Actual words collaged from the 2020 Report of the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee intersected with a 2021 article from Task and Purpose entitled “The Truth About False Sexual Assault Reports in the Military” and how interviews with hundreds of Soldiers at Fort Hood focus groups divided up both by rank and gender, proved what we as female Soldiers of different generations than those serving now can absolutely attest to happened daily during our time as well--nothing has seemed to have changed as to the toxic sexual assault/harassment environment in the military in general: Fort Hood is broken, yes, but that could have been any duty station on any given day in America and it’s the female Soldiers who are buried at this intersection.  We're just doing our jobs, everyday, fighting for the chance simply to be seen as equal Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen who have to relentlessly, tirelessly “learn to take a joke” and “ease up” and “not take everything so seriously.” It is the female Soldier buried by this report’s very words in this piece, over and over again, who has been let down by her very comrades in arms, over and over again, when she was told her assault she reported would be kept confidential (and it wasn’t), and by her superiors, who punished the reporter over the violator (reported here over and over again). Probably the most telling words of the report for me, that I used over and over,  and buried in this image, was this direct quote that happened during every mixed session of Soldiers being interviewed: “when female soldiers spoke up about their concerns, they were frequently shut down and essentially drowned out by the male soldiers.” Every single word used to bury this Soldier's image here, represents all those serving now and all those who have served before her, are either direct quotes from the Fort Hood report or the article from Task and Purpose that highlights the mythos surrounding false reports of sexual assault in the military. This article speaks to how it doesn’t happen (less than 1% of the time statistically speaking) yet it consistently gets brought up by our leadership, peers, and subordinates, especially during SHARP training. The mythos I'm referring to, of course, is 'the horrible situation' of all 'the innocent men' being falsely accused across the military. You know, everyone's "poor buddy” that was falsely accused of sexual assault or harassment that had his life/career ruined by that chick (who we all know was probably asking for it/just woke up the next day regretting having sex with him) when all it really does is keep the true victims from reporting actual violations. It intersects in this piece because this scapegoat idea does get brought up in the Fort Hood report, a lot, in the focus groups. It also intersects in the senior NCO/Officer focus groups that got caught up in the “semantics” of trying to define what "really" was/was not “harassing/toxic” culture. As a field grade officer myself, it truly sickened me that my male peers portrayed themselves in this way here...however, it didn’t surprise me, sadly, that they would get caught up in the victim blaming/shaming semantics and totally miss the point of the focus group in general and end up shifting the blame of why the culture was so bad in the environments they were responsible for in the first place, because I remember that culture. I spoke up in that culture, got shot down in that culture, and I've been retired since 2009. I remember. I'm not sure how many people actually took the time to read through the full Fort Hood report. It's truly enlightening if you want to see what our female Soldiers are still up against. It is a cross section of what any duty station on any given day is like in today's military. I assure you, our women are simply asking for a fair shake to do their jobs like any other Soldier. And yet, we were, and are still seen as "other." We still are buried deep by things outside of our control, when we just want to do our jobs. It's ok to be a female Soldier, we don't have to be "one of the boys" and yet we are often damned if we do, damned if we don't. It's a tight rope we walk on the daily, one we can't talk about, complain about or commiserate about, show weakness about, or show too much strength--whereas to then threaten 'others' about. It isn't about equity most days to be honest, it's about survival, and anyone who is saying anything other than that is lying to you or to themselves. There are many, many layers to being a woman in the military. And when you are addressing the issue of sexual violence and sexual assault and harassment, our female military members are buried at the intersection. 

Every. Single. Day. 

If you or someone you love is in crisis...please get help or support their journey. I believe you. Your voice matters. You matter.

If you click on the Framed Image, it will take you off my website and directly to rainn.org a National Sexual Assault Hotline with confidential 24/7 support providing crisis support service for sexual assault and harassment in the form of online chat, phone support, helplines for female as well as male survivors, domestic and dating violence, victims of other crimes as well as additional resources. 

If you click on the other images, they will also take you off my website and directly to the Fort Hood report, and the Task and Purpose article that I referenced for this art piece.