A high officer within the Army’s fifth Safety Drive Help Brigade has been investigated following allegations of a number of sexual assaults and a sample of sexual harassment, in line with two sources with data of the investigation. It’s unclear whether or not the investigation is ongoing, however it comes whereas one other is underway into allegations of poisonous management by the brigade’s commander.
Col. Meghann Sullivan, commander of the fifth Brigade Engineer Battalion, fifth SFAB, faces allegations of assaulting not less than two subordinate males and harassing a number of others, with a few of these incidents allegedly tied to alcohol abuse, in line with one of many two sources. No less than a kind of alleged assaults concerned forceful kissing and one other grabbing a person beneath the belt with out his consent.
Sullivan is seemingly nonetheless in command, although commanders are typically suspended amid investigations. She didn’t return a request for remark. It’s unclear whether or not Sullivan has employed an lawyer.
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“We have now no info on that matter that we are able to share at the moment,” Sgt. 1st Class Adrian Patoka, a spokesperson for the Safety Drive Help Command, advised Navy.com in an announcement. “We take any and all allegations critically and deal with them appropriately as circumstances dictate.”
Male victims account for less than 10% of sexual assault circumstances within the navy, in line with 2021 information from the Division of Protection. That information estimates roughly 14,000 male troopers expertise some kind of undesirable sexual contact per 12 months, although male circumstances of sexual assault and harassment are doubtless underreported resulting from societal stigma.
Sullivan is the primary girl to take command of an SFAB battalion. These new models, created between 2017 and 2020, sport a singular brown beret and “Advisor” tab. Their mission is to work with established allied forces to evaluate their doctrine, help in any coaching, and develop methods the U.S. can work with associate nations. Every SFAB focuses on a particular area, with the fifth SFAB overseeing the Pacific and partnering with nations that will probably be key for any battle with China, together with Japan, Australia, Mongolia and Thailand.
The information comes because the fifth SFAB’s commander, and Sullivan’s boss, Col. Jonathan Chung, was suspended and faces allegations of counterproductive management and abusive therapy of his subordinates.
Navy.com interviewed two dozen of Chung’s subordinate officers and noncommissioned officers who labored with him in a number of totally different models, together with the 2nd Stryker Brigade Fight Staff, 2nd Infantry Division and seventy fifth Ranger Regiment. Just about all of them painted an image of Chung being a micromanager who demanded loyalty and who routinely dressed down subordinates in entrance of others and retaliated towards his troopers for minor infractions.
Chung’s investigation is ongoing however is anticipated to wrap up within the coming weeks, in line with inside emails reviewed by Navy.com.
— Steve Beynon could be reached at Steve.Beynon@navy.com. Observe him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.
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