U.S. Army Sex Scandal Grows in Germany

Amid fresh signs that the Army’s sexual-harassment scandal is reaching ever deeper, the Pentagon disclosed Thursday that the commander of an Army training center in Darmstadt, Germany, has been reassigned because of sexual-misconduct allegations.

The change of assignment for 1st Sgt. George Watlington is especially serious for the Army because he topped the chain of command at the center and was on a team investigating charges by 11 women that rocked the facility last week. Two instructors at the center have been charged with rape and sodomy and one with cruelty to a subordinate.

The sexual-harassment scandal, the most serious the military has ever faced, has now touched 10 of the 13 domestic Army bases where the Army trains men alongside women, an informal Times survey found. And it appears to be increasingly turning up allegations at overseas Army bases from Europe to Asia.

“More women are learning about it, and they’re coming forward to talk,” said Dorothy Macke, a former Air Force captain who has been pressing complaints against two former superiors.

To some women, the scandal found a symbol in Sergeant Major of the Army Gene McKinney, who had been assigned to a commission to study the problem of sexual harassment in the Army but was given other duties when he was accused of sexual misconduct by three women. No formal charges have been brought against McKinney, the Army’s highest-ranking enlisted man.

The Darmstadt training center is charged with preparing soldiers who have just arrived in Europe so that they are familiar with their European communities and ready to start work as soon as they join their units. Training sessions last two weeks and involve groups of fewer than 100 soldiers at a time.

Two of the Darmstadt instructors have been in custody since Feb. 11, after allegedly trying to “influence the testimony” of one woman, according to the Army. Watlington has sexual-harassment complaints pending against him but has not been charged with a crime. The Army would not provide further details.

Army officials said the European command last year received 63 formal allegations of sexual harassment, ranging from offensive language to pressure for sexual favors. Thirty of the complaints were substantiated.

Some analysts believe that the Army has had more problems at training installations than other services because--until it set up a hotline--the Army offered fewer avenues of complaint outside the regular chain of command. Other services offered hotlines much earlier, and were more aggressive in letting recruits know that they could call the offices of inspectors general and chaplains with complaints.

The problem has splintered Congress, with many conservatives--including Sens. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Charles S. Robb (D-Va.) questioning whether the Army should halt the joint training of the sexes for its 410,000 enlisted personnel.

Putting women under the control of male drill sergeants is like putting “a match near some gunpowder and expecting sparks not to fly every now and then,” Santorum said.

Among many women and more liberal lawmakers, the favored alternatives include setting up a separate ombudsman--perhaps outside the direct chain of command--to hear complaints. Others believe that the best remedy is simply increasing the share of women in the military, now 14% of the total, to dilute the “old warrior” culture.

Officials said the Army hotline is receiving a small but steady flow of complaints from women overseas. Since it began in November, the hotline has logged 7,200 calls, including 1,100 allegations that were referred to Army investigators for initial review. Of those, 349 have been closed for lack of evidence or because the caller was unwilling to provide her name; 297 are in an early investigation stage, 264 are in a more advanced stage and 218 have been passed on to other agencies.

The most serious cases are underway at the big training centers the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, Ft. Jackson, S.C., and at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.

At Aberdeen, seven Army instructors are facing accusations of sexual crimes, including rape, adultery and forced sodomy. At Ft. Leonard Wood, 26 instructors have been under investigation for sexual misconduct; two sergeants have been dismissed and been sentenced to prison for illegal sex with nine female recruits. And at Ft. Jackson, 64 people have received punishments of various kinds for sexual misconduct.

But some women’s advocates voiced complaints this week when one of the cases at Aberdeen seemed headed for a relatively mild punishment.

The commander of the Aberdeen station decided to drop criminal charges against Staff Sgt. Nathanael Beach, whose case was one of three that ignited the scandal. Gen. John E. Longhouser decided that Beach will not have to appear before a court-martial but instead will have his case reviewed in a so-called Article 15 administrative proceeding.

The decision means that at worst, Beach could have his rank reduced or his pay suspended, but he is not in jeopardy of a jail sentence. Beach has been accused of having sex with Jessica Bleckley, who has returned to civilian life, while she was an 18-year-old recruit under his command.