Fort Leonard Wood commander says he'll be a 'pit bull' against sex assaults

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Feb. 17, 2011) — Describing himself as a “pit bull,” Fort Leonard Wood’s commanding general told reporters during a Wednesday morning press conference that he won’t tolerate sexual misconduct, sexual assault, or rapes by his soldiers, and said he personally told U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill the same thing the previous day in her offices in Washington, D.C. “There is really nothing more vile than one soldier taking advantage of another soldier. It breaks down the very teamwork, the very fabric of what being a soldier is all about,” said Maj. Gen. David Quantock. “That’s why here at Fort Leonard Wood and throughout the Army we are focused on someday eliminating this. But again, the military is a microcosm of the civilian society… one of our big missions here is to inculcate the Army values. We work very hard on that.” That exchange happened after McCaskill wrote a letter to Quantock following up on a St. Louis Post Dispatch article on numerous pending court-martial cases for sexual crimes on post. That article led to serious concerns from McCaskill. “Mothers and fathers across our nation trust their sons and daughters to our military,” McCaskill wrote, “knowing that their child may pay the ultimate sacrifice for their country … what they will not tolerate and what I will not tolerate is when our soldiers feel unsafe within their own military family.”

“I just hope he will be willing to pursue prosecution of the assaults by gay soldiers on their fellow soldiers as hard as he pursues prosecution of heterosexual assaults.”

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We will see, but if he or anyone else goes after the perverts, expect the Commies to threaten their military future. When the all-hallowed pension is on the line, these guys snap into the politically-correct fold very quickly.

rfreedom4u wrote: “I just hope he will be willing to pursue prosecution of the assaults by gay soldiers on their fellow soldiers as hard as he pursues prosecution of heterosexual assaults.”

MG Quantock was asked a related question about homosexuality and repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” by one of my media colleagues at the press conference. His answer wasn’t especially quotable; the point was assaults are assaults and all cases with adequate evidence will be prosecuted.

Nobody wearing stars or birds who I deal with is foolish enough to defy an Act of Congress in the presence of a reporter, nor should they. Civilians set national policy, not the Army, and that’s way things should be in a constitutional republic. Gen. McChrystal and Gen. MacArthur found out the hard way what happens when general officers publicly criticize Acts of Congress or top-level elected officials in front of reporters.

Having said that, I’ve made very clear to local Army leaders that I intend to aggressively cover any court-martial cases involving homosexual assault since it could have a direct impact on efforts to overturn repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Two of the cases that led to a class-action civil lawsuit filed two days ago against the Army involve homosexual assault.

I’m digging.

Local Army leaders know full well that I’m a pro-military reporter, they know full well that I believe sex and crime sells papers so I cover them aggressively, and they know full well that I, as with nearly everyone else in this conservative Southern community, opposes open homosexuality in the Army. I would never say that any local Army leaders would actively help news media efforts to show what happens with homosexual rape and sexual assault, but I am confident that nobody I deal with will try to stop me from doing so, either.

Things may get very interesting.

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