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Military grapples with sexual misconduct by recruiters

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 20, 2006

More than 100 young women who expressed interest in joining the military in the past year say they were preyed upon sexually by their recruiters. Women reportedly were raped on recruiting office couches, assaulted in government cars and groped en route to entrance exams.

A six-month Associated Press investigation found that more than 80 military recruiters were disciplined last year for sexual misconduct with potential enlistees. The cases occurred across all branches of the military and in all regions of the country.

At least 35 Army recruiters, 18 Marine Corps recruiters, 18 Navy recruiters and 12 Air Force recruiters were disciplined for sexual misconduct or other inappropriate behavior with potential enlistees in 2005, according to records obtained by the AP under dozens of Freedom of Information Act requests.

The AP also found:

- The Army, which accounts for almost half of the military, has had 722 recruiters accused of rape and sexual misconduct since 1996.

- Across all services, one of 200 frontline recruiters - who deal directly with young people - was disciplined for sexual misconduct last year.

- Some cases of improper behavior involved romantic relationships, and sometimes those relationships were initiated by the women.

- Most recruiters found guilty of sexual misconduct are disciplined administratively, facing a reduction in rank or forfeiture of pay.

The Pentagon has committed more than $1.5-billion to recruiting efforts this year. Defense Department spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke said each of the services takes the issue of sexual misconduct by recruiters "very seriously and has processes in place to identify and deal with those members who act inappropriately."

In the Army, 53 recruiters were charged with misconduct last year. Recruiting spokesman S. Douglas Smith said the Army has put much energy into training its staff to avoid these problems.

"To have 53 allegations in a year, while it is 53 more than we would want, is not indicative of the entire command of 8,000 recruiters," he said. "We take this very seriously and we take appropriate action as necessary to discipline these people."

The Associated Press does not name victims in sexual assault cases. For this story, the AP interviewed victims and perpetrators, read police and court accounts of assaults and in one case portions of a victim's journal.

A pattern emerged. The sexual misconduct often takes place in recruiting stations or government vehicles. The victims are typically between 16 and 18, and usually thinking about enlisting.

One victim, an 18-year-old from Ukiah, Calif., says she and two of her friends were at a Marine Corps recruiting station about midnight, after going drinking with Marine Corps recruiter Sgt. Brian Fukushima. She says Fukushima climbed into her sleeping bag on the floor of the station and took off her pants. Two other recruiters were having sex with two of her friends in the same room, she said.

Fukushima was convicted of misconduct in a military court after other young women reported similar assaults. He left the service with a less than honorable discharge last fall.

Shedrick Hamilton says he is deeply ashamed of the actions that landed him in Oneida Correctional Facility in New York for 15 months for having sex with a 16-year-old he met while working as a Marine Corps recruiter.

Hamilton said the victim reached over and touched him sexually while he was driving her to a recruiting event.

"I pulled over and asked her to climb into the back seat," he said. "I should have pushed her away. I was the adult in the situation."

As a result, he was convicted of third-degree rape, and left the service with an other-than-honorable discharge.

"As much as I pray, as much as I work on it in counseling, I still can't repair the pain that I caused a girl, her family, my family, my kids. It's very hard to deal with," he said."

All of the recruiters the AP spoke with said they were routinely alone in their offices and cars with girls. They also all agreed that the rules were clear: Recruiters do not have sex with enlistees.

"Any recruiter that would try to claim that, 'Oh, it's consensual,' they are lying, they are lying through their teeth," said former Marine Corps recruiter Ethan Walker.

"The recruiter has all the power in these situations."

[Last modified August 20, 2006, 01:22:46]