As you can imagine, this spurred some passionate conversation.

But it was this comment that got me, personally….

Let’s put this into proper perspective for some of the know-it-all young f**ks.

While at sea on the carrier USS Midway, 4,500 sailors, Marines and squadrons onboard had to eat. That required periodic “at-sea replenishments” where supply vessels would come up alongside and in most cases, pallets of food supplies would be helo’d from the deck of the supply ship to the flight deck of the Midway. Once delivered, the contents of the pallets would be taken down to the appropriate areas of the ship.

So how was this done, considering we’re talking tons of foodstuffs?

A certain amount of crew members would be assigned to what were called “Delta working parties” where a human chain would work upwards of 12 or more hours to pass bags of sugar, flour, frozen foods, etc. below deck.

Boxed lunch-type meals would be provided at the appropriate time so the chain would remain relatively undisturbed. This was also one of the more dreaded duty assignments, albeit a very necessary one while at sea; duty that has yet to be glamorized on the silver screen or military war novels. Those involved were often quite sore after this detail, yet would go right back to work and continue the battle group’s mission.

I participated in many Delta working parties so I can attest to the necessary misery.

So how does this relate to the women-in-the-military friction? Because there are two sides to every story.

While on liberty outside the former Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines, I met a fellow sailor at a bar and we struck up a conversation. He worked on a supply ship and at that time during the late 80’s, women were only allowed to serve on non-combatant vessels.

As we all know sentiments can be more forthcoming while under the influence, this sailor shared some of the challenges he personally experienced regarding his fellow female shipmates. You see, while I participated on Delta working parties taking the supplies down into our ship, it never dawned on me how all of those foodstuffs got on the pallets in the first place. Supply ships had Delta-type working parties doing the reverse.

However, this sailor was extremely resentful that many of the women assigned to his supply ship would suddenly come down with those monthly female issues right around the time of a Delta working party. Strangely enough, he also said that those monthly issues would occur several times a month coinciding with Delta working parties. As you can imagine, this caused a great deal of angst amongst the male sailors, especially because they could get in a lot of “sexual harassment” trouble if they even dared question the validity of a female’s issue in having multiple, convenient menstrual cycles.

He expressed his admiration and respect for the few women who’d routinely tough it out with the men.

Yes, we’re in a different time and social issues have been merged into the military, but let’s not forget the simple mission of the Armed Forces: to “kill people and break things” in defense of our nation. Social engineering has created more problems than it’s solved and when women joined the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard, they knew what was expected of them based on the jobs available. Now that we have a military that puts women on the front lines with men, we can also see why the military was segregated by gender.

I had no personal experience working directly with women while I was in the Navy, but I understand the frustration heard. Being in the military is an experience few civilians can relate to because a two-hour movie or television program is a rather poor representation of daily life. But many knew of the potential problems that would occur if you forced young men and women into cramped spaces for prolonged periods. People who expressed those concerns were called sexist and if you did so while in the military, you could be written up and exposed to all manner of potential correction.

It’s admirable women volunteer to serve their country, but like men, let’s applaud those who joined for all the right reasons and not be cowed into silence for pointing out those who have other motives because what those people do, affects all those around them.

This kind of situation came to a very public light and thankfully, we have a Commander-in-Chief who was not a part of the officer class and is thus not looking the other way and blindly giving them the benefit of the doubt or cover.

Specifically, the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, United States Navy.

After months of high-profile legal gaffes, the head of the Navy has ordered what officials are calling an operational pause for the Navy’s legal community. The largest and most comprehensive review of the Navy’s legal system kicked off the day after President Donald Trump publicly admonished the JAG community for awarding medals to the lawyers who were responsible for the failed prosecution of Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward Gallagher.
— US Naval Institute, 8/5/19

Navy Cmdr. Christopher Czaplak, the lead Navy prosecutor in the war crimes case against a decorated Navy SEAL, has been removed from the case by the judge for spying on defense teams and a Navy Times journalist.

Czaplak was ordered off the case against Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher by the judge, Navy Capt. Aaron Rugh, on Monday after Czaplak admitted emailing 13 defense attorneys and paralegals, as well as Navy Times editor Carl Prine, a tracking beacon in an effort to find the source of leaks to the media.

Last week, officials announced in court that the Marine Corps had withdrawn Capt. Conor McMahon, an assistant prosecutor, from the case.
— Military Times, 6/4/19

Busted thus evidence there’s a need to review the systemic.

In particular, officials singled out the unlawful command influence (UCI) from senior JAGs over the case of Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Keith Barry. Barry was convicted of a rape charge in 2015, but the conviction was overturned by a military appellate court when it found that the Navy’s top lawyer, Vice Adm. James Crawford, had pressured officials on the outcome of the case.

There’s no mention of the UCI on Vice Admiral Crawford’s official Navy bio. Funny how that works.

This “review” is LONG overdue and hopefully this won’t be scrubbed as well by those who never see a theater of battle but whose career is more important than people’s lives and freedom.

Again, it must reiterated that there are officers who are professional and decent people, have a mission to accomplish and respect those under them that get the job done. I don’t think civilians can truly appreciate the 24/7 power officers enjoy over enlisteds in all branches of the military. But if things get to a stage where legal representation becomes necessary, the officer class is rarely allowed to be found guilty of poor judgment or worse.

JAG officers, despite the glowing Hollywood depictions, are dangerous when they have power over the professional livelihoods and freedom of men and women whose only response can be either “Yes, sir” or “Yes, ma’am.” These officers can be surrounded by those unable to reveal the truth or brown nosers who’ll work overtime to conceal it to stay in the good standing of someone who can reward such warped loyalty with ease of promotion. They never thought they would ever be busted, let alone made a very public example of and hopefully a good number of their cases (with real life consequences for the accused) will be gone over with a fine tooth comb.

There could be who-knows-how-many people whose pay grades were stalled or reduced making reenlistment impossible, lost court-martials, received other-than-honorable or dishonorable discharges, or could even be in jail today because those in the good ol’ officer club were covering asses at the expense of a mere E-7 or below.

Once again, a special thank you to our Commander-in-Chief who looks out for ALL under his command.

UPDATE

Like officer abuse would be isolated to one branch…

A review of the Department of the Navy’s legal system has expanded to include the Marine legal community, according to a memo from Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer obtained by USNI News.

“Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer, in full coordination with the commandant of the Marine Corps, has directed an expansion of the U.S. Navy’s comprehensive review of the Judge Advocate General Corps to include U.S. Marine Corps Judge Advocates,” read a Thursday Navy statement to USNI News.
— USNI News, 8/22/19

That’s a nice way of saying they found more bad stuff.

Posting nude pictures of service members without consent is now, for all intents and purposes, a crime in the Navy and Marine Corps — a response to the nude photo-sharing scandal that surfaced when a reporter outed a private Facebook group of Marines and sailors that was used at times to swap nudes.
— Navy Times, 4/19/17

A little cause-and-effect seems to be absent in the rationale here.

We’ve only seen one reported instance where a female Marine was photographed clothed (which doesn’t mean there wasn’t more), but….

According to the reports, one Marine followed a woman corporal and photographed her as she picked up gear. Those photos ended up on the Facebook page and drew dozens of explicit comments, with users writing that they wanted to “pound her” and videotape it.

Some of the photos appeared to have been taken by the women and shared consensually, but were intended to be private, the reports said. Women who spoke with War Horse said they believed the racy pics were either leaked by former partners, or stolen by stalkers or hackers.
— New York Daily News, 3/5/17

Is it not reasonable to conclude there would be far fewer pictures to “swap” if women didn’t pose naked in the first place?

Many images appear to have originated from the consensual, but private, exchange of racy images, some clearly taken by the women themselves.

The War Horse has spoken with five of the women in the photographs. Two said they believe former partners might have leaked images. Some said they worry their own accounts might have been hacked or poached. One said a co-worker, a male Marine, alerted her to the fact that the photographs had been posted.
— The War Horse: An Attack From Within: Male Marines Ambush Women In Uniform

Well, the Marine Corps went into damage control mode and attempted to shut that thinking down.

Office of Marine Corps Communications Public Affairs Guidance

3.1. Assessment of the Information Environment: Based off historical precedence, once the story publishes, national outlets will write their own stories and Congressional Members will request briefs on how the Corps will handle this situation. Media may request to speak with Marine leaders at the headquarters and local, Major Subordinate Command levels. The story will likely spark shares and discussions across social media, offering venues for Marines and former Marines who may victim blame, i.e., “they shouldn’t have taken the photos in the first place,” or bemoan that they believe the Corps is becoming soft or politically correct. Concern from Congress about the Marines Corps’ treatment of women across the force may be a topic of discussion. Combined, these articles may 1) may negatively impact perceptions among female Marines of leadership’s ability to address these situations, 2) spark criticism from nonprofit groups that advocate on behalf of female service members, 3) require communication to Congress in terms of how the Corps intends to handle these situations and what deliberate actions that it will take in the future, and 4) negatively impact the Corps’ reputation among segments of the American public.

The Guidance made repeated references to the problems of “misogyny” within the Corps, but nothing on slut behavior aside from the one reference to “victim blame” which implies the Corps sees their women as unwitting victims, so don’t even go there.

The Acting Secretary of the Navy subsequently failed to address the source(s) of the now-illegal content in question.

UNCLASSIFIED
ROUTINE
R 181436Z APR 17
FM SECNAV WASHINGTON DC
TO ALNAV
INFO SECNAV WASHINGTON DC
CNO WASHINGTON DC
CMC WASHINGTON DC
BT
UNCLAS

ALNAV 021/17

MSGID/GENADMIN/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC/-/APR//

SUBJ/U.S. NAVY REGULATIONS, 1990 INTERIM CHANGE//

REF/A/DOC/SECNAV/16SEP90//
NARR/REF A IS THE U.S. NAVY REGULATIONS.//
POC/W. RECORD/CAPT/JAGC/USN/OJAG (CODE 20)/-/LOC: 1254 CHARLES MORRIS
STREET, SE, WASHINGTON NAVY YARD, DC/-/EMAIL: WARREN.RECORD
@NAVY.MIL/-/TEL: (202) 685-7057, DSN 325-7057//
W. PIGOTT/COL/USMC/JAD/-/LOC: 3000 MARINE CORPS PENTAGON, RM 4D557,
WASHINGTON DC/-/EMAIL: WILLIAM.N.PIGOTT@USMC.MIL/-/TEL: (703) 693-9304, DSN
223-9304//

RMKS/1. Pending formal amendment to reference (a), this interim change adds a new article, Article 1168 to reference (a). This interim change is effective upon the release of this ALNAV.

2. Article 1168 of reference (a) is added to read as follows:
a. 1168. Nonconsensual distribution or broadcasting of an image
(1) The wrongful distribution or broadcasting of an intimate image is prohibited.
(2) The distribution or broadcasting is wrongful if the person making the distribution or broadcast does so without legal justification or excuse, knows or reasonably should know that the depicted person did not consent to the disclosure, and the intimate image is distributed or broadcast:
(a) With the intent to realize personal gain;
(b) With the intent to humiliate, harm, harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the depicted person; or
(c) With reckless disregard as to whether the depicted person would be humiliated, harmed, intimidated, threatened, or coerced.

3. Distribution means the act of delivering to the actual or constructive possession of another, including transmission by electronic means.

4. “Broadcasting” means the act of electronically transmitting a visual image with the intent that it be viewed by a person or persons.

5. An intimate image is any visual depiction, including by electronic means, that:
a. Includes another person who is identifiable from the depiction itself or from information conveyed in connection with the depiction;
b. Depicts that person engaging in sexually explicit conduct or depicts the private area of that person; and
c. Taken under circumstances in which the person depicted had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

6. “Sexually explicit conduct” is defined in Part IV, paragraph 68b, Manual for Courts-Martial (2016 Edition).

7. “Private area” is defined in Part IV, paragraph 45c, Manual for Courts-Martial (2016 Edition).

8. In lieu of entering this interim change in reference (a), make a bold letter notation after Article 1167 of reference (a), SEE ALNAV 021/17 and file this ALNAV in front of reference (a).

9. This interim change will be incorporated into the next printed revision of reference (a).

10. Released by Sean J. Stackley, Acting Secretary of the Navy.//

BT
#0001
NNNN
UNCLASSIFIED//

This is a matter of decency and shouldn’t be passed off as a sign of the millennial times. While men “swapping” nude pictures of female military personnel is morally wrong, giving women who allowed those pictures to be taken in the first place a pass (to avoid “victim blaming”) shouldn’t cut it in an Armed Forces that boasts of equality.

We’ll just have to wait for our federal representatives to get around to that inconvenient aspect of this scandal.