Combating Sexual Assault in the Military
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Good evening, everyone, I'm Christiane Amanpour, and welcome to a special edition of our program, where we take a look at some of the stories and conversations that we've had this year and that we thought were worth sharing with you again, including bringing you new developments. Now tonight, we want to talk about the rampant sexual abuse controversy that is the United States military, the crisis of sexual assault by commanders against men and women under their command. It is the war that no member of the U.S. military should ever have to fight. And there is an ongoing battle and a struggle for victims to get justice within the military chain of command. But is that really possible? About 3,000 acts of sexual violence were reported in 2012. But the Pentagon estimates that in reality there were more than 26,000 incidents. President Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel are weighing in, vowing to enforce a no tolerance policy. But only one-fifth of sexual assault cases in the military actually make it to trial. And reporting an assault means dealing within the chain of command so the military superiors of assault victims have direct influence over the fate of their cases. Now New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has proposed legislation to overhaul the way the military handles these sexual assault cases.</s>SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D), NEW YORK: It's a common sense change that I think brings justice and transparency to our system and our military and will make our military that much stronger. We have the greatest military in the world. We have men and women who are willing to sacrifice everything. We should not be asking them to sacrifice being subject to these crimes at the hands of their colleagues.</s>AMANPOUR: Now before Senator Gillibrand and other members of Congress intervened, I met one brave woman who's taking a stand to fight for justice in the military. She's Sergeant Jennifer Smith. She's an active duty member of the United States Air Force. She's filed a formal complaint charging sexual assault and harassment that she says went on for years. Since returning from the front lines in Iraq, she's been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. And all of this comes after a 17-year career during which she received numerous service awards. Her family has served in the military for generations.</s>AMANPOUR: Sgt. Smith, welcome. Thanks for joining me.</s>SGT. JENNIFER SMITH, U.S. AIR FORCE: Thank you so much.</s>AMANPOUR: This is a horrendous situation and I'm sure it must really difficult to talk about. But can you tell me what happened to you? What kind of assault did you suffer?</s>SMITH: Well, throughout my career, I've had a number of things that have happened. But the most traumatic thing that has happened to me was when I was in Iraq, in Balad. I was assaulted by an Army personnel. And he basically just grabbed me and threw me up against the wall. But that changed -- that was like the pinnacle that changed how I thought about some of the things that I had seen in the military prior. I kind of didn't tell anyone. I just came back, went to work the next day like nothing happened and buried it.</s>AMANPOUR: What made you speak out? What was the straw that broke the camel's back?</s>SMITH: I think when I came back from Iraq, I was different. That time was very different, because it was so aggressive and it was so hostile. When I was -- one time we had -- some of our unit was deployed. So I had to do some reports for them and actually went out on a server. And I found some books out there that were, you know, obviously pornographic. And our servers are accessed by over 400 personnel within our unit. So --</s>AMANPOUR: And I have here some of the evidence that you cite in your complaints over this. This is called the Combat Songbook. And to be very honest, it is -- I'm just showing the tame front cover that we've decided to make for the front cover. But it's got, you know, F--- Songs, Trash Tunes, the lyrics are unprintable and certainly unspeakable on this program. And you're telling me that you found those on a government computer?</s>SMITH: Yes, ma'am. I found them under a drive that I needed to access information to build reports from. So from there, I had talked to someone I was stationed with, a captain. We had gone to Iraq together and I trusted him. And I told him that I was actually assaulted. That was the first active duty person that I told that I was assaulted. And I asked him to tell the other pilots that I was assaulted; the reason I didn't come forward was because of stuff like this. I just didn't think it would be taken care of or taken seriously.</s>AMANPOUR: You know, when I was covering the first Gulf War, I was on an aircraft carrier and I was reporting on the pilots. And my colleagues had reported that before and after their sorties, they were indulging in reading pornography and other such things. And I had no idea that it was such a prevalent thing that exists to this day.</s>SMITH: Yes, it still is. I mean, before we would set (ph) pilots in Iraq, they would play some graphic things.</s>AMANPOUR: Now some might say, well, men will be men. But you're saying that this created a culture in all the units.</s>SMITH: Yes, ma'am. I think, while I can only speak to the fighter units that I've been attached to, a lot of even the female fighter pilots will partake in it and pretend it doesn't bother them when, in fact, you know, if you had said to me that it does and they just kind of have to go along, because you figure their training is so extensive that when you get to the point where you're actually at your jet, you know, you -- they don't want to come forward because they've already put all this time and effort into it. So they're not going to complain about something like that.</s>AMANPOUR: You're a 17-year veteran.</s>SMITH: Yes, ma'am.</s>AMANPOUR: And you've decided to come forward with just a few years before you could have retired with full pay and benefits.</s>SMITH: Yes, ma'am.</s>AMANPOUR: Why? And are you worried that this will jeopardize that?</s>SMITH: I think that, hopefully, this will help further greater good. The reason that I came forward was because I -- my husband took me to a movie. He took me to see "The Invisible War." And my husband has been helping me through my PTSD for about two years now. He actually was one of the people who intervened and said, you really need to get some help, because it was really affecting our marriage.</s>AMANPOUR: Well, in "Invisible War," which we featured, we hear the most appalling tales; women in all branches of the military are interviewed. Some talk about being repeatedly drugged and raped. Some talk about waking up in the middle of the night and finding fellow servicemen on top of them. Some talk about their rooms being literally broken down, the doors to their rooms, to get in. Did you see that kind of stuff?</s>SMITH: I saw some of that stuff. Some of that stuff happened to me. I've had people fall asleep on my doorstep, and I open the door and the guy falls in and I have to go find someone to take him away and --</s>AMANPOUR: You heard Chuck Hagel, President Obama's nominee for Secretary of Defense, in his confirmation hearings. Among other things, he said, I will follow what Leon Panetta has done in trying to make this go away, this terrible crime of rape in the military. Do you believe that that can be done?</s>SMITH: I'm not sure. I do hope that it can be eradicated, of course. But we've had zero tolerance and we've had different trainings and different types of talks about this type of thing since I have been in, for 17 years. So the problem is cultural. He's going to have to change the culture of at least the Air Force. That's really all I can speak to. But, yes.</s>AMANPOUR: The reaction from the military, from the Air Force, to whom we reached out for a response to your case, is that, "Sexual assault is a crime and it violates our core values. Every allegation will be thoroughly investigated and commanders will consider the full range of disciplinary and administrative measures." Is that true?</s>SMITH: I don't believe -- well, in my case, it's not true. I first reported this -- these incidents -- I started in 2008. That's when I actually reported the first one. And there was nothing done other than I was moved to a different section.</s>AMANPOUR: Here's another incredible statistic that just blows my head off: 33 percent of women in the military who've been assaulted don't report it since their superior was a friend of the rapist. Twenty-five percent don't report it because their superior, the person to whom they should report, is the rapist.</s>SMITH: I understand that. I actually used my chain of command. I did everything proper in reporting the most recent things as far as the items that I had found. I started at the lowest level of my chain and went all the way to the top. And they have been aware of it since the summer of 2012 and still have not taken any action.</s>AMANPOUR: Now in response to your claims and your -- and your -- and your complaint, the Secretary of the Air Force reached out to you. You spoke on the phone.</s>SMITH: Yes. He called me -- it was a personal telephone call, I guess, or --</s>AMANPOUR: Can you talk about it?</s>SMITH: He just said that he was going to do the best that he could and he understood --</s>AMANPOUR: Did you tell him the whole litany of what had happened when you talked with him?</s>SMITH: I was so caught off guard by the fact that he called me -- and considering who he is -- and I know my place -- I was -- I said, "Yes, sir. Well, thank you for calling me."</s>AMANPOUR: Well, let me ask you. You say you know your place. Is this the problem with women in the military? Even now women have been, just in the last week, granted, you know, full combat roles now.</s>SMITH: Yes.</s>AMANPOUR: But you're saying, "Yes, sir," and I feel that maybe there was a lot of that going on with women who were assaulted. Did you feel the pressure of being a second-class citizen in the military?</s>SMITH: I don't think -- one of the things that we do pride ourselves in is respect, you know. And he is a senior ranking officer. Anyone appointed above me, I'm going to show them that respect. I'm not going to necessarily question, you know, what they say every single time. And for him to call me out of the blue like that, I -- that was -- it was shocking.</s>AMANPOUR: But you feel that there is at least a channel and at least they know your case?</s>SMITH: They know the case. But as far as I'm concerned, nothing's been done.</s>AMANPOUR: So as I say, women are now getting more and more advances and opportunities in the military. They've now been told that they can go into full combat roles, although as we know, in places with no formal front lines, like Iraq and Afghanistan, you've been in combat.</s>SMITH: Right. There's no longer trench warfare.</s>AMANPOUR: Exactly.</s>SMITH: Right.</s>AMANPOUR: What would you say, though, to a young woman, to a daughter of your own, who might want to choose the military, any of the services, as their life choice, their career?</s>SMITH: I think for that question, I look back to my father. My father was in Vietnam. He was in the Army. And I remember coming home when I was a junior in high school and saying, "Dad, I think I want to join the Army or the Marine Corps." And he said, "No, honey, we're going to take you down to the Air Force recruiter, because you'll be safe there." And when this happened and all this came out -- and he was one of the -- he also recognized my PTSD, that -- he's crushed by this, because he thought for sure that they would take care of his daughter, after what he had sacrificed.</s>AMANPOUR: Well, you're going to keep up the fight.</s>SMITH: Absolutely.</s>AMANPOUR: And after a break, we'll hear about the personal battle scars that Sgt. Smith still carries from waging two wars, one against the enemy in Iraq, and the other, fighting sexual abuse and betrayal within her own ranks.