Posted on 02/06/2005 6:45:18 AM PST by presidio9
In front of a cheering male audience, two young women wearing only bras and panties throw themselves into a mud-filled plastic kiddie pool and roll around in a wild wrestling match.
At one point a man in the audience raises a water bottle and douses the entwined pair.
At another, a "referee" moves in to break up the scantily clad grapplers.
A young blond lifts her T-shirt to expose her breasts. A brunette turns her back to the camera and exposes her thong undies.
These scenes, taken from 30 photos leaked to the Daily News, could have been snapped at an out-of-control frat party.
But this happened a world away from any American college.
The photos were taken in Camp Bucca, the military prison at Umm Qasr in the hot sands of southern Iraq near the Kuwaiti border.
The women are not coeds but military policewomen who had left their uniforms in a pile not far off.
The men are soldiers, too. Most of them wore T-shirts emblazoned with Army logos, but at least one was still wearing his uniform.
Some were sergeants, including the referee, and some allegedly were drunk.
The photos were taken last Oct. 30, in the same period when enemy detainees were being transferred to Camp Bucca from Abu Ghraib, the prison made notorious by photos of Americans torturing naked Iraqis.
The Camp Bucca pictures document no such abuses.
But they do show what experts called a disconcerting lapse in discipline at a time when Army brass was touting the camp as a model of reform.
"It was basically a goodbye party for those of us who were leaving and a welcome party for those coming in," the alleged referee, Sgt. Emil Ganim of the 160th Military Police Battalion, told The News. "It was a chance for people to blow off some steam before coming home after spending a year in a combat zone."
But one participant described less-benign behavior.
Two sergeants, she said, told her "they had been lending out their room for soldiers to have sex" - a serious infraction of military regulations.
One female soldier, a prison guard with the 160th Military Police Battalion, was photographed baring her breast and showing off her thong panties.
The picture apparently was taken in the room of one of those sergeants, an investigator reported.
The witness told investigators that two high-ranking noncommissioned officers, a first sergeant and a master sergeant, were present. She "noted that these NCOs had been drinking and were noticeably drunk," the report said.
Ganim said American civilians at the camp also participated in the party, and "if anybody had liquor, it was them."
Ganim has since returned to his civilian job as a deputy sheriff in Leon County, Fla.
"It appears that this event was allegedly coordinated by NCOs [sergeants] of the 160th," according to the initial investigation.
One of the soldiers told investigators the mud-wrestling match was underway when she arrived.
"She took off her uniform and joined the other female soldiers that were wrestling," the report says. But "once soldiers started asking for the females to expose themselves [she and two of the other wrestlers] put their uniforms back on and left the area."
But at least one woman was not deterred.
Deanna Allen, a 19-year-old prison guard with the 105th MP Battalion, smiled and lifted her T-shirt. Photos show a man standing close to her and leering at her breasts while another G.I. snaps pictures.
"From what I understand they dared her to do it," said Allen's grandmother, Luci Tomlin, in Black Mountain, N.C. "It was a loose moment. She is a strong-headed young lady. Sometimes she can be a little irrational."
Allen, who is still stationed in Iraq, did not respond to E-mailed questions from The News. She was demoted in rank to private first class.
"A sex party with alcohol that is prohibited would suggest a serious breakdown of military discipline," said Washington-based lawyer Eugene Fidell, a military-justice expert. "Just how it would be handled would be determined by the commander, who has very broad discretion in situations like this.
Fidell said punishments could range from "a good chewing out to loss of rank" for enlisted personnel and "a letter or career-killing transfer" for officers who allowed it to happen.
Those involved should be punished. There's no place for this unprofessional conduct in the military.
WOMEN partaking of this kind of thing?
NOW and the p.c. left would have you believe that ONLY men are dogs and pigs...so to speak.
What? Gambling at Rick's?! I'm shocked!
Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words here.
I'm not condoning but these soldiers are mostly young 18-24 and came from that kind of behavior here in the US and I am sure didn't see anything wrong with that behavior so why should it be bad there?
These are 19-22 year olds with one hell of a lot of responsibility. "Blowing off steam" is not only normal, it's probably a good idea.
-Eric
This sounds a lot like Ted Kennedy's "traditional Easter weekend" party at the family estate in Palm Beach...
See post 6
I frankly don't believe this. Feminists assured us that nothing like this would happen with women in the military, and the word of prominent feminists is certainly more credible than something as questionable as actual photos.
Careful - the MSM will get a hold of this and call it "Abu GrabMe"
Brawling military chicks, hmm.. who'da thunk it?
Honestly, I was wondering how long it would take for some to blow off steam by wressling about like this.
Get high stress situations, young soldiers, and a amera involved and there's bound to be trouble at some point due to something on camera.
LOL That's a damn good point!
We won't have this sort of problem when we let women in the military .....
women and men can serve side by side in combat zones without problems ....
It's inappropriate because you had Non-Commissioned Officers fraternizing with what appears to be subordinate soldiers. That causes a breakdown in discipline, for sure.
"amera"???
Sheesh.. "Quick, grab the Amera and follow me!"
And for some reason Gamera comes to mind.
Begon typo demons, and trouble me no more.
UCMJ
You're joking, right? Is it the sex or the alcohol that is unprofessional?
They gotta decompress somehow. Nobody was hurt and I don't see any innocent Iraqis with panties on their heads so what is really the big deal here?
Hate to break it to you but soldiers have been getting ahold of illegal alcohol and having sex for hundreds of years.
I'm outta here for the day. This is going to be a long (no pun intended), long thread.
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