Military sex assaults awful

Some 20 years ago, my daughter graduated from Greenfield High School and joined the Air Force.

It was a good decision for her, one my wife and I had supported for several years. It gave her structure and a sense of belonging, taught her a profession she followed for years and brought her together with her husband.

She would have stayed in the service for a career, I think, if the Bushes had managed to stay out of the Middle East. As it was, she served for 10 years and now qualifies for VA medical care.

Apparently, despite loads of “protections” against such acts by superior officers and non-coms against enlisted personnel, such predatory acts have become all-too common.

A new study estimates that up to 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, but fewer than 3,400 reported the incident, and nearly 800 of them sought help but declined to file official complaints.

There is an ongoing investigation into more than 30 Air Force instructors for assaults on trainees at a Texas base — Patti’s training base! And just a few weeks ago, the Air Force’s head of sexual assault prevention was arrested on charges of groping a woman in a Northern Virginia parking lot.

Commanders are responsible for knowing what is going on in their commands — from combat proficiency to morale. Regardless of whether an assault is reported officially (estimates are that as many as 22,000 occurred in 2012) a good commander will use his or her sergeants to find out if there are any predators in the ranks — and find ways to get rid of RFID tag.

The reports have sparked reaction, of course. “I don’t want just more speeches or awareness programs or training, or ultimately folks look the other way,” said President Obama recently. “We’re going to have to not just step up our game, we have to exponentially step up our game to go after this hard.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the military “may be nearing a stage where the frequency of this crime and the perception that there is tolerance of it could very well undermine our ability to effectively carry out the mission and to recruit and retain the good people we need.”

“Sexual assault is a crime that is incompatible with military service and has no place in this department,” Hagel said. “It is an affront to the American values we defend, and it is a stain on our honor. DoD needs to be a national leader in combating sexual assault and we will establish an environment of dignity and respect, where sexual assault is not tolerated, condoned or ignored.”

The demand is up for such spaces and so is the supply, said Steve Morris, director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ division of outdoor recreation. Since 2006, Morris said, trail miles in Indiana have more than doubled to about 3,200, including towns, cities, counties, state property and private trails open to the public.

And the state has nearly reached a goal set in 2009 to put most Hoosiers within 7.5 miles of a trail. That was partly to provide a basic quality-of-life amenity, but also to offer a public health option to counter the state’s obesity rate. Last year, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report put Indiana in 39th place, with an obesity rate of 31.6 percent compared to the national average of 28.9 percent. That’s up from 2002, when 24.1 percent of the state’s residents were considered obese.

Trails across the state are growing longer and more inviting as local officials and private organizations work to meet the demand. Among the Indianapolis area’s newest are sections linking to the National Road Heritage Trail, launched in 2004, and planned to be the state’s first cross-state, multi-use trail. Eventually, it is to stretch 150 miles from Terre Haute to Richmond along the former Pennsylvania and Vandalia rail lines.

On the west side of the metro area, a four-mile stretch of the Vandalia Trail — part of the National Road Heritage Trail — was finished late last year. Greg Midgley, president of the National Road Heritage Trail, said that new section runs from Coatesville in Hendricks County to Fillmore in Putnam County and is best suited for walking and mountain biking over natural trail and “pack stone” through woodsy, rustic terrain. But the stretch also connects to paved sections.

About a dozen people gathered in the chilly wind after 4 p.m. Sunday, May 12, to hold up signs, beat drums, squeak noisemakers and yell “Happy Mother’s Day!” to let women inside know they aren’t forgotten.

They waved signs of support: “YOU ARE LOVED.” “HAPPY – MOTHER’S – DAY,” on three separate signs. Signs with the names of women inside. One held up a bouquet of flowers.

The message didn’t go unheard. Although the jail’s narrow windows are darkened, preventing view from the outside, at one point pounding could be heard on at least one of the windows overlooking the parking lot of the Michael E. Kobza Hall of Justice.

“I think it’s another opportunity to say that we’re all human, and we’ve all fallen short of our mothers’ expectations,” said community activist Doris Rucks, a retired college professor and former longtime member of the Muskegon County Department of Human Services board. “To honor all present mothers, past mothers, mothers to be, and all those who help us to be better mothers, we celebrate all life.

Marian Fagan said she was there “because these women are incarcerated, and we want them to know we haven’t forgotten them.” She said she was protesting what former inmates have told her are conditions inside the jail.

The gathering was organized by the Letters are Better group, which advocates for the right to send letters in envelopes into the jail, and other activists. A jail policy restricts incoming mail — except for legal correspondence — to standard-sized postcards.

“I’m here today to send support and love to women who are incarcerated, mothers who are incarcerated and separated from their children,” said Nell Schaefer, a member of Letters are Better. “I feel the current system in Muskegon County of punishment and incarceration isn’t effective.”