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.
LOL!
You're a strange one. Where'd you come from?
Actually Coop. It was the poor judgment of the soldiers that caused the problem...the media just turned it into a circus and blew it all out of proportion.
Well, we differ on that. This just begs for a sexual harassment, rape or other claim. You see young people having fun. I see an NCO setting himself up for blackmail (money, promotion, etc), sexual harassment, rape, jealousy among other enlisted people, and of course word getting out to the press. As a 23 year old male in retail management with 30 people under me, the great majority being 18-25 females, the temptation is there for me as well and it would be 'easier' for me to hide it. But like I said, I wouldn't care if the NCOs were just scolded but anyone in any type of management should know better, military or not.
Didn't think I'd have to wear body armor on this forum, but I learn something new here every day. :)
Don't forget flame proof underwear and tinfoil hats.
I didn't think I would need to carry a weapon after returning from vietnam either, turns out it was just
from one jungle to another.
Seriously, welcome to FR, and thanks for your service.
Oops, meant to say rape or sexual harassment claim, not that the NCO would actually do that.
What I said was that we have to expect such episodes every now and then if we put young men and women together in confined quarters for extended periods of time under conditions of high stress.
This particular episode is on the high side of the scandal gage, but we both know that men and women sailors (particularly those still in the "young and foolish" stage of life) get in trouble with fraternization every now and then.
Haven't you found that in your 19 years of Service?
Which, by the way, I thank you for.
The question is; Were you ever a Soldier in a hot war? I'd be willing to bet that all the "moral purists" on this thread aren't, you're "mommies" or thumpers who've never had a bullet go by your ear.
Since I have, let me tell you that I suspect these warriors took a chance, and now that the cat's out of the bag they'll shut up, take their lumps, and keep doing their job. You're perfectly entitled to maintain your moral superiority and feel all virtuous about yourself. Our soldiers will continue to fight and die for your right to do so, regardless of your opinion of how they decompress among their peers!
Thanks NavyDoc....my hubby is a 1sg Army and spent 15mos in Iraq..he would be appalled at this and it would never have happened under on his watch...
Yep, very strange. Apparently, what "we" have to accept is trashing good careers because of your discomfort. And of course that means rotating less experienced personnel into a combat zone. Hmmm. What was that you were saying about breakdowns in military discipline?
I don't care what US soldiers do when they're in war as long as they don't inflict their sexual fun on innocent civilians.
Actually, if male soldiers were watching strippers at a local strip club, I would see no problem with that. If Muslims have strip clubs, then it goes to show what hypocrites they are, anyway. But when soldiers treat each other in this manner, I see a problem with discipline. We have standards and we should hold ourselves up to them. Female soldiers shouldn't make sex objects out of themselves. It devalues their position. If all soldiers are really to blow off steam, why don't we start up a fund so that each (unmarried) soldier gets free weekend in Nevada upon return?
After rereading my post, perhaps my comment made it seem that I want to our guys to do everything with the terrorists' approval. That's certainly not the case. The only approval that truly matters is that of those who are willing to fight for their freedom.
Then let's bust them out of the Navy! Let them be an example for the others. It is not impossible to impose rules on soldiers.
And let's not put women and men and homosexuals in the same unit fraternizing with each other. Tell the dammed judges who mandated this integration of men and women that they will be impeached.
Which was the problem.
Thanks. I thought I was the only one. :)
ROFL!!!!
That is absolutely the LAMEST reason for being a judgemental person and moralizing about someone elses decrepit moral state that I've EVER heard.
You are REALLY a self-centered person!
you are not the only one, sigh!
So? The system will take care of claims like that.
My good friend, I dare say it did happen under his watch. Just without the cameras.
Congratulations on what looks to be a promising career. But, don't think for one instant that the stress and pressure you live under has any resemblance to the lives of our soldiers.
There is temptation for you, but you don't have people shooting at you every day. I assume you don't go to work every day wondering if you'll drive over a roadside bomb on the way. You're not locked in with those young women around the clock. There are other outlets for you that are not available to our men and women over there.
I'm not asking that you accept their behavior, or even that you forgive them. I do think you're wise enough to understand how it could happen, though.
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