Color me shocked. U.S. Army report: Vanessa Guillen reported sexual harassment twice, but superiors took no action
She reported sexual harassment. It wasn't handled properly, or even handled at all. Are we shocked that the military has a problem in this area?
In case you have forgotten - or never knew - this case, Specialist Vanessa Guillen was bludgeoned to death, her body was smuggled off base, she was dismembered and her remains set on fire. The suspect in the case was Spc. Aaron Robinson, though he never faced trial, because he killed himself. All this took place at Fort Hood, located in Killeen, Texas. It is believed she died on April 22, 2020.
Among the report’s findings, investigators say Guillen was sexually harassed and reported it on two separate occasions. They say Guillen’s leaders failed to take appropriate action and that the allegations were not moved up the chain of command.
When she disappeared the powers-that-be didn't want to draw attention to the fact that she didn't leave base voluntarily.
According to the report, the acting senior commander of Fort Hood also misjudged the significance of Spc. Guillen’s disappearance and was overly reluctant to engage the media, misjudging how big of an event it would become. Her disappearance prompted a search that would garner national headlines and social media attention for months.
In other words, ass covering. "Maybe the media won't notice..." The media noticed.
They also couldn't keep the guy in custody, which, given how it turned out, I am less upset about. (It still shows a level of incompetence that we have come to expect from years of government training.)
After finding her remains on the evening of June 30, the Army held Robinson but “poor communication” allowed him to flee a conference room and leave the base, killing himself before investigators could find him.
So you have a guy who is a suspect in a murder/dismemberment and you are holding him in a conference room. Really? That is the best Fort Hood can come up with?
Here is a link to the Army's review document of this incident, and it actually isn't the snow-job I expected.
(3) 3CR did not sufficiently emphasize the response and prevention of sexual harassment. Overall, 3CR's command climate did not sufficiently emphasize the response and prevention of sexual assault or sexual harassment. Recovering from long standing deficiencies, the ineffectiveness of Fort Hood's SHARP program compounded 3CR's problem. 3CR's leaders, supervisors, and Chains of Command lacked understanding of their responsibilities. When presented with allegations, SPC Guillén's Chain of Command failed to take appropriate action.
And once again you can color me shocked to discover that the chain of command, starting at the bottom with people overseeing specialists, haven't got a clue when it comes to what to do in the face of sexual harassment. That can't be their job, can it? Maybe if we ignore it, it will go away.
This crap has been going on since they allowed women in the military. I am retired Air Force and I have seen it. We had a Sr Airman female who got a little tipsy at an end-of-exercise party the night before we were going to convoy from Ft Bliss back to GA. She woke up in a Captain's bed with no memory how she got there. Allegation's made, paperwork lost, Captain transferred, re-submittal of paperwork, officer in carge of investigation retires and leaves report at the bottom of the box for the next guy and it times out. She brought in a civilian lawyer to get the ball rolling right before it timed out. She had her 2 year Community College of the Air Force AA and she gets in the Bootstrap 4 year paid college then to go to OCS. The roamer is she cut a deal that if she dropped it she would get a 4 year degree and officer position. Last I hear she was a Major that had to make LT. Col. or retire. That was 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been so much better to have the charges dismissed in Baltimore, NYC, Chicago or SF and then have all the case facts sealed and the accussed allowed out without bail. To be followed by suing the authorities for brutality.
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