A feminine Army officer was fired from command of a unit based mostly at Joint Base Lewis-McChord amid allegations of a number of sexual assaults towards a number of male subordinates and a sample of sexual harassment, in response to a service spokesperson.
Col. Meghann Sullivan served as commander of the fifth Brigade Engineer Battalion, fifth Safety Power Help Brigade, on the base in Washington state. She was relieved of command Oct. 13, however that is the primary time her firing has been reported.
Navy.com first reported on her suspension and the following investigation into her conduct in April. That reporting was a part of the publication’s investigation into the 5th SFAB, which uncovered probably systemic points with counterproductive management and efficiency and morale struggles amongst its rank and file.
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The investigation into the fifth SFAB included reviewing an unredacted command local weather survey along with tons of of inside Military emails, voice recordings, movies and textual content messages. The brigade’s commander, Col. Jonathan Chung, was later fired and left the service.
Sullivan, who didn’t instantly return a request for remark, remains to be within the service and was reassigned to I Corps, based mostly out of the identical set up. She is seemingly not dealing with a court-martial, in response to a Navy.com assessment of the public-facing court docket docket. It was unclear whether or not she had employed an lawyer.
The previous commander confronted allegations of assaulting at the very least two male subordinates and harassing a number of others, with a few of these incidents allegedly tied to alcohol abuse, in response to one supply with direct data of the state of affairs. A type of situations allegedly concerned forcefully kissing one of many males, and grabbing one other beneath the belt with out his consent.
Male victims account for 10% of sexual assault circumstances within the army, according to 2022 data from the Department of Defense, although male reporting of sexual assault is seen by the Pentagon as underreported because of societal stigma. Ladies make up 6% of sexual harassment offenders, which can be possible underreported, the majority of these being junior enlisted.
Ladies offenders who’re additionally senior officers are so uncommon that they don’t seem in a lot of the DoD’s reporting on offender statistics. In the meantime, senior male officers account for 8% of offenders. Nonetheless, the DoD’s knowledge paints an incomplete image of offender demographics. Some knowledge on assaults and harassments doesn’t meaningfully break down ranks or genders of offenders.
Sullivan was the primary lady to take command of an SFAB battalion.
These new models, created between 2017 and 2020, work with established overseas allied forces, help in coaching, and develop methods the U.S. can accomplice with these forces.
The distinctive models sport a brown beret and “advisor” tab. Every SFAB focuses on a selected area, with the fifth SFAB’s space of duty being the Pacific. It companions with Australia, Japan, Mongolia and different nations that might be essential in a battle with China.
Associated: Inside One of the Army’s Most Chaotic Brigades
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