Over at Military Corruption they are asking some hard questions about the charges against BG Jeffrey Sinclair.
The most interesting question asked was “Who did Sinclair piss off?”
Let me offer some insight from my thirty plus years in the Army.
Officers, like men in society are not immune from thinking with the wrong head. The difference is that as soldiers we set ourselves up to a higher standard by the oath we take when we are commissioned. But taking the oath alone does not mean we will never stray from the straight and narrow. Hell even some Catholic Priest are unable to abide by their vows of celibacy.
Men want sex, and some, some will take it through violence that constitutes rape. What has struck me about the rape of female servicemen over the years is the total lack of respect their male counterparts have for them. I first came to this conclusion when I read the report of Tailhook. One of the females who was grouped and raped was a Naval Aviator who was the Aide de Camp to an Admiral attending Tailhook. Despite being a brother in arms she was treated in the same manner as the hookers at Tailhook.
At this point we do not know if Sinclair raped a women or a man.
So who did he piss off. Let me hypothesis that he has pissed off the civilian and military leadership of the Department of Defense and Department of the Army.
Why you asked. If you have read the headlines—Congress and many are concerned about sexual assault in the military. Gary Trudeau in Doonesbury has made it an issue. There are those in Congress who believe the military is not doing enough—in fact some have introduced legislation that would strip the military of jurisdiction in sexual assault cases; or giving exclusive jurisdiction to sexual assault cases to the Secretary of Defense.
Congress wants blood; the civilian leadership wants blood; and unfortunately in too many cases those convicted of sexual assault get a slap on the wrist. For General Sinclair this means he is seen as being the one to be the example for those who commit sexual assault. This means he is going down and is going to go down hard. The Airborne mafia is powerless to help him; the General Officer mafia powerless to protect him. He has a bulls eye on his chest. The civilian leadership knows if he doesn’t swing from the yardarm, if he doesn’t go down hard, Congress will act and it will not be to the benefit of the military.
Some may say this is command influence. No, it is called politics. Like Justice Black once said, Justice on the Supreme Court read the newspapers. Everyone knows what the score is and will do what is right without being told. This happens in the civilian world and it happens in the military. The leadership is going to make an example of BG Sinclair. I doubt if the judge will allow any plea bargain which he doesn’t serve time. I predict he will lose his retirement as he will be dishonorably discharged, and his name will be stricken from the General Officer rolls, and the West Point Mafia will gather and say see what happens when you allow someone from outside the club in, they dishonor the General Officer Benevolent Protective Association.
There are a lot of folks in the Army to feel sorry for- this scumbag isn’t one of them. I don’t give a rat’s A** if he a lifetime paratrooper, or anything else. He’s a F’ing General Officer and his GD zipper should have remained zipped- becasue that is what he is supposed to do, and if he couldn’t stay that way then he damn sure needed to make sure that he was getting it from somebody who he had to say “please” and “thank you” to.
Some of the folks on this forum seem to have some kind of pathetic fixation with USMA as though the common thread on everything that is fouled up in the Army senior ranks is West Point- but I have seen good West Pointers go all the way, and good ones get screwed just like the rest of us and bad ones recognized and dealt with appropriately as well. You have it wrong- it is the Airborne inbreeding that is perverting the senior ranks of theArmy. We have way too many of these 82d/173d lifers who got to Ft Bragg as 2LTs and repeatedly cycle in a tight little closed loop between there and Vicenza and vice versa, who think that they are the princes of the Army who can damn well do whatever (and apparently whomever) they want because they have spent their life rubbing each other’s Masterblaster wings.
Finally- don’t give me this crap that “guys gotta get it”. Sure virtually all guys want to get laid- but BFD. I don’t know what VMI meant to some – but what it meant to me then and still means 33 years later was doing the honest and honorable thing. Keeping your dick in your pants when you are married is what honest guys do. Let’s call it what it is- cheating and then tell me how you justify it. Grow up, keep it zipped and don’t make excuses for acting like a dishonorable a**h***.
I hope they fry this slimeball!
My intent was not to make excuses for him but rather to provide background on what this is so out in the public and not being swept under the rug.
My only beef with MilitaryCorruption’s story is the insinuation the forcible sodomy was performed on a man. It changes the dimension of the consequences and the differing orders of effects on the Army.
If this was a case of homosexual rape, then the general’s fate is going to be used to rally the troops – in this the GayTM and legions of activists. If there are exceptions for woman (when was the last time you heard of a case of rape or improper relationship initiated by a woman being sucessfully prosecuted?), then exceptions have to be made for gay or gay at the moment men.
If this is a case of heterosexual sex, what concessions with the West Point GO Mafia make in order to protect what they consider important?
I’d like to see Justice done. Won’t happen. Not with this Army and not in these times.
Dave O:
I hate to bust your bubble, he is going down, regardless of the sex of the individual he committed sodomy. BTW I was the Officer of the Day who caught two women raping a male soldier at Fort Leonard Wood in 1977–they got 5 years each in Leavenworth. The GLBT community will chime in as this is egregious act.
How? It certainly wasn’t under Article 120.
Bubble’s not busted until the appeals process runs out.
I certainly hope that this is just the Stars & Stripes getting this wrong (not an unheard of event) because allowing this would end any lingering perception that the UCMJ is something approaching uniform. http://www.stripes.com/news/army/is-retirement-an-option-for-general-accused-of-forcible-sodomy-1.192237
Townie,
Love your blog, and the article on the General is right on. I had to cringe real hard at the mention of the alleged rape at Tailhook. To my knowledge, not a single allegation against numerous Naval and Marine officers held up in court. The results for a number of the so called “accused” were NJP of one sort or another. A great number of careers were ruined because of false accusations and innuendo. Not that the behavior was exemplary by any means, rather the path taken post event was one of Political Correctness, vice true fact finding. Keep up the good work!!