Word: commandeer
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...against three male officers responsible for training new recruits at Aberdeen, and investigating at least 17 others. The most far-reaching scandal to hit the armed forces since the Navy's 1991 Tailhook incident threatens to undermine the thing that many in the military hold sacred: the chain of command. It has also teased out an alarming number of similar allegations at other bases around the country. But hoping to avoid a repeat of Tailhook--in which no one was ever convicted after scores of women were assaulted by Navy aviators--the Army brass is moving quickly in this case...
...this number, about 1 in 10 were crank calls, and some people were calling to report problems dating back to World War II. But other calls were considerably more urgent: 506 possible incidents of abuse, including 101 relating to Aberdeen, have been handed off to the Army Criminal Investigation Command for further study. Captain Paul Goodwin, a former company commander in the 143rd at Aberdeen, who has helped out answering the hotline, is devastated by what he has been hearing. "When there's a voice to go with the story--and when you hear how sincere they are--it just...
...allegations at Aberdeen, though, that raise the most troubling questions about the Army's ability to police itself. Nearly all the cases made public so far involve relationships that occurred between trainees and their direct commanders within the same company of the 143rd Battalion--a violation of one of the cardinal rules of the military, which forbids even consensual sex between a superior and subordinate in the same chain of command. Moreover, the relationship between drill sergeants and new recruits is one of the most highly charged in the military. Assuming authority that falls somewhere between in loco parentis...
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...
Summers, who is currently second in the treasury department's chain of command, acknowledges constant discouragement from Washington bureaucrats but remains optimistic...