tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8425952484428833966.post2245906444845536892..comments2022-11-26T02:49:49.805-08:00Comments on Unrestricted Coast Guard Chronicles (UCGC): COMMANDANT INSTRUCTION 1754.10C Re: Coast Guard Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program (SAPRP)ichbinaljhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07968729252544011395noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8425952484428833966.post-68086190143964190972015-02-09T20:57:24.143-08:002015-02-09T20:57:24.143-08:00(Continued) To: Guardian Guy, Those are very good ...(Continued) To: Guardian Guy, Those are very good questions. <br /> So, to try to answer your questions, a System is only as safe and as strong as the character and the integrity of the people running it. What I have observed since being in and around the Coast Guard since 1964, is that certain people are deemed expendable for the good of the Service. Their demise or damage and character assasination is collateral damage. That has been factored into the equation, and the System can accept it for the benefit of every one else. It is politically correct to be against sexual assault, and to make a show of fighting against it, but many of those administering the System are engaging in it and getting away with it. The Army Generals, the Air Force Generals, the cadet at the Air Force Academy who was designated a counselor for victims, all ignored the regulations. So, those of us who try to live according to the rules, and do the right thing are sacrificed; we even suffer retaliation for doing the right thing. Why? Because, nobody is watching the watchers. So, Guardian Guy, continue to fight the good fight. Someone once said that unearned suffering is redemptive (MLK). But, don't wait for the Coast Guard to protect you. In the end, you have to protect yourself.ichbinaljhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07968729252544011395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8425952484428833966.post-68881655670603660392015-02-09T20:53:59.849-08:002015-02-09T20:53:59.849-08:00To: Guardian Guy, Those are very good questions. I...To: Guardian Guy, Those are very good questions. I am not prepared to even attempt to answer them. When I retired from the Coast Guard, there were two job duties that no officer wanted. They were both "collateral duties". One was Commissary Officer, either afloat of ashore. When you took an inventory and the books didn't balance, your career was almost over. anything related to money was the kiss of death. I have known officers who put their own money into the commissary fund just to balance the books. The other job was to get caught in the resolution of a sexual discrimination, or assault, or harassment complaint. I retired about 20 years before the Cadet Webster Smith court-martial. One of the things that happened in the aftermath of the Webster Smith case was the promulgation of U. S. Coast Guard COMMANDANT INSTRUCTION 1754.10C. I never had to work with it or to see the pros and cons of its implementation. Human nature being what it is, there are always going to be incidents of retaliation, or "pay back". I seriously doubt that the Coast Guard has taken sufficient measures to ensure that people who report incidents of sexual assault are not retaliated against. In the civilian world, people are afraid to report crimes or to testify against gang members or organized crime figures. Judges and even lawyers, and their family members, have been killed because they did their duties as judicial officers or ordinary citizens serving on juries. I have received death threats when I was a judicial officer. Some of that goes with the territory. But, the Coast Guard is a closed society, it should be much easier to protect people who report incidents of sexual assault or people who process the complaints according to Regulations. You can protect them from each other, if you want to prevent retaliation. However, what you cannot do is protect anyone from "The System". If the people in charge of implementing the System decide to bring retribution against service members who do their duty under the Regulations, there is no protection. There is no safe haven for those people. And I think that is one reason that many cases go unreported. I know a lot of officers who would not have forwarded the sexual assault complaint by the female Victim on the CGC MONRO. They would not have risked their careers for a female enlisted woman. They would have talked her out of filing the complaint, or delayed the reporting until they had been transferred, or convinced her that it was her fault because of the way she dressed, or walked, or her demeanor on the ship. They would have put the report in the bottom drawer of the desk and let it rot. That is the situation that ENS Christine Balboni was in when she came to the Legal Office in San Francisco, CA in 1972. Not one lawyer in the office would take her case. I was her last hope. I took it and won it. And, I was retaliated against big time. The roof fell in on me from the top echelons of the Officer Corps. I had taken the case of a female Ensign against a Captain, a Commander and a Lieutenant Commander. One of the lawyers representing the Captain went on to become a Vice Admiral in the Coast Guard (Thom Barrett). Al the other officer were promoted, sent to Command and Staff College. Even Ensign Balboni went on to get promoted to Captain, and was in the selection zone to make Rear Admiral. And I, did the right thing, I followed my oath a trial attorney to zealously represent my client within the bounds of the law. I was forced to retire at 20 years. I won the case, but I lost my career. I won the battle, but I lost the war. I kept my integrity in tact. ichbinaljhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07968729252544011395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8425952484428833966.post-69069972448735755582015-02-09T19:23:37.794-08:002015-02-09T19:23:37.794-08:00So what measures does the Coast Guard take to ensu...So what measures does the Coast Guard take to ensure retaliation does not occur against those who report sexual assaults? What recourse do people who make a report of a sexual assault that are retaliated against have?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com