Gabbard, Hanabusa put men in military on notice

The problem is not invisible, but the solution appears impossible to find.

Last month, the Pentagon disclosed a survey saying that 26,000 people in the armed forces said they were sexually assaulted last year.

At the same time, the U.S. military reports 3,374 actual sexual assaults last year, up from 3,192 in 2011.

The New York Times reported that the Pentagon extrapolated the figures to mean 12,100 of the 203,000 women on active duty and 13,900 of the 1.2 million men on active duty had experienced some form of sexual assault.

This week, Congress held a new round of hearings on the issue. Hawaii’s two women in the U.S. House, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, had their say.

Unfortunately, so did U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Georgia’s Republican senior senator has said he will not run for re-election; on Tuesday, he showed why that is not a bad thing.

"The young folks that are coming into each of your services are anywhere from 17 to 22-23. Gee whiz — the hormone level created by nature sets in place the possibility for these types of things to occur," said Chambliss during the Senate hearing.

That kind of thinking, of course, is what is fogging over the rhetoric barrage from the military.

For her part, Hanabusa noted it as another reason why Chambliss should retire.

"The assumption that our young men and women tasked with protecting our country are incapable of self-control is insulting. Anyone who commits sexual assault is a criminal, period," said Hanabusa.

"Comments like these are hurtful, counterproductive and an affront to men and women," Hanabusa added.

When the report came out, President Barack Obama said he wanted it to stop.

"If we find out somebody’s engaging in this stuff, they’ve got to be held accountable, prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period," Obama said.

Gabbard, who is also a captain in the Hawaii National Guard, said Tuesday’s testimony from the Joint Chiefs of Staff left her "deeply disappointed."

The military’s own figure shows that every day, 71 military members are assaulted.

Last month Gabbard said flatly that "there are predators who wear the uniform."

She and fellow Democrat U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, also a combat veteran, said they were con- cerned the military is not doing enough. Besides the problem of the abuse, many victims don’t report it because of fear of being targeted.

"We have to make sure we are investigating those who are retaliating and abusing their positions of command or power," Gabbard said on CNN’s "State Of The Union."

So far the military has done everything except stop the assaults.

Women in the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, recently were able to take "Rape Aggression Defense" training to learn how to avoid assault or defend themselves.

April was declared "Sexual Assault Awareness" month, and the chief of staff of the Army sent out a podcast (I know you are feeling better already), saying the Army was "committed to eliminating incidents of sexual assaults."

Last year, the documentary about sexual assault in the military, "The Invisible War," was nominated for an Academy Award.

This week, U.S. Sen. John McCain said he could not in good conscience advise women to join the military until the sexual assault issue is fixed.

It is clear that men in the military have not listened to the reports or considered them that important. Perhaps it will be up to the women in Congress to get the Pentagon back on track.

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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.