Word: aberdeen
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Although most of the Aberdeen incidents occurred between July and September 1996, officials on base say they first became aware of the problems there in early September, when Private Jessica Bleckley complained that Staff Sergeant Nathanael Beach of the 143rd Battalion's Charlie Company had sexually assaulted her. Her protest unleashed a volley of other allegations, mostly involving Staff Sergeant Delmar Simpson, a 12-year Army veteran. According to Army documents, he told a trainee, "If anyone finds out about me having sex with you, I'll kill you." In the wake of such threats, the Army decided to jail...
There were also hints of trouble at Aberdeen long before Simpson was locked up. Lieut. Colonel Martin Utzig, commander of the 143rd, formally scolded him in January for jabbing a female recruit (superiors are not allowed to touch subordinates in training) and transferred him from Bravo to Alpha Company. And another drill sergeant with the 143rd was booted from the service earlier in Utzig's tenure for inappropriately touching a female student. This may have led Utzig and others to believe the problems were being properly handled, but it could also have masked a more serious breakdown in the chain...
Indeed, some soldiers at the 143rd Battalion's headquarters, a cluster of brick buildings 12 miles from Aberdeen's main post, confessed they were not shocked by the charges. They described a high school atmosphere on base where gossip about sex rustled among the troops. "There's lots of talk about relationships, but it's whispered, not broadcast widely," says Private Xanett Salgador-Hill, 18, a mechanic from Savannah, Georgia. "It's the same as in the civilian world, but people expect more from the military." Private Bashir Gray, 18, has heard the rumors too. "People were saying some...
That may be so, but many soldiers at Aberdeen expressed profound shame at the scandal swirling around them. Phillip Cook, 31, a drill sergeant with the 143rd's Bravo Company, says he saw fear in the eyes of his newest class of trainees, who arrived at Aberdeen on Nov. 9, just after the allegations made headlines around the country. "It took a lot of the power base away from my hat," he says, referring to the distinctive Smokey the Bear hat worn by training sergeants. "It used to be when they saw this hat, they knew that...
Many soldiers interviewed at Aberdeen and Fort Leonard Wood wonder if the attraction between a recruit and a drill sergeant sometimes flows both ways--if, that is, some of the young women are to blame--but Army officials, at least publicly, reject this argument. "Who's the vulnerable party?" asks Major Ralph Palmiero, executive officer of the 2nd Battalion 47th Infantry Division at Fort Leonard Wood. "A new private who is so scared and vulnerable, who doesn't understand the Army? Or a drill sergeant, who definitely knows better?" Now that the military has decided to ask, it is likely...