Word: battalions
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...things no longer mean what they once did. A smile is not always just a smile; a pat on the back may be mistaken for more than encouragement. And at the center of the sexual harassment scandal sweeping Maryland's Aberdeen Proving Ground, members of the 143rd Ordnance Battalion--whose motto is "Professionals in Gear"--may want to consider changing their mascot from the acronymic PIG to a creature a bit less loaded with symbolism...
...allegations at Aberdeen, though, that raise the most troubling questions about the Army's ability to police itself. Nearly all the cases made public so far involve relationships that occurred between trainees and their direct commanders within the same company of the 143rd Battalion--a violation of one of the cardinal rules of the military, which forbids even consensual sex between a superior and subordinate in the same chain of command. Moreover, the relationship between drill sergeants and new recruits is one of the most highly charged in the military. Assuming authority that falls somewhere between in loco parentis...
Although most of the Aberdeen incidents occurred between July and September 1996, officials on base say they first became aware of the problems there in early September, when Private Jessica Bleckley complained that Staff Sergeant Nathanael Beach of the 143rd Battalion's Charlie Company had sexually assaulted her. Her protest unleashed a volley of other allegations, mostly involving Staff Sergeant Delmar Simpson, a 12-year Army veteran. According to Army documents, he told a trainee, "If anyone finds out about me having sex with you, I'll kill you." In the wake of such threats, the Army decided to jail...
First the Pentagon conceded last June that perhaps 350 soldiers from the Army's 37th Engineer Battalion could have been exposed to traces of chemical weapons when they blew up ammunition at the Kamisiyah weapons depot in southern Iraq on March 4, 1991. It was one day after Iraq's surrender, ending the Gulf War, and the unit was destroying Bunker 73, which contained rockets brimming with the virulent gas sarin. Three weeks ago, a presidential commission tripled--to 1,100--its estimate of the number of G.I.s exposed to the poison during that incident. Then last Wednesday the Pentagon...
...advancing on the city. It was a major show of force." That was Aug. 31. On the morning of Sept. 1, however, the Iraqis began to pull back. And by last Monday the 40,000 troops had all but vanished. The only thing left behind was a mobile armored battalion, which positioned its tanks and artillery about 15 miles southeast of the city. "They are dug in with barbed wire and in a defensive posture," said a Danish Special Forces colonel with the United Nations. "I think they are staying around to make sure that the P.U.K. doesn't come...