“There is no indication that this increase in reporting constitutes an increase in crime,” said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Snow, director of the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. “We assess that this unprecedented increase is consistent with a growing confidence in the response systems.”

The campaign to raise awareness included plastering contact information for sexual assault prevention officers across military bases, especially inside bathroom stalls. And top military officers have traveled to bases around the world speaking out on the issue.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that sexual assaults are a threat to both women and men in the service, and that the Pentagon should do more to combat a culture that discourages victims from stepping forward.

In particular, Defense officials aim to encourage more men to report sexual assaults, which can be a challenge because male victims often worry that coming forward will make people think they are weak and trigger questions about their sexual orientation.

 In most cases, however, assault is an issue of power of abuse rather than sexual orientation.

“There is still a misperception that this is a women’s issue and women’s crime,” said Nate Galbreath, the senior executive adviser for the Pentagon’s sexual assault prevention office. “It’s disheartening that we have such a differential between the genders and how they are choosing to report.”

The Associated Press reports that 14% of the cases in the Pentagon report involved male victims.

The military has long struggled with the issue of victims not reporting sexual assaults. Too often, victims have said they were afraid to report incidents to ranking officers for fear of retribution, or said that their initial complaints were outright ignored.

A 2012 anonymous survey found that about 26,000 service members said they were the victim of some type of unwanted sexual contact or assault. That same survey found that, by the raw numbers, 14,000 men reported having been sexually assaulted compared to 12,000 women.

Secretary Hagel is ordering six new initiatives, including efforts to get more male victims to come forward and a review of alcohol sales and policies. He says the review must address the risks of alcohol being used as a weapon by predators.

Hagel will also press for a renewed emphasis on prevention and the need to take some of the programs various services have been conducting and use them across the military.

Those include programs that urge troops to intervene when they see a fellow service member in trouble or being harassed. There may also be an effort to work with bars and stores that sell alcohol around the bases to educate their employees, offer menus when they serve drinks and review hours of liquor sales.

Prosecutions of sexual assault perpetrators who were subject to the military justice system have also increased, increasing from 66% in 2012 to 73% in 2013 – of course, there’s still room for improvement.

You can read more on this issue in the Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201405011358/NATION/305010058

Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC fights for veterans rights. We fight to make sure you get the benefits you deserve from the Department of Veterans Affairs. To learn more or contact a veterans attorney, visit http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com/ or call 800.693.4800

Brigadier General Richard G. Elliot, Michigan’s former Air adjutant general, is reported by the inspector general (IG) to have used his public office for private gain. Once a federal military technician, Elliot received a federal paycheck. However, in December 2005 he was appointed to serve as the Air adjutant general and commander of the Michigan Air National Guard, making him a full-time employee of the state.

In an effort to quality for retirement benefits, Elliot failed to terminate his federal position as required by law and instead continued to approve his own time and attendance records. As a result, he received more than $194,000, the IG found. The IG further found nearly $20,000 of unwarranted temporary duty travel money.

Perhaps more unfortunate, however, is that we are in 2014: almost ten years from when these abuses of power transpired. Not only did Brig. Gen. Elliot break the law and scam taxpayers, but the investigation to uncover it took nearly five years. Adding more fuel to the flame, Elliot’s boss, Maj. Gen. Thomas Cutler, then Michigan’s adjutant general, knew that Elliot was trying to reach his retirement date and helped Elliot remain on the books as a military technician.

This behavior is symptomatic of the “old boys club” present in the military, and the slow walking of the investigation allowed those implicated to retire without facing charges for what they had done. It should be noted, though, that this lapse of integrity by a few is not representative of the good men and women who serve our country, and our state.

Still, the case does represent a strand of military officers who have a, “boys will be boys” mentality. One way to rout out this thinking is to hasten investigations of such abuses of power and take the possibility of fraud more seriously.  There are many who serve as appointed officials with great integrity, and many others who deserve high-level appointments. Cases like this provide an example of how the current system is not working.

Those officials who pull their weight and serve with integrity deserve better. More importantly, the people these officials serve deserve better – not only from those who abuse their power, but those who investigate the abuses.

To read more on the IG’s report and finding, read the Free Press article here: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201401131511/NEWS06/301130142

Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC fights for veterans rights. We fight to make sure you get the benefits you deserve from the Department of Veterans Affairs. To learn more or contact a veterans attorney, visit http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com/ or call 800.693.4800

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