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Air Force woman jailed for threesome

Filed under: Military, Politics by crystalattice @ 3:33 pm on May 25, 2007.

I just have to mention this for the simple fact that the military, in my opinion, can be run by complete idiots. (Again, I will keep my comments to a minimum since I’m still in the Navy and don’t want to temp fate.)

From an article at Military.com, a 22 year old Air Force Airman 1st Class will be sent to jail for 4 months and reduced in rank for having a threesome with two other Air Force members. One of the other “partners” is also facing charges but the third isn’t because it’s felt that she was too drunk to be aware of what was going on. The original charges were asking for 10 years in prison and a reduction in rank.

Now, regardless of the laws where you live, most people consider something like this to be okay since it’s between consenting adults, even if alcohol was involved. I don’t know if these charges were brought up because they are stationed in Germany (though I doubt it) or if it’s simply because the UCMJ (the military rules of law) is outdated.

The woman faced prosecution for sodomy and rape but there was no evidence to prove it. The UCMJ is badly outdated when it comes to issues like this. Technically, it’s against military law to have sex in any way other than the missionary position, so obviously a menage a trois is right out.

About the only other comment I’ll make is that this is simply stupid. This will be on her military record for years (if not forever) and can hurt her chances for promotion; it may even cause issues when applying for a civilian job. From what I can tell, no one was harmed (especially no one outside of the room) and it’s not detrimental to “good order and discipline”; if anything, I’d think it’s more of a morale builder. :)

But seriously, if something happens between consenting adults that doesn’t harm anyone else, then what’s the bloody problem? (Other than the military upper echelons is staffed by archaic-minded dinosaurs; it’s the same reason the Navy is one of the last countries that won’t allow women on submarines). If any of the people involved felt taken advantage of because he/she was drunk, then there are other ways of handling the situation such as through a chaplain or even a sexual assault advocate. I can’t think of a single good reason why this went to a military court.

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3 Comments »

Yes, there are a lot more serious crimes being committed everyday — what are these “holier-than-thou” people thinking!

Aah.. menage-a-trois, trust the French to coin such a cool sounding phrase for the act. :P

Comment by J de Silva — May 25, 2007 @ 5:19 pm

When I was stationed at Ft. Hood back in the late ’80s we had a few women in our unit that were accused of something similar. Just without the fellow to round it out. To say they were given a raw deal would be an understatement.

So it seems, that things have not changed all that much. What happened to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” company line? I would have hoped by now that the playing field was leveled. That soldiers were soldiers so long as they did their job. If every soldier (or sailor) was called on the carpet for every little thing that violated something in the UCMJ I would think that there would be a considerably smaller number of people serving their country.

I saw people that pulled up drug charges get less done to them. Reduction in rank yes. Getting the unwanted duties yes. But action by the courts. NO.

Comment by cableguy — May 26, 2007 @ 4:20 am

When I was stationed on the USS Kitty Hawk in Japan (right after 9/11), one of the guys in my division disappeared just before we pulled out. They eventually got him when he turned himself it to the military police.

Turns out, he went AWOL so he could go home because of family issues. His wife was Mexican and brought the rest of her family over the border illegally. So all the money this guy was sending home was actually paying to support illegal immigrants and drug addictions, not to support his daughter. So, because the military wasn’t helping him out to correct the situation, he bought a plane ticket and went home to “set things right”.

When he came back, naturally he went to Captain’s Mast. However, the Captain decided that there were extenuating circumstances so, even though we were going to war and he missed ship’s movement (one of the seven deadly sins of the Navy), the sailor received a slap on the wrist. He got restricted to the ship for 60 days (no big deal since we were at sea), extra duty for 60 days, and I think he lost some of his pay for a month or two. I don’t think he was demoted because it would reduce the amount of money his daughter would receive.

Basically, he should have been kicked out of the Navy for what he did but ended up receiving the same punishment as being insubordinate. So I won’t believe that what the Air Force woman received was a just sentence, especially because there was no harm done.

Comment by crystalattice — May 26, 2007 @ 8:13 am

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