Catholic soldier says her Muslim-sounding name made her a target for harassment

Well, this is true in many ways, and I will not deny that. I have long joked that the military if you just listen to us is the biggest bunch of "homos" in the world. Kiss my $$$$, Suck my $$$$, $$$$ me. Man, Sergeant K really %%%% me in the &&&& the other night!

But that is just how we talk. Nobody ever accused Infantry (or the military) of being choirboys. Myself, I once had a nickname of "Corporal Mother #&%$", because of the frequency of my swearing. But I had long ago mastered the ability of swearing at things and in general, as opposed to individual people. Instead of going "Hey shirthead, go move this box", I would go "Hey, go move this gosh darned box!"

One thing that was interesting in returning to the military at 42 was how I was treated. I was frequently the butt of "Old Man" jokes, and often told quite a few myself. But on the occasions that they went to far, I spoke up and 98% of the time they stopped. And the few individuals who did not stop were generally quickly smacked down by those senior to us.

Teasing and kidding is all in good fun. But when it crosses the line into harassment, then it needs to be stopped.

We treat each other very different then we treat our own.

When I meet Mr. S on the street, I want to give him a good impression. I speak properly, and with respect because I want him to think kindly of me and others.

But when it comes to Private First Class R, who cares? He is just a PFC, and he "knows how it is".

 

Errrr, well, gee, I don't know.

Let me go look at my DD-214 and I will let you know.



Actually, yes. I first enlisted during President Reagan's first term, and have served under every president since. 2 different branches (Marines and Army), Infantry and Air Defense.

And I agree, there is harassment and there is harassment. If somebody objects to being called "Princess", then I say grow some bigger balls (or boobs) and not act like a princess. And if your last name is something like "Ho" or "Hussein" or "Menses", expect harassment.

But when that harassment goes from just good fun to something else, then it needs to be stopped. We are in uniform to fight others, not each other.

And yes, I am still serving to this day.

 

And that is part of the job of being an NCO, to get your guys at least somewhat in line when things go to far.

I admit, I could often be one of the worst. Like when we had 2 guys in my first unit, one was black and the other was white, same platoon, both named Brown. So of course I started to refer to them as "Light Brown" and "Dark Brown". And ironically they both thought it was funny as hell, but the LT heard it and ordered us to stop.

I also used to have a photo with 2 Sergeants I went to school with standing side by side, "Fuc" and "Yu". And a Sergeant in my class a few months ago had one of himself and his buddy next to each other. Sergeant Poon, standing next to Specialst Tang.

Now I did not read all 8 pages of this, but I have to wonder about both who is harassing her, and what her senior leadership is doing/not doing about it. Because in my experience in the Army, the last thing anybody wants is an EO complaint. I have seen careers ended because of those.

 

Since the situation was elevated to her senior officers, then the line was crossed. It is up to the senior commanders to determine the facts and to make sure that the cohesiveness of the unit, including those that have been abridged. turning the other way or a blind eye is no way to run any millitary unit from as small as a squad to division sized units.

 

That is a nonsense assumption. Her claim has no added merit just because she filed it !! Hired an attorney !! pffft.

 

why would people harass people, that makes no sense, maybe that is the very culture she is talking about, crazy

trying to use the defense... but everyone else does it wont fly

.

 

Disrespecting the chiain of command is nonsense?

Are you sure you were not in JRROtC>?

 

I agree. There has to be more to this story than what is being reported. I'd like to hear some comments from fellow soldiers. Also, she's an E-7. Who exactly is harassing her? She's probably a platoon SGT. Her troops are picking on her?

.I just can't buy that she would get this school yard behavior in an MI unit. She is a Farsi linguist and they have plenty of soldiers in those language groups who are actual Muslims, not just having Muslim names. Something is up.

 

Since she was in MI, I'm guessing all of her soldiers had at least a high school diploma. Probably most of them had some college.

 

Sadly, this does not guarantee that they have their nads wired right. You find a lot of older males who never really grew up in these situations.

 

It makes NO sense because they knew she was Catholic.

Get it?

Now talk about "man up" some more.