MND & CDS Set to Apologize to Sexual Misconduct Victims
”Each human being shall have all of these in him, and they will constitute his nature. In some, there will be high and fine characteristics which will submerge the evil ones, and those will be called good men; in others the evil characteristics will have dominion, and those will be called bad men.”
Mark Twain
This entry was prompted by a response of a Military Mom who will not be accepting the upcoming apology from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) regarding cases of sexual harassment and misconduct. The following is to hopefully put the unique nature of serving in the CAF into context. It is not to excuse abhorrent behavior, it is more of a ‘It is what it is’ treatise.
Newly enlisted Canadians have their first contact with the real CAF when they pass through ‘The Green Door’ for the start of Basic Training. It is the beginning of an experience which cannot accurately be described to the ‘civvies’. They enter a world totally foreign to their previous life unless they have been coached through time in Cadets or by family military members.
To be honest, it’s not all honour and integrity. Quite a bit of the military experience is ugly and will bring out the worst of a human being due to the very nature of the beast. For this article, the focus will be on the taboo subject of sex in the military.
Think for half a second, what is going to happen when you throw a group of fit young men and women together? There are any number of reality TV shows broadcast that take all the mystery out of that question. So in that group mentioned, many are far away from home for the first time; they are under peculiar, incredible stress; they are living, breathing, working, partying with each other in a unit which is in many ways tighter than their family bonds. Toss in liberal amounts of alcohol during infrequent down times and what exactly do you think is going to happen?!?
They’re going to fuck like sex crazed bunnies!
The CAF has a very high men to women ratio, more so in the Army/Navy versus the Air Force. When there is a ten or twenty to one ratio even the wallflowers get second looks. An amazing transformation occurs when women are out of Combats and ready for a night out. It is quite natural that military women get hit on a lot by military men. It is literally a numbers game and incidentally the vast majority of them end up married to those military men.
But there are plenty of guys (and gals) just looking for a good time. Again, how many websites like Tinder, Grindr, Lov, etc. are dedicated to casual, no-strings sex? The military has their own terms for casual hookups such as, your ‘deployment wife’, your ‘ship wife’, ‘Pig in the Port’, etc. Military life puts particular stressors on people and they relieve themselves just like everyone else does.
Men get ‘handsy’ but it gets excused because it just happens in the Mess when they are tipsy. Women get slutty and start playing the boys off against each other because they like the fuss they create. Men make sexual moves on women and/or men because they thought they had ‘the sign’. The members of military units are literally cheek by jowl at times for months on end. The human psyche has to unburden itself and at times in a very ugly sexual fashion.
The Medical Infirmary (MIR) at CFB Kingston used to have a genital warts Parade each Wednesday. Most young men or women at that point were probably having ‘Buyer’s Remorse’ regarding their hookups. As for those sexual liaisons, many of them could probably be termed sexual assault due to the fact that the women were probably blitzed out due to alcohol. If a girl is almost passed out, it would be difficult to state that she was a 100% willing participant. The smart ones employ a stalwart Wing Man to protect them when they black out. The guy was probably just as drunk but of course that is no excuse. To be honest, what percentage of sexual episodes society wide do not have some element of substance enhancers to help lubricate the situation?
So what’s the solution for the CAF for them to curb what seems to be rampant sexual harassment? Even at the highest levels it is a problem as evidenced by the numerous, high profile cases of the most senior officers being guilty of sexual offences. These offences of a sexual nature seem endemic to the military despite many years of concerted effort to wipe it out.
When women first came into the CAF, this was one of the reasons people wanted to keep them out. But that ship has sailed and women are here to stay. The Russians used women in combat due to manpower shortages but they were segregated to their own all female units. That would be impractical for the CAF. The only viable solution is to recognize that members of the CAF are recruited from Canadian society at large and that they are human beings who come encumbered with all that entails.
Human nature is human nature despite Operation Honour, despite official apologies, despite the howling of the aggrieved. The CAF does take offences of a sexual nature very seriously and there is zero tolerance for the true predators. They are punished severely as they should be.
People are attracted to each other and that attraction can lead to acts of a sexual nature. Put a group of them under incredible stress, throw in some un-inhibitors, usually in the form of copious amounts of alcohol and bad stuff can happen. To remedy this, the leaders of the CAF need to recognize when situations are likely to get out of hand and then take positive action. As an example, woman Petty Officers would turn back a Junior Rank at the Brow before stepping ashore due to their choice of attire. Or, as the trend has become, military social events are not all about getting black-out drunk anymore.
Unfortunately, despite best efforts, bad decisions will be made and the Base Padre will continue to have visits from teary eyed Privates.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.