those horrible women’s boots that caused an epidemic of tendonitis. This was back in the days of the steel helmets. Wear one of those all day and see what happens. We were expected to carry the same gear and the same weight as male soldiers. At the time the average size for men was around 5 foot 10 and about 160 pounds. Try being 5 foot 1 and 120 pounds. The VA recently released the numbers for servicewomen from my era that says we are 50% more likely to have bone and joint disease than women who never served. The reason they cited most was that of ill-fitting equipment. Earlier this year I saw an article where the Pentagon and the companies that make the LBE and the flack vests are going to begin making gear specifically for women. It’s only been about forty years since they started this grand experiment. Makes me wonder how long it will take to get it to the women in the field.

I saw the women marching in the parade and all I wanted to do was hug them and tell them everything would be all right, that we endured the transition period and now the military was honored women were signing up and would be protected from injuries to their bodies caused by badly fitting equipment and male soldiers were all perfect gentlemen and would never think of doing anything untoward to their fellow soldiers and when they get out they will have all sorts of bennies available through the VA and there is no such thing as PTSD or Military Sexual Trauma.

I’m not that good of a liar.

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I wrote this two years ago. I was hoping things had changed.

They haven't.

They have gotten worse.

PFC Vanessa Guillen vanished from her duty station at Fort Hood on April 22. The Army did it's usual and refused to acknowledge she may have been a victim of foul play until two weeks ago. Yesterday, remains were found in a shallow grave near the Leon River. There hasn't been a positive ID made as yet but chances are it is PFC Guillen.

I am angry, I am upset, and I am once again disappointed with the Army brass. They ignored her disappearance and would have continued to do so if her family hadn't raised hell. Maybe it's time for more families to do the same.

The only name released so far is that of the sergeant who killed himself to avoid arrest. I have a feeling he didn't pull the trigger out of fear of arrest, but fear of what his partners in crime would do should he start talking to save his own miserable hide. When the dust settles it will be discovered that he's had a very long history of harassing women. 

People are calling for the closure of Fort Hood. I doubt that will happen as the army needs lots of open spaces for training tankers and armored vehicle operators. Not to mention what it would do to Killeen's economy. What is needed is a post wide standdown from all training until it is determined how far the rot that allowed a twenty-year-old PFC to be murdered by a creature I hesitate to call a soldier. 

This has gone on long enough. This has been a sordid fact of military life since the first WAAC put on the uniform. It has to stop. Let PFC Guillen be the last.