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Reported rape stuns Stryker unit
Trib Net ^ | November 30th, 2003 | MICHAEL GILBERT

Posted on 11/30/2003 8:25:54 PM PST by joesnuffy

Reported rape stuns Stryker unit

MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune

CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait - A female Stryker brigade soldier reported she was raped, brigade officials said Saturday.

The sexual assault apparently occurred late Friday or early Saturday outside a women's shower trailer in one of the tent cities where brigade soldiers are living before they move up to Iraq.

Detectives from the Army's Criminal Investigation Division on Saturday taped off an area around a cargo container next to the shower trailer. The CID agents from Camp Arifjan, another Army post near Kuwait City, are handling the investigation.

The brigade's public affairs officer, Lt. Col. Joseph Piek, issued a two-paragraph statement:

"A 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division female soldier has allegedly been sexually assaulted at Camp Udairi. The soldier is being provided with medical care and emotional support," it said.

"The incident is under investigation. No other details will be released at this time to protect the soldier's identity, and to safeguard the investigation process."

Soldiers reacted with dismay and anger as word of the incident spread quickly through the camp. Some said whoever is responsible will be better off if the MPs catch him before the troops do.

"I guarantee you, if they find out who did it, they'll drag that guy out over the berm and that'll be it," one soldier said.

Meanwhile, female soldiers said they were exercising extra caution in the camp after dark. There are about 310 women in the brigade from Fort Lewis.

"It's sad," said Staff Sgt. Theresa Spicer, a supply sergeant with the brigade headquarters. "You can't trust your own people."

The assault follows a number of thefts and other breaches in discipline that have occurred at Camp Udairi over the last several days, much to the consternation of commanders and troops alike.

Earlier in the week, there were reports of ongoing pilfering in the motor pool, with hand microphones, antennas and other items disappearing.

The brigade commander, Col. Mike Rounds, warned he would put half the brigade's 5,000 soldiers on overnight watch if the thefts didn't cease; the message apparently had the desired effect.

On Wednesday, a Stryker brigade soldier lost an M-16 while making a call at the telephone center at the post's morale, welfare and recreation tents.

Commanders ordered the post locked down after the weapon was reported missing. It turned out that a soldier from another unit in the brigade had found the rifle but failed to report the recovery until after the whole brigade started looking for it.

In addition, all the soldiers at Camp Udairi had their personal belongings searched on Thursday after a break-in at the post exchange in which thousands of dollars in goods were stolen.

There are some 7,000 troops living at Udairi, including about 2,000 or so who are not part of the Stryker brigade and are stationed here permanently to maintain the camp. There are also several hundred civilian contract employees.

As of Saturday there were no reports that Stryker brigade soldiers had been implicated in the PX burglary or the pilferage in the motor pool.

But it's all wearing on the patience of the brigade's leaders, officers and enlisted, as they try to prepare for a long, hard year ahead in Iraq.

Members of the brigade's leadership team declined to comment on the case, citing their likely responsibility for overseeing any criminal or disciplinary proceedings that might result against any soldier or soldiers charged in the assault.

But one said privately he is saddened that he will have to report to the victim's family that he was unable to keep her safe within her own brigade.

Col. Rounds before Saturday had told his staff the incidents tarnish the brigade's good work in preparing for its mission in Iraq, which Army commanders have praised as setting a standard for all the other U.S. forces that will follow.

"The brigade's overall focus is getting ready for Iraq," said Piek, the brigade spokesman. "That does not diminish the seriousness of the alleged crime, and we're investigating it as seriously as we can.

"But it's not the kind of thing we need to be dealing with just a short time before we're to go north."

Staff writer Michael Gilbert is an embedded journalist with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the Army's first Stryker brigade. Reach him at: mjgilbert41@yahoo.com.

(Published 12:01AM, November 30th, 2003)


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: 2ndinfantrydiv; 3rdbrigade; camparifjan; cid; crime; fortlewis; iraqifreedom; kuwait; rape; sexualassault; stryker; strykerbrigade; stynker; usarmy; wariniraq; wheelies
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1 posted on 11/30/2003 8:25:56 PM PST by joesnuffy
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To: joesnuffy
"There are also several hundred civilian contract employees"

Do we know it was a soldier?

2 posted on 11/30/2003 8:29:11 PM PST by Senator Goldwater
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To: Senator Goldwater
"Do we know it was a soldier?"

They left that part out, but would it make any difference?
3 posted on 11/30/2003 8:33:08 PM PST by OldEagle (Haven't been wrong since 1947.)
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To: OldEagle
From a morale standpoint, I think it would.
4 posted on 11/30/2003 8:36:18 PM PST by Senator Goldwater
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To: joesnuffy
The sexual assault apparently occurred late Friday or early Saturday....

Where was Her Royal Heinous Sir Hillary of Pumpkin Patch at the time?

5 posted on 11/30/2003 8:36:27 PM PST by Texas Eagle
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To: Senator Goldwater
"It's sad," said Staff Sgt. Theresa Spicer, a supply sergeant with the brigade headquarters. "You can't trust your own people."

That seems to be the implication.

6 posted on 11/30/2003 8:38:36 PM PST by tsmith130
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To: tsmith130
Then I hope his brigade members get to the cretin before the MP's do.
7 posted on 11/30/2003 8:40:27 PM PST by Senator Goldwater
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To: joesnuffy
Assuming this story is true and not a new way to Goldbrick her way back to the states, how the hell does a woman get raped in a combat zone?

Does she not carry her beretta with her everywhere even if she leaves her rifle in her bunk? Where is her combat knife? I have a hard time believing someone goes out raping amongst that many armed people.

Call me a skeptic but it sounds more like a story to get shipped back stateside.

I hope the Brigade never gets attacked while they are going potty.
8 posted on 11/30/2003 8:54:47 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (Since when did calling someone a cowboy become an insult?)
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To: big ern
Does she not carry her beretta with her everywhere even if she leaves her rifle in her bunk? Where is her combat knife? I have a hard time believing someone goes out raping amongst that many armed people.

====================

No ammo permitted. Combat knife? It is not permitted.

9 posted on 11/30/2003 9:02:37 PM PST by Lion Den Dan
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To: big ern
I got the impression from the article that it's not an actual combat zone, it's a staging area somewhere in Kuwait. And if that's the case, she probably assumed (incorrectly) that she'd be safe among her own unit.

Not that that's an excuse for not carrying a weapon. Even Rick Sanchez carries a pistol with him everywhere it seems, even if it's to a press conference. But considering some of those arab media reporters, plus some of our own reporters, I don't really blame him. But I digress...
10 posted on 11/30/2003 9:04:34 PM PST by Ex-Dem ([N]o [B]alance in [C]overage)
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To: joesnuffy
It turned out that a soldier from another unit in the brigade had found the rifle but failed to report the recovery until after the whole brigade started looking for it.

LOL, that's entirely typical and the entire rationale behind lock-downs.

Our company lost a pair of binos once in garrison on a Friday morning. We had a lockdown. We turned the barracks upside down. Couldn't find it. Along about 10 PM that night (when everybody would normally be going out to the local pubs on Friday night) the binos miraculously turned up in a clothes dryer. I guess whoever had ganked them figured one pair of military binos weren't worth never going to the pub again.

It's interesting the way the military can make things happen within its society that would never fly in a free one.

11 posted on 11/30/2003 9:06:13 PM PST by Prodigal Son
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To: Lion Den Dan
Well if that's the case that reg will be ignored. Smart people don't go around unarmed in a combat zone.

I've never been combat but when we were in the Persian Gulf we had real ammo in our real .50 cals, albeit not one in the chamber, but it was real nonetheless and when we were in port in the mediteranean we had actuall ammunition in our M14, our .45s and our shotguns.

If I scratch my head anymore on this one I'll be bald.
12 posted on 11/30/2003 9:08:02 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (Since when did calling someone a cowboy become an insult?)
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To: joesnuffy
Rape is a heinous offense, but "ongoing pilfering in the motor pool" is the way the Army works.

Is there another way to get pioneer tools?
13 posted on 11/30/2003 9:09:02 PM PST by LouD (Otherwise they might actually nominate someone who could win...)
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To: Lion Den Dan
No ammo permitted. Combat knife? It is not permitted

Why the hell not?
14 posted on 11/30/2003 9:11:54 PM PST by Husker24
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To: big ern
I hope the Brigade never gets attacked while they are going potty.

It says outside the shower. In Bosnia, the shower was the only place we could go without our weapon. Just going for a crap- you had to take it, but for the shower it was allowed to leave it with a buddy back in the tent. The rationale being, you wouldn't want to take your weapon into the shower with you and while you were in the shower you wouldn't really be able to watch it while it was propped in the corner of the shower room. It's only a few minutes of a soldier's day and if you're within an armed and guarded camp, it's not like it's a huge security let down.

Furthermore, I don't know what the weapons status is for off duty personnel on this particular camp but it could very well be that off-duty soldiers are not walking around with magazines inserted in their weapons. In such a situation, they would have the magazines with them but not physically in the weapon. Therefore, it wouldn't be all that hard for an attacker to overwhelm someone before they could get a magazine into the weapon.

15 posted on 11/30/2003 9:13:17 PM PST by Prodigal Son
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To: joesnuffy
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/7373018.htm
16 posted on 11/30/2003 9:15:59 PM PST by wolficatZ (___><))))*>____\0/____/|____"flipper to the rescue...")
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To: Ex-Dem
If you're in the U.S. military and you're in an Arab Country, you're in a combat zone because you are a target.

Maybe her superiors can't figure that out because they are too busy trying to save their careers from negligent discharges that wouldn't happen if they trained more often and required good and safe weapons handling 24/7 all year long.

I guess my rant on this subject is over.

I still get a whiff of BS in this story though.

I've seen people do some crazy stuff to get out of work in the Military. Break your own leg, pay someone else to do it, self inflicted atropine injections, fake suicide attempts.... .
17 posted on 11/30/2003 9:18:02 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (Since when did calling someone a cowboy become an insult?)
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To: Prodigal Son
I understand all that but I don't even go to church without at least a buck knife.
18 posted on 11/30/2003 9:19:58 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (Since when did calling someone a cowboy become an insult?)
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To: big ern
Yah, but do into the shower with you?
19 posted on 11/30/2003 9:21:11 PM PST by Prodigal Son
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To: LouD
Rape is a heinous offense, but "ongoing pilfering in the motor pool" is the way the Army works.

I agree. Rape in a war zone should defintely get the max penalty which is death under the UCMJ. As far as pilfering, I never snuck up to the ward room on the midwatch and made a ham sandwich while we were underway. Never.

Of course our shipmate did get caught doing that and got busted from E5 to E4 and then 2 weeks later got his promotion to E6 verified when the results came back. DOH!!! The Captain was former enlisted and had a heart and gave back his E5 chevron and so he got to take the promotion anyway.

20 posted on 11/30/2003 9:24:35 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (Since when did calling someone a cowboy become an insult?)
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